LYNN HAVEN — The Titanic II won the day Saturday in an ironic twist at the Shaddai Shriners of Panama City’s inaugural Great Cardboard Boat Regatta at Porter Park in Lynn Haven.
“We hope to keep doing this and providing an outlet for teenagers in Panama City, Bay County and surrounding areas,” said Phil d’Albertis, a potentate for the Shriners. “The bottom line is to get kids out here doing something that’s going to be fun and positive.”
Regatta officials said about 16 teams entered boats made entirely of cardboard, duct tape, glue and paint. The boats had to carry two crew members and survive three trips around a 200-yard course on North Bay. Water safety crews were present in real boats on the course and on the shore.
The first cardboard boat regatta was in 1974 at Southern Illinois University, where a professor assigned it as a final exam for his freshman design class. Shriners member Jim Pappas, chairman of the local regatta, said he went to high school 30 miles from the university.
“I just found out about (the regatta) online, and they’ve been doing it for 40 years. I said, why haven’t we done this here? Look at this water!” Pappas said.
Participants came from Bay County as well as Marianna, Chipley and Blountstown. Some student groups built their boats as school assignments, such as the teams from Mosley High School.
Lorene Lindsay, a retired environmental engineer who now teaches biology and engineering at Mosley, heard about the regatta from Principal Sandy Harrison and thought it would be a great project for her engineering students.
“The kids have learned so much as part of this because it is this huge problem-solving experience for them,” Lindsay said.
Landon Holloway and James Fullerton of Mosley came in second place in the first heat of the day. First place went to the eventual champions, Blountstown High School’s Academic Competition Club in the Titanic II.
“If it sinks, we’ve named it right,” said Titanic II crew member Anthony Wirick.
The team did not expect their boat to do well. If things started to go bad, they planned to shoot for the Titanic Award for most spectacular sinking.
“We’d rather win first. That’s our secondary option,” Wirick said.
Arnold High School’s Navy Junior ROTC entered a boat and won its first heat of the day. The boat, Leviathan, was built with an air pocket underneath the “deck” to add buoyancy.
Captain Alexander Zapata said he spent an entire paycheck — about $200 — on materials for the boat.
“We put some thought into it,” Zapata said.
It was worth the money. The team got two days of school leave to build their boat and bonded over pizza and problem-solving.
Titanic II, crewed by Logan Weiler and Mark Wilson, came in first. Second place went to Landon Holloway and James Fullerton in All the Way Holloway, and third place went to Gabriel Collins and Tim Jansen of Boy Scout Troop 303 in their boat, 3031.
The Team Spirit Award went to Chipley High School with its boats Lopsided Monster and Red Queen of Hearts. The Titanic Award for the most spectacular sinking went to Canton Young and Jeffery Sanderson of Boy Scout Troup 83 in Panama City Beach in their boat, Submarine.
The People’s Choice Award went to Michael Miner and Gribbin Hill of Mosley in Cero Mach II. The Best Dressed Team Award went to Alexander Zapata and Leah Clark in Leviathan. The Vogue Award for most attractive boat went to Faith Shannon of Southport in Keeping the Faith.