Team Edwards exhibits creativity, aquatic skills through Build-a-Boat Competition

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Francesca Carrano
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
The Edwards community showed its prowess on the water as people paddled through the Build-a-Boat Competition on Saturday at the Oasis Aquatic Center here.

Seven teams participated in the yearly event as they tested their teamwork by building a boat out of the materials provided, said Terry Stegman, Oasis Community Center director.

The competitors were given cardboard boxes, rulers, box cutters and duct tape to work with.

"The Build-a-Boat competition is a great opportunity for the Edwards community to come together and have fun," said Col. Andre Gerner, participant with Boy Scout Troop 247's Los Changos Locos. "The different teams have to try building different boat designs and see how they fare under the actual stress of 'battle.'"

With a two-hour time limit set, teams planned strategies, designed their boats, and cut and taped cardboard boxes until they were shaped into seaworthy vessels, while other team members wrote, chanted, danced and practiced team cheers.

"Everybody was working," Colonel Gerner said. "The teams were under the gun to build a boat from scratch in two hours. The half-life of cardboard in water is measured in seconds. It is important that participants come up with a seaworthy design that will last the length of the race. They were hustling all the way to the end."

The competition had four awards to include the Titanic Award, the Ginger Award, the Pom Pom Award and the winner of the boat race competition, Ms. Stegman said.

The boat race was the main event of the day, where competitors raced their boats two full-lengths of an Olympic-size pool.

The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center's 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' won the boat race competition dethroning the defending champion, the 'Aloha Express.'

The 'Aloha Express' paddlers edged the 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' in the first 10 seconds and managed to advance five meters, but the 'Aloha Express' had a hard time making a turn and faltered. The 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' delivered as they outclassed the 'Aloha Express' by about 15 seconds to end the race. The 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' clocked in at 1:48 for the win.

The 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' planned a simple boat design with three boxes stacked together and placed their best paddlers in the boat for the race, said Aqui Caban, a 'Thr33 Ti3r Tug of Terror' crew member. The cheers and support of other team members also gave a boost toward the team's winning.

"Winning the boat race was great," Mr. Caban said. "But, watching everybody else race and cheer, and all the fun that was going on was even better."

'Team Miracle' received the Titanic Award, which was given to the fastest sinking boat. The Ginger Award, which is given to the boat with decorations most appealing to the judges, was awarded to the 'Beach Bratz,' while the Pom Pom Award was given to the Child Development Center team, who had the best cheer.

At the end of the event, all teams received certificates for participation, while the winning teams, in addition, were awarded plaques.