Destin Middle Schooners set sail in cardboard race (with VIDEO)

On Friday, the seventh graders of Destin Middle School rocked their boats at the 11th annual Cardboard Boat Race at Clement Taylor Park.

A total of 65 boats fashioned from cardboard lined up for inspection by the nine judges on best design and best theme. Boats that were eligible for the race were constructed only of cardboard, paint, glue and duct tape.

Everyone was amazed as the array of designs and themes, including Crayola, Cat in the Hat, NYC Water Taxi, Super Smash Mario Brothers, SpongeBob, Kanttellya, Lucky Red Snapper and Ninja Turtles were put on display prior to the race.

As the judges made their rounds, the students, dressed to match their boats, explained their designs and themes.

One of the most festive designs belonged to The Candy Shop. Jennifer Bazylak, Stephanie Pridgen and Camille Haeusler gave out candy from their colorful creation.

“We’ve worked on it since Spring Break,” the girls told The Log.

The craftsmanship that went into several of the designs was equally impressive.

Tyler Kinard of Buck One explained the strategy for giving their boat buoyancy.

“The hull has eight layers [of cardboard], and we used glue to seal it out,” he says.

Kinard, Austin Campbell, Andrew Mitchell and Blake James all donned camouflage and face paint to match their woodsy creation.

One sight to behold was Jenny. Dan Schmidt, Kyle Saleeby and Corey Starr, manufactured an exact replica from the shrimp boat in Forrest Gump.

“We have a shrimp boat in real life, so we thought we’d do the Bubba Gump Shrimp boat,” Schmidt says.

Anxious students were joined by a crowd of supportive parents that waited to see if the boats would sink or swim.

Emma Boone’s father, Daniel, told everyone to “Root for the Fruit!” as they passed.

Root for the Fruit was crewed by Emma, Elizabeth Phillips, Maggie Gashaw and Lindsey Harrell, all dubbing themselves as pieces of fruit to sit in the boat made to look like a giant basket.

“You get to see the creativity of the students,” said judge Howard Hill of the Okaloosa County School Board. “You will be amazed at how well some of them do.”


And the winners are......
Davey Jones Locker Award (funniest sinker): NYC Water Taxi — Delaney Bell, Mary Margaret Clark, Maria Galati, Kallee Pugh
Best Boat Theme: Ninja Turtles — Phoenix Catao, Meredith Corcoran, Alex Matthews, Haley Prescott
Best Boat Design: Root for the Fruit — Emma Boone, Maggie Gashaw, Lindsey Harrell, Elizabeth Phillips
3rd Place in Finals: The Super Smash Bros. — Seth Arnold, Javier Marquez, Alex McNair
2nd Place in Finals: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. — Kyle Saleeby, Corey Starr, Dan Schmidt
1st Place in Boat Race: Old Timer — Austin Jenrich, Ben Hughes