It was all sparkling sunshine and giddy cheers at the public boat launch behind the Manchester Town Hall on Sunday for the 13th Annual Cardboard Box Regatta, with rim of the inner harbor packed with spectators for the lighthearted-but-nevertheless-ruthless competition pitting fathers against daughters, youngsters against teachers, policemen against Select Board members.
And not necessarily in that order.
In all, 26 boats officially entered the race, all made of nothing more than cardboard boxes fastened by duct tape with names like RAM-bunctious, Ted LassBoat, Dragon Not Draggin’, Bad Buoys Whatcha Gonna Do?, Cuisine de France (inexplicably helmed by Vikings), and the perennial favorite, Snot Rocket.
The magic of each craft, of course, is the engineering that went into it.
Some poor vessels barely made it off the launch before capsizing. Others, like Cuisine de France, defied physics as it ably surged forward, propelled by four adult rowers (brandishing baguettes) and two youngsters, one banging a drum to keep time and the other blowing a plastic Viking war horn.
To show the importance of vessel design, this year’s winner, RAM-bunctious captained by Akshay Patel shot around the race buoy and back in just 51 seconds. Just last year, Patel’s boat (made from a giant flat-screen television box) capsized before making it to the buoy, showing that lessons learned can reemerge the following year as a big winner.
Coming in second after Patel was Fish & Chics, captained by Bernie Romanowski came in at 52.15. First Place (under 18 category): Little Rusty, Zackary Soundis, 1 minute and 8.46 seconds.
As he does each year, Bob Hofelt, who organized the event as a family with wife Kim and daughter Summer, managed the crowds from the docks, egging on competitors in each heat with confidence, offering commentary and encouragement.
For crowd favorites, Kim Hofelt reported in that with almost 500 votes, the award for Best Design & Crowd Favorite went to three boats (Hofelt said, “They were neck and neck for the top spot throughout the day!”)
At the top was Ted Lassboat (Captain Becci Sollosy) with 23 percent of the votes; Cuisine de France (Captains Evan & Bitsy Olson and Stacey & Jake LeBlanc) with 19 percent; and the
Manchester Police Dept.’s Bad Buoys Whatcha Gonna Do? (Captain Sean Mullin, who rowed to a blasting soundtrack, “Bad Boys Whatcha Gonna Do?”) with 18 percent of the votes.
Close calls and recoveries were crowd favorites. Manchester Select Board member Brian Sollosy captained the D-Barge with Summer Hofeldt, surprisingly staying afloat and coming in at eighth place.
Carly Cook, unrecognizable in an amazing clown costume, capsized just seconds into the race, yet she swam, shedding her pesky rainbow tutu and pushed through to the chants and cheers of the crowds that propelled her to a finish nearly five minutes later.
This year organizers sold Cardboard boat race tee shirts to raise money for Dana Farber Cancer Institute in honor the Hofelt’s daughter, Summer, who completed her last treatment for cancer just weeks before the race and was on hand to help her father emcee. (Sunday’s sales raised approximately $1,500. To donate to Dana Farber, go to bit.ly/Summer01944)
At the end of the day, were organizers happy? Yes, indeed. But that was because it was a group effort.
"The Manchester assistant harbormaster, Mike is out there every year for us! John Filias of Jeffery’s Creek donates the dumpster, which is so critical to our being able to do this logistically," said Kim Hofelt. "Chris Langathianos donated the sound system (and shot countless amazing photos), which made such a huge difference this year. Sweetwater Cafe donates prizes for best design and first-place kids’ boat. And The Legion plays such a huge part by opening their doors for everyone and making it so fun with food and after-party entertainment. Essex’s Peter Hoare played to the crowd after the race, and everyone loved him."
