Boats, spirits buoyant at Fox Lake cardboard regatta
Paddlers at Fox Lake's annual Cardboard Cup Regatta had as much fun out of the water Sunday as they had rowing through it.
Prior to launching their cardboard-and-duct tape concoctions, they spent copious amounts of creative energy on clever boat designs and names. Some even donned thematic wardrobe.
Schaumburg resident Brooke Truman's sons Jacob, 14, and Zakkary, 11, launched the "dinosaur DNA" boat.
"We made squigglys and then we crossed them and then we said it looks like DNA, so we added bars," Jacob said.
On the back of the boat was spray painted the words, "HOPE IT FLOATS."
It was the 20th edition of the event, held Sunday at Lakefront Park. Nick Warner, Fox Lake director of parks and recreation, said 13 boats were registered as of 15 minutes before the race, a number comparable to last year.
Contestants could either build off site or on site - the park opened at 8 a.m. to boat builders.
This year, paddlers who competed in previous regattas could excuse themselves for feeling a little disoriented, since the course was switched around, with the start and finish line located next to the dock. That used to be the turnaround point.
The judges included Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit.
"I have been coming to it since the very beginning," he said, adding that it used to be held at Mineola Bay.
He recalled one year's event, in which a group of firefighters built a boat out of industrial cardboard and rigged it with an outboard motor.
The field Sunday included entries from local businesses, including Fox Lake resident Rich Mitchell's A Better Plumber. He was busy before the event applying duct tape and even using a drill on his boat, which was manned by his "captain," Mitchell Alcock, his secretary's grandson.
"We got a trophy last year for the fastest-sinking boat," Mitchell said. "But we're aiming to do better this year."
Angel Santiago and Aiden Miles, both 10, named their boat the "S.S. Minnow" and were dressed as Skipper and Gilligan, respectively. Their uncle, Lenny Miles of Ingleside, said the boys were watching "Gilligan's Island" all week to study.
Another boat, "The Islander," occupied by Kristin Tarrant, Lann Tarrant and 6-year-old Lann of Wauconda, was built to express Tarrant's culture.
"It's an outrigger. We're American Samoan. Hence the theme," said the older Lann Tarrant, who sported a lei around his neck.
The boats proved surprisingly durable, with virtually none of them sinking - even the "Emoji Boat," which was with emoticons and paddled by Fox Lake-area youths Lorelei Denny, Cooper Schiller, Amber Martin, Grace Szczesny and Kelsey Franz.
"When we were falling to the side, we just leaned to the other side," Franz said.