Aug 23 - Summer Fun At Charity Cardboard Boat Race
Now in its 8th year, the now infamous Ocean Village/RAOB Charity Cardboard Boat Race took place at Ocean Village Marina on Saturday at midday and with the temperature topping out at 32 degrees, many participants welcomed a refreshing dip in the marina waters when several of their cardboard boat creations, as expected, fell apart at the first hurdle.
The fantastically creative Children’s race entries “Killer Shark”, “Killer Croc” and the “Batmobile” all paddled their way to the finish line in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively and walked away with a number of exciting prizes.
The adult’s race had an impressive 10 entries, each more innovative than the last – which made judging a slightly difficult affair. RAOB’s “HMS Buffalo” - a cardboard tank-boat complete with turrets and team camouflage outfits - paddled their way to victory in first place. They were closely followed by JP Haulage in their Simpsons themed car-boat, and “Boat-Anic”, suitably adorned with tropical plants from the Alameda Gardens, came third.
The children’s race prize for Best Boat Design was won by “Batmobile” for their lifelike Batman creation.
Similarly, the prize for Best Boat Design for the senior’s race was awarded to the Gibraltar Air Cadets for their aeroplane-boat complete with miniature torpedoes.
The Titanic Sinking prize was awarded to “St. Bernadette Heroes”, whose cardboard creation sank in the most spectacular fashion.
A special prize also was awarded to Clubhouse Gibraltar for the significant effort that had been made by the volunteers in the construction of their lifeboat inspired boat.
On Saturday, the day’s Marina Festival activities after the Cardboard Boat Race (which finished at around 1pm) included kayaking courtesy of Wilson Kayak Rentals, HM Customs boat rides, stand up paddle boarding (SUP) from In2Adventures, Thundercat boat experience by GEM and a bouncy castle from House of Bounce, with a DJ spinning summery tunes until 5.30pm. On Sunday 21st, the Marina Festival continued at 1pm with Water Zorb balls, speed boat rides, kayaking and bouncy castle.
Emilia Hazell-Smith, Marketing Executive at Ocean Village said: “The Charity Cardboard Boat Race is always fun to watch and be a part of; it is such a vibrant atmosphere. It’s exciting to see the lengths that the participants go to and the effort that is demonstrated each year.
"As always, we would like to thank all of our sponsors in and around Ocean Village who each give generously to this event in aid of this year’s charity: Autism Support Gibraltar. On this occasion, we decided to do something a little different and the Marina Festival weekend’s various water sport activities were welcomed by both locals and tourists alike, with a percentage of the proceeds going to GBC Open Day.”
Don’t forget, the Cardboard Boat Race and corresponding Marina Festival will be held every year, so make some space in your diary in August and come down to Ocean Village Gibraltar next year for the most fun you can have on or IN the water!
{fcomment}
