Some people have a knack for turning cardboard and duct tape into a veritable work of art. Then, too, there are those who fail to recognize that using a single ply layer of the stuff with a hank of tape here and there is a virtual guarantee that you will sink your WonderBoat in near record time when it gets its first sip of river water.
Both ends of the spectrum were clearly evident Thursday night as businesses, divisions of businesses, organizations, and even Superstar Broadcasters sometimes learned the hard way that there is a direct corollary between concerted effort and success or failure.
More than five dozen cardboard watercraft slipped into the St. Joseph River’s inner harbor turning basin in front of thousands of gleeful spectators, each awaiting the next flimsy flip into the drink or the next dynamic pace set by frenetic paddlers eager to win the Cardboard Cup of the year.
Sixty-four entries in Whirlpool’s 3rd Annual Rock the Boat competition to benefit United Way ran the gamut from Rock 107’s simple slab of multi-layered cardboard cheaply disguised to replicate a massive door from the Titanic ocean liner of yore to the Caring Circle’s stylish and colorful award-winning rendition of the balloon tethered house from the animated movie “Up!” which garnered the Judge’s Award for Most Creative entry.
In between you could find everything from Parrothead’s to Pirates, from Marvel Comics Avengers to the time-traveling DeLorean from “Back in Time.”
Early arrivers at the full night of fun along the rim of the inner harbor fronting the Inn at Harbor Shores were able to wander through the staging area “pits” side by side with Judges for the event Mayor Mike Garey, Berrien County Undersheriff Chuck Heit and manufacturing maven Gloria Ender from Freedom Finishing of Benton Harbor. There they were met with colorful characters, delightful, semi-delightful, colorful and creative, and sometimes head-scratching “what the?’ entries depicting all measure of themes.
Strolling the waterfront, spectators and participants alike were able to enjoy craft brews, cocktails, a food truck, the offerings of the poolside Tiki bar, Plank’s dining room and porch, the Torch & Tapas menu, outdoor chair massages from The Spa at Harbor Shores, a Jumbotron TV screen showing live coverage of the heats, drones from Great Lakes Drone Company flying overhead, live radio broadcast, Facebook Live pieces up and down pit row, DJ music and play by play of the heats, raffle prizes and an afternoon and evening filled with great fun.
Rivalries between community college entries, craft brewers, internal divisions of Whirlpool, broadcast radio stations and others resulted in some hilarious antics on the water. For the third year in a row North Pier Brewing had difficulty even getting out of the starters chute, while competitors “hopped” to the task. While the trip from the chute to the starting line had Lake Michigan College looking like a sure winner, once the starter’s airhorn fired Southwestern Michigan College took command and the heat.
An elegant replica of a Jolly Roger Pirate Ship convinced the judges that Whirlpool’s H-R team was worthy of the award for Best Theme with their “H-Aaargh!” watercraft. It was impressive to the judges, but the People’s Choice Award was granted to the WiproBot from Wipro Limited. There might have been considerable ballot stuffing for that honor inasmuch as the craft was little more than a whitewashed octagon tub with the only color stemming from the multi-colored logo from that global IT firm.
Nearly 19-percent of the fleet sank before completing their buoy to buoy runs in the harbor. That’s 12 of the 64 entries that failed to finish.
Top honors go to the sleek S.S. Safe Launch from Whirlpool which finished in a speedy 1 minute and 12 seconds. Wightman & Associates’ S.S. Hasselhoff finished second with a time of 1 minute 32 seconds, and advertising agency Holt Bosse’s svelte Wise Kraken was only a second behind at 1 minute 33 seconds. The fourth place finisher, which didn’t compete in the final chase was Fenner Homes “Maiden Lane Cottages” entry that complete their first run in 1 minute 37 seconds, while the Whirlpool Sears Team’s “Still Afloat” clocked in at 1:39 for 5th place overall.
The entry fees and some other donations pushed the initial total to more than $20,000 for the United Way of Southwest Michigan campaign, but still to be tallied are things like raffle ticket sales, food and beverage “givebacks” and other miscellaneous ledger entries, so stay tuned.
With the rampant success of the first three years of this colorful event, you can likely rest assured that their will be a Rock-the-Boat Four-Point-Oh in 2019 so make plans to be there, especially if you haven’t had the chance to get there yet.
I have added more than 500 additional photos at the Moody on the Market Facebook fan page tonight. Here’s a link for those photos:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/MoodyOnTheMarket/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2632534850304950
To see the full list of final times and heat match-up results, click the link below:
http://www.uwsm.org/rocktheboat
(Note: an earlier version had incorrect positioning in the top three as provided by United Way, but this report is now correct as is reflected in the official time records provided in the above link.)
