Creativity counts for boatbuilders in Lake Ellyn Cardboard Regatta

One year, Jim Craig and his friends and family built a 37-foot-long cardboard guitar and set it afloat on Lake Ellyn.

Another year, the same crew turned a bunch of corrugated cardboard into a giant power drill and sailed around on top of it in the Glen Ellyn lake.

Then there was the summer the Craig boatbuilding team made a floating Swiss Army knife and headed back to the same shimmering waters in hopes of capturing a title.

And finally, the most recent time Craig and his cohorts entered the annual Lake Ellyn Cardboard Regatta, back in 2011, they crafted a cardboard boat resembling a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. That year, the 21-foot-long, 9-foot-high cardboard watercraft, powered by an eight-man rowing crew, took first place in the adult category.

So, now, with the 25th annual Lake Ellyn Cardboard Regatta coming up Saturday, June 30, Craig and company are planning their return to the race as competitors after a six-year hiatus. What kind of crazy contraption will they shuttle to the shore and push off into the water when the races begin at noon?

"This year, I had to keep my promise to my wife," said Craig, a Glen Ellyn resident.

He said his wife, Kandy, enamored of the movie, "The Italian Job," was inspired by the film's footage of Mini Cooper subcompacts zipping around through traffic. She urged him to next build a couple of sports car-style boats as an homage to the BMW roadster.

"I got a hold of Mini Cooper and they agreed to sponsor us," he said, adding that the company helped with supply expenses.

"We go through about 12 gallons of glue," he said.

The result - two Mini Cooper boats, one sporting a racing stripe, each measuring 12 feet long and 4 feet wide - will be the Craig family entries into this year's regatta.

"They weigh 150 pounds apiece," he said.

Craig said he doesn't expect them to outperform the competition in terms of speed, but he is confident they will not sink, capsize or otherwise fail to finish.

"They'll do fine on the water," he said.

While Craig hasn't entered the race for six years, he has remained involved. Last year, he said, he was a race judge. And in each of the intervening years, he's been teaching cardboard boatbuilding classes through the Glen Ellyn Park District, the organization that presents the regatta.

"For me, teaching the class is the most rewarding," he said. "We try to give people enough tips so they can build a boat, it'll be seaworthy and they can get around the lake. A flat-bottomed boat works better than a rounded bottom."

Craig said his regatta habit led to another avocation: using cardboard as an art medium.

"We did (the regatta) for 12 years. I took a break from it to transition to doing more cardboard sculptures," he said.

He said he regularly competes in a summer art fair known as ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his cardboard creations, which so far include an 8-foot-tall eagle and a Texas longhorn bull currently housed in his business office.

The regatta's 25th anniversary will be celebrated with the sale of event T-shirts on race day, said Mary DeFiglia, the park district's assistant superintendent of special facilities.

At least 46 cardboard vessels will attempt to sail the lake and beat their rivals for prizes in the youth, family and adult categories, she said. Prizes also will be awarded for most creative boat, team spirit and best sinking.

"It's a little more than we've had in the past couple years. We're pretty excited about that," DeFiglia said. "We're just looking for bigger, better and faster boats."

The registration deadline for boating teams is noon Friday, June 29. The fee is $50 per boat.

Before the race begins, the Picnic in the Park presented by the Glen Ellyn Fourth of July Committee will begin at 11 a.m. More than 16 food trucks and food carts will be on site offering cookies, Italian ices, hot dogs, tacos, Asian dishes and barbecued treats, committee member Dawn Smith said.

If you go

What: Lake Ellyn Cardboard Regatta and Picnic in the Park

When: Regatta begins at noon Saturday, June 30; picnic is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Lake Ellyn Park and Lake Ellyn, 645 Lenox Road, Glen Ellyn

Admission: Free for spectators; $50 registration fee per boat

Info: gepark.org