The south shore of Tempe Town Lake was scattered with 80 hand-made cardboard boats Saturday built to resemble a rubber duck, a Volkswagen Bus and even a Napoleon Dynamite-inspired "Liger."
The sixth annual Great Cardboard Boat Regatta was put on by the Tempe Rotary Club and raised about $12,000 for the Thomas J. Pappas School for Children of Homeless Families.
Darryl Toupkin, the event producer, said roughly 8,000 spectators attended the race to watch the teams compete for fastest boat, as well as other prizes such as the Vogue Award for the best-dressed boat and the Titanic Award for the most dramatic sinking.
Depending on the category,the team chose, the boats could be powered by use of oars or a pedaling mechanism. Boats were built to hold entire teams, ranging from two to 10 or more people.
"All boats are made of 100 percent cardboard," Toupkin said. Participants are allowed to use glue and tape to hold the boat together.
The Rotaract Club of ASU, a college division of rotary, has been participating in the event for three years, said Clare Richard, the club's president and a multi-lingual, multi-cultural elementary education sophomore.
"Since we're the college level of rotary, we thought it was important to support rotary and the Thomas J. Pappas School," Richard said.
"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" inspired the Rotaract Club's boat, The Golden Ticket, Richard said. The 15-foot boat was painted blue and white, with a blue canopy, similar to the boat in the movie.
The crew consisted of nine ASU students costumed to fit their theme. "We're aiming to win best-dressed team," Richard said.
They did not win the award, but their Oompa Loompa makeup and hair drew a great deal of attention from the children in the crowd.
ASU students also volunteered at the event. Lynne Gabrielson, a communication junior, said 30 to 40 members of Camp Sparky, a community service organization dedicated to promoting higher education to local children, volunteered Saturday.
Camp Sparky members helped teams move their boats out of the water after races and manned fundraising tables for the Pappas School.
The final race of the day named the Hulacinations boat, captained by Randy Smith of Tempe, the year's winner of the people-powered boats. The pale-blue Hawaiian-themed boat also won the Vogue Award.
The team was made up of friends from around the Valley and even one member from Ireland.
"We just do this for fun," Smith said.
Reach the reporter at emilia.arnold@asu.edu.
