Whatever floats your boat.
Conner Wicklum and, in back, Eric Labrecque, paddle like mad during the Skills Canada cardboard boat races in Barrhaven on Jan. 26. The two Grade 7 students from Franco Ouest French Catholic high school formed one of more than 30 teams that made and then raced their boats.
Nevil Hunt
BARRHAVEN-NEPEAN - Cardboard and tape are suitable materials for building
boats. Sometimes.
More than 35 teams of elementary school students from across
eastern Ontario tested their engineering and construction skills on Jan. 26 in
Barrhaven.
The grade 7 and 8 students were given two hours to make a
boat from about six square metres of corrugated cardboard and a limited amount
of duct and packing tape. They then tested their vessels in races across the 25-metre
pool inside the Walter Baker Centre.
Roughly half the boats carried a crew of two paddlers
successfully across the pool, where they were then subjected to a weight test.
Team members were added until each vessel reached its limit and finally sunk.
Each school was awarded points for speed and strength.
The top school overall this year was Marie-Rivier Catholic
elementary school, which is located in Kingston.
The fastest boat was skippered by Luke Hardey and Bailey
McLuckie of south Nepean’s Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School; they
covered 25 metres in 22.4 seconds.
Jeanne-Lajoie Catholic elementary school of Pembroke, Ont.,
managed to hold the most weight, taking on 241 kilograms before sinking.
Stats from the past 15 years show the speed record was set
at the Nepean event in 2009, when one boat zipped 25 metres in 15.03 seconds.
The record for weight was set in 2006 in Waterloo, Ont., when students managed
to load 641 kilograms onto a boat before it went under.
This is the 15th year Skills Canada has hosted the boat
races. Building cardboard boats tested the students’ design and construction abilities.
The students also learned about team-building and appeared to have a lot of fun
during the races.
Skills Canada is a not-for-profit organization that works
with employers, educators and governments to promote skilled trades and
technology careers.