It seemed everyone poured out to the town boat launch behind Town Hall Sunday for the 13th annual Manchester by the Sea Cardboard Boat Regatta and its promise of an afternoon of raucous, rollicking fun with costumes, light-hearted grudge matches, and the emergence of real legacies in the annals of cardboard-and-duct-tape-boat racing.
Every year it's worth noting the names of the entrants. This year, co-founder Kimberly Hofeldt reported that 28 boats raced with names like Apollo 7, Tropic Like It's HOT, Flotsame & Jetsun, Granny Panty, Barbenheimer, Rubber Duckie, Gulls Gone Wild, among others.
Let’s get to the results.
Manchester’s Akshay Patel raced his “Bull Ship” to a win with 42.85 seconds. A family affair, Akshay’s Bull Ship was entered alongside “Piece of Ship” and “Dip Ship,” both vessels built and raced by daughters, Aashika and Kayuri.
Coming in second overall was Bernie Romanowski’s Granny Panty (43.59 seconds). This had to be a bitter pill for Romanowski, a resident of Manchester, who last year also lost to Patel by mere seconds and came in second place.
In the youth division, first place went to Ellery Olson, with a time of 49.83 seconds. His Batman themed boat, “Bruised Wayne” was a marvel in engineering. In fact, the same vessel raced in the last two regattas, last year under the name “Pikachu.” And, fun fact, last year Ellery raced with his family and friends in the six-seater Viking vessel wonder, puzzlingly named, “Cuisine de France” that astonished last year’s crowd for its superior seaworthiness.
Second place in the youth division was Piece of Ship, captained by Aashika Patel (1 min, 7.43 seconds).
Finally, the Best Design/Crowd Favorite trophy was snatched up by Holly Berube and her “Barbie Dreamboat.” Many in the crowd thought the six-seater Tiki hut-themed “Jimmy's All You Can Drink Buffett” should have shared that prize. Alas, Jimmy’s nearly sank (saved only by Bob Hofeldt, who tried desperately to use his body muscle as something of a plug for the left side of the vessel that was taking on water fast as the group lurched toward the finish. (It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, guys.)
In the most important ways, this event has changed little since it began as a small affair between trash talking friends on the harbor all those years ago. One important change? Even though this event is free for all to participate, the regatta has quietly become a fundraiser for cancer research after the Hofeldt’s daughter, Summer, was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 2022 (she’s one year clear of the disease). On Sunday, the event took in $2,000 for Dana Farber Cancer Institute from sales of the event’s tee shirts and hoodies.
The event has also gotten bigger, for sure, in both the number of participants and volunteers. This year, local businesses (like Laughing Gull and Boo Bird) entered their own boats for the first time. Official town staff have become a huge help, like the DPW and the MBTS Police Dept. that worked tirelessly with regatta organizers to ensure a smooth event. (MBTS Police Officer Sean Mullin went further, helming “Manchester Vice” dressed as Miami Vice’s Sonny Crockett).
But, really, in the end, the only obligation of the Manchester by the Sea Cardboard Boat Regatta is to come out on an autumn Sunday autumn, enjoy the often outrageous “expressions of creativity,” and admire what can be made from this collective talent, creativity, engineering, duct tape, and a whole lot of cardboard.
Let the recycling begin.
