Video · DIY Builds & Mods
Cape Coral Cardboard Boat Regatta: Homemade Boats That Sink or Float
I check out the homemade cardboard boats at the 2022 Cape Coral cardboard regatta and watch which ones race and which ones sink.
What’s in this video
Every boat at the cardboard regatta in Cape Coral is made out of cardboard. I walked through a bunch of them before the race. The Miss Mariner 2 was dedicated to Mike DiGiorgio, and his friends finished it. It has a crank handle that runs a paddle wheel underneath, seats for four paddlers and a little rudder control. Some teams set up charts showing their build process, and you can see how much detail went into getting the cardboard rigid.
The themes were wild. One was built like the Titanic. One looked like an airboat with a crate engine and a fan that actually rotates, plus cardboard gators. There was the Polar Bear Express, Thunder Speed, Queen of the Gulf, Fishers of Men and a boat with a John Deere and an International tractor theme, which my family back in farm country will love. I went to school for nursing, so I was rooting for the boat built by a group of nurses. Liquid Asset was long and narrow, built for speed.
Then the racing started. Queen of the Gulf took an early lead. Liquid Asset had a hard time turning, but the longer hull let it catch up. The Titanic lived up to its name and went down, captain and all, and then got back at it. I finish with clips from past regattas. If you’re ever in the area, check it out.
Key moments
- 0:00 Introduction and boat walk
- 1:33 Rules and creative designs
- 2:36 Showcasing unique boat themes
- 5:00 Cardboard boat racing action
- 6:59 Final results and past events
Quick takeaways
- Long, narrow cardboard hulls looked fast in a straight line but had a hard time turning.
- Teams added structure inside the cardboard to get rigidity. Some showed their build process on charts.
- The race rules and results are posted on the Cape Coral regatta website.
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