Between 40 and 50 boaters raced Saturday along Crystal Lake’s Main Beach to join the 25th annual America’s Cardboard Cup Regatta as spectators cheered all ages who designed boats using cardboard, duct tape, and creativity.
Taking five weeks to build was a Mystery Machine from the Scooby-Doo cartoon, proving that vans can float.“This is the one fun thing we do every year,” Lynette Collins said. “We put more into it than cardboard and duct tape.” Some racers used oars or water wheels to move. Members of Lost Cause used snow shovels to cross the finish line first. Team member Josh Brownell of the eight-member crew said he was surprised, as they expected that their boat would sink halfway through. “It doesn’t hurt we had twice as many people as the other boat,” Brownell said. Races were filled with dramatic moments when team Down, who designed the house with balloons from the movie “Up,” took an early dive. There also were close races, such as when Shark Steaks defeated POS #4 by a nose. “It was adrenaline that got us to the end,” teammate Joe Fike of Crystal Lake said.
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