FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — While thunderstorms moved through the area most of the morning, the weather cleared just in time for Fort Leonard Wood’s annual Cardboard Boat Race Saturday at Training Area 250, organized by the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
According to Eli Wilson, FMWR Community Activities manager, 17 two-person teams entered boats in this year’s competition, and the teams each competed in one of two divisions — adult and family — for four award categories:
- The High Seas Award, for the most spirited team;
- The Admiral’s Pride Award, for the best creativity and design;
- The Torpedo Award, for the fastest finish; and
- The Titanic Award, for the most-epic sinking.
This year’s adult division winners included:
- “The Procrastinators,” consisting of team members Jennifer Reynolds and Xemenia Gomez, who took home the High Seas Award;
- “Spartans,” consisting of team members Michael Kaiser and Ivan Cruz, who took home the Admiral’s Pride Award;
- “All Steel Dragons,” consisting of team members Brad Miller and Keith Robinet, who took home the Torpedo Award; and
- “Compos 2&3,” consisting of team members Dennis Hatch — who brought his three-year-old son, Carlyle, along — and Byron Steele, who took home the Titanic Award.
This year’s family division winners included:
- “Mata Family,” consisting of team members Leo and Jeremiah Mata, who took home the High Seas Award;
- “Plummer Family,” consisting of team members Aric “Luigi” and Caleb “Mario” Plummer, who took home the Admiral’s Pride Award;
- “Chubbz Boiz,” consisting of team members Joseph Chabries and his three-year-old son, Rowan, who took home the Torpedo Award; and
- “Cook Family,” consisting of team members Jacob and Leo Cook, who took home the Titanic Award.
For the “Chubbz Boiz,” the inspiration for their raft design came from a recent viewing of a 20-year-old Tom Hanks film.
“We watched ‘Cast Away’ recently,” Chabries said. “We didn’t want to spend too much time devising a huge raft, especially because we were pretty sure we would sink. We just wanted to take advantage of a really small box, or small raft, if you will.”
Chabries and his “first mate,” Rowan, not only didn’t sink — they ended up being the quickest family division team. The elder Chabries described how they maximized buoyancy and water proofing with some cardboard air cylinders, clear-coat paint and duct tape.
“What we did was use one layer of flat cardboard box, and then we rolled up some cylindrical tubes from cardboard, stuck them in there, and then waterproofed it from all sides, so water couldn’t seep into those air cylinders,” he said. “We used duct tape on the sides, and then we did some clearcoat water-based paint on the flat sides.”
This year’s race was their first, and Chabries said they had a lot of fun — he also noted FMWR “did a great job setting this up.”
“It was a good set up, a good turnout,” he said. “And the weather turned out great.”
Chabries offered a tip for future competitors to be successful.
“Waterproof everything,” he said.
FMWR Director Megan O’Donoghue called this year’s event, “absolutely amazing.”
“I love to see the families come out, and I also love to see the units that come out — and the creativity, and some of the non-creativity, but at least the enthusiasm out there on the water,” she said.
Asked how much of the boat needed to come back with the competitors to count as a successful run, O’Donoghue said, “a piece of cardboard.”
“As long as they had that piece of cardboard in their hand, they were still in it,” she said with a laugh. “That is all we require.”
Presenting the awards this year was Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general, who thanked everyone for coming out.
“This is a great event,” he said. “I really appreciate everybody coming out here and having a great time.”
More photos from this year’s event are available to view and download on the Fort Leonard Wood Flickr page and FMWR’s Flickr page.
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