A good time was had by all at the 18th annual Cardboard Cup Regatta in Fox Lake this Sunday, as contestants of all ages sailed their soggy ships, all in competition for first place.
Never heard of a Cardboard Cup? It’s where contestants make their own boats with just cardboard, duct tape, and a box cutter. Contestants could either make their boats onsite or offsite, with races being separated accordingly.
The entrance fee of $30 includes a kit with all the materials you need. If you build offsite the only rule is you cannot add anything to the boat that will aid flotation.
Racing in a cardboard boat isn’t easy, as many at the competition will attest. Boats often capsize, and even if they don’t it’s a race against time until the cardboard begins to crumble beneath you.
Michael Anderson and his son Joshua were at the event for the first time. They arrived early to put their boat together.
“We got here about 8:30 and we just started putting it together,” said Michael “They give you a pattern you have to follow for the onsite assembly. The basic shape has to be the same, but you can decorate it with any pattern that you want.”
The Andersons chose to decorate their boat like a dragon, feeling it would strike fear into those they raced against.
“It worked,” exclaimed Michael. “Did you see how scared they were? They went so fast ahead of us it was embarrassing for them!”
Even though they sunk almost immediately after entering the water, it didn’t deter the pair from competing again.
“Next year we’ll have the whole family in there and we’ll all sink,” said Michael.
A similar fate awaited Kyle Ross, who was competing for the first time in the under-age-10 category. His boat capsized during the race. For Kyle, the moment the race went bad was easy to pinpoint.
“I guess it went wrong when I fell out,” said Ross. “The water was pushing me back, it was really hard.”
Amy Serafin, parks and recreation coordinator for the Village of Fox Lake said the Cardboard Cup typically has anywhere between 15 and 20 entrants. She said the event, now running for almost two decades, mostly organizes itself at this point.
“It just comes together,” said Serafin. “You can get your equipment from July 1 at Village Hall. You can put as much or as little into making the boat as you want. Sometimes people put a lot into it, other times people come out and just put 20 minutes into making it. It’s really up to the person.”
Serafin also said that all government departments in Fox Lake come together to provide events like these for the community.
“These events are kind of the backbone of our community,” she said. “Our community comes out and does stuff like this very frequently. We’re very fortunate our mayor is here, our police and fire department are here, and we all come together to provide these events for the community.”
Donny Schmit, mayor of Fox Lake, said the community also does a great job of supporting these events.
“I grew up here as a little boy and we always supported our community,” said Schmit. “Benefits or anything like that always get great community support. So this is just another event that shows you what we’re all about.”
Michael Joyce is a freelancer for the News-Sun.
