Inaugural Cardboard Boat Regatta
They stayed afloat and they raced
With a loud and appreciative audience of more than 200 cheering them on, six boats made largely of cardboard and duct tape raced for the glory of claiming the inaugural Cross Keys Cardboard Boat Regatta championship on Friday, June 4, in the Harvey S. Kline Wellness Center pool at Cross Keys Village – The Brethren Home Community.
When it was all over, the entry of the Grounds Department, crewed by Phil Turner and Joe Shadle and paddled by Kyle Hench, took the victory. Their boat, bearing the slogan, “Paddle like U stole it,” won its heat race and then defeated the Viking Ship in a “playoff.”
The 17-foot-long Viking Ship was created and crewed by a group of villagers and team members – it even had an “engineer.” It was one of two entries with two paddlers; the others had a single paddler and varied in size, with the smallest a Dale Earnhardt Jr. race car-themed boat piloted by villager Jack Cox.
The event was part of the first anniversary celebration of the Wellness Center.
Winning the Regatta – Grounds Department team member Kyle Hench pulls
away from the boat of “Vikings” Ron Hess and Kristin Orwick to win the
inaugural Cross Keys Cardboard and Duct Tape Boat Regatta Friday.
A victory, then “lost at sea” – Grounds Department members (from left,
in sinking boat) Phil Turner, Kyle Hench and Joe Shadle go down with their ship in the Harvey S. Kline Wellness Center pool after winning the inaugural Cross Keys Cardboard Boat Regatta. With Hench manning the paddles, the winners captured a heat race and “playoff,” when they defeated the Viking Ship in the background, crewed by Grounds Director Jay Rohrbach (in water), villager Ron Hess
and Wellness Director Kristin Orwick.
Seaworthy and ready to race again – The six Cardboard Boat Regatta entries await the judges’ decision as to which would participate in the playoff.
More photos from the Cardboard Boat Regatta
Photos by Tom Lesser
