What do you get when you combine a creative spirit, an engineering mindset and the desire to out race your fellow boating competitors? Well, when you add in corrugated/cardboard, duct tape, paint, wax and a few well-placed props; you end up with a very successful outdoor cardboard boat race.
This year’s event, presented by Tri County Equipment, was held at the ever popular Lake Inn in Lapeer, Michigan. Perfect weather helped draw several hundred spectators and enthusiasts to the event. They were not disappointed.
In all, there were over 30 competitors in the multi-heat race line up. Each one came ready to showcase their design capabilities and superior paddling skills. Trophies and prizes were awarded to the top (3) teams in both a general category and a sponsor category and a portion of the proceeds went to benefit the Lapeer County FFA.
Landaal Packaging Systems, a primary sponsor of the event and a competitor in the sponsor division, placed 2nd overall in the time trials with their Miss Daisy boat design. The boat was master engineered by Glenn Smith, a senior designer, for the company located out of Flint, Michigan.
“It was my first attempt at designing a fully operational boat” stated Glenn. “Overall, I would say it was a success. No leaks and a pretty good initial time.”
The boat was manned by Landaal’s sales support specialist Miss Stephanie Barron and her ship mate Blake Garland. “The boat was easy to maneuver and best of all kept me dry”, shared Stephanie.
Landaal Packaging Systems has been in the corrugated industry for over 55 years, but has not typically been in the boat building business. They have four core niches which are corrugated manufacturing, contract packaging, sustainable packaging and graphic/point of purchase display manufacturing.
Good fun, great weather, and cardboard boat racing are always a winning combination. Stay tuned for the date and time of next year’s event!