Cardboard boat race

The earliest documented cardboard boat regatta was a class assignment created by Richard Archer at Southern Illinois University in 1974,[1] and since then, the practice has only expanded, with an "International Cardboard Boat Regatta" occurring annually in New Richmond, Ohio.

[2] According to an article published in the Middle School Journal, cardboard boat racing can be used as a way to get students interested in STEM fields by approaching an engineering challenge with "hands-on" learning.

Some competitions are even more limiting, such as the New Richmond Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta, which only allows paint for waterproofing, and duct tape for construction, explicitly banning the use of glue or sheets.

In Rainy River, Ontario, races are held in two divisions each year with simple rules: New Richmond, Ohio, is home to the world's "only cardboard boat museum".

[7] The annual regatta takes place off the town's riverbank on the Ohio River and attracts "thousands of spectators" each year.

US Navy personnel paddling cardboard boats in Guantánamo Bay
Some participants of the annual cardboard boat race on Suicide Sunday 2011 at the University of Cambridge .
The 2011 running of the annual Cardboard Boat Regatta in Alpena , Michigan .