The Lakefront Festival in Hobart was the host to the 14th annual Dam Duct Tape and Cardboard boat race.
For the last six years, the winner of the race was a father and son duo, Michael Bates and John Holland, who were invincible with their “Corn Getter” duct tape and cardboard boat. However, this year’s race would tell a different story as the duo didn’t compete this time around.
Frank Wischman, a Hobart resident, wasn’t rooting for any team in particular for the race this year. Although he always comes out to support the boat race at the Lakefront Festival.
“I come here pretty much every year,” Wischman said. “It’s a nice venue overall and I always have to check this event out. It’s nice to have the music playing right behind us as well.”
Joe Stefaniak was one of the contestants in this year’s race. His boat was known as the Shark.
“We tried to make the boat as aerodynamic as possible to get us through the race,” Stefaniak said. “Obviously the wind plays a factor, but it’s just great to be a part of it this year. We wanted to last year, but just missed the deadline.”
Stefaniak’s son, Anthony, was the one who came up with the shark concept for the boat. They created a dorsal fin for Joe and a shark head for Anthony to wear on their heads during the race. The Shark was awarded as the most creative boat for the evening. They were happy to get the chance to showcase a special family project at Festival Park.
“This is a beautiful activity,” Stefaniak said. “I love that we’re able to show everyone our family creation at a park that has a safe and exciting environment.”
Another first-time contestant this year was Yaz Abdulla, who was commanding the LP (Lake Park) Floater. The boat was built by a team of nurses and other staff members at the Outpatient Surgery Center in Hobart.
“We finished putting it together in a week,” Abdulla said. “It was a lot of fun to create. You get to listen to everyone’s different opinions and insights on what might work and what could fail. We had a pretty good time.”
Abdulla said that his team utilized plenty of tape, hoping it could be the secret element to helping them come away with the victory today.
Many of the contestants came into this race with the hope to become first-time winners. And at the end of the race, it was the Otters who did just that and came out victorious in a very narrow finish.
In previous years, the duct tape and cardboard boat race would always honor the boat that had the best sink. However, Nikki Lopez, event coordinator with the City of Hobart, said that this was the first year of the race’s history that none of the boats ended up sinking.
“We’ve been doing this race for a while now and it’s a pretty cool feeling that all of the boats were able to finish intact,” Lopez said. “It goes to show that the contestants are getting craftier and putting a lot of thought into their cardboard boats, which is a great sign for the future of the event as well.”
The Hobart Fire Rescue was on duty during the race for precautionary purposes.
Some of the attendees described the race as hilarious and chaotic. Each team that won the race or another category was awarded a cash prize.
Tomorrow is the last day for the Lakefront Festival. Some of the events for tomorrow include the kid’s zone, food and craft vendors, a beer garden, live musical performances from Steel Country and Nawty, and the Dam Duck Race. The activities start at noon.
For more information about the Lakefront Festival, you can visit the City of Hobart’s official website.
