Thompson Aquatic Center was full of white water, soggy cardboard and laughter as University of Redlands students and alumni put their cardboard boats to the test during the Oct. 25 Cardboard Boat Regatta.
This annual Homecoming activity challenges teams to construct a boat using just cardboard and duct tape and race it down and back the length of the Thompson Aquatic Center pool. Started in 2018 by Donna Eddleman, the former vice president of Student Affairs, it is open to alumni and community members.
Student Involvement and Success provided materials for registered teams during the Oct. 18 Build A Boat Day, which took place at 4 p.m. on the Armacost Lawn. Along with the race itself, constructing boats was a highlight for many of the participants.
“We had a fun little group in the shop and it was just nice to bond and tape cardboard together,” Addie Guidos ‘28 of the Outdoor Programs team said.
A total of 12 teams participated in the Oct. 25 race: Redlands Young Life, Outdoor Programs, DAWGS, Students for Environmental Action (SEA) Club, Snow Sports Club, Track & Field, an individual student team, two alumni teams and three Residence Life teams.
Alumni Hien Huynh ‘97 and his son made this boat for the Oct. 25 Cardboard Boat Regatta. It was one of the two boats that managed to stay afloat during the race. 
Members of Redlands Young Life display their “Noah’s Ark” boat for the Oct. 25 Cardboard Boat Regatta. They competed against the Track & Field and “Elf Shoe-In” teams in the first round, and sank near the start. 
Teagan May (left) and Abi Ibarra (right) of SEA Club show off their cardboard hats before the Oct. 25 Cardboard Boat Regatta. These two freshmen ended up swimming the 50 meters after their boat fell apart when they attempted to get in.
Photo Credit: McKenzie Rose
Participants began showing up at Thompson Aquatic Center around 5:30 p.m. to put the finishing touches on their cardboard vessels and devise a game plan. As the race approached, levels of confidence were on both sides of the scale.
“Bigger is better,” Sebastian Saucedo ‘25, said of their Track & Field boat. “The weight will distribute more evenly, which means we can be stable and go fast.”
Other teams were not as optimistic.
“As long as we make it halfway, I’ll be happy,” Adelaide Hubble of the DAWGS team said. “If we make it all the way, I’ll be ecstatic.”
Around 6:30 p.m., the first of four rounds of the 2024 Redlands Homecoming Cardboard Boat Regatta commenced. The Track & Field and Young Life teams experienced great difficulty getting their boats into the water, and ended up watching the “Elf Shoe-In” alumni team complete the round alone as they clung to their dismembered boats. The DAWGS and Residence Life Quad Squad teams suffered a similar fate, dragging their boats across the pool as the other alumni team made a comeback to win the round.
Every team in round three struggled when the horn sounded; Residence Life called it quits after their boat fell apart, the Snow Sports Club’s boat turned into a bobsled as its front gave way, and the Outdoors Program boat slowly sank. The latter of the two ended up dragging theirs the length of the pool, with Outdoor Programs pulling out the win. In the fourth and final round, the Students for Environmental Action (SEA) Club and Residence Life boats capsized while the other Residence Life “SS BAGS” boat made it all but five feet before taking on too much water. When all was said and done, only two boats – both belonging to the alumni teams – remained intact.
With a time of 1:46, ‘97 Alumni Hien Huynh and his ten-year-old son of the “Elf Shoe-In” alumni team claimed the title.
This was the Huynh family’s third Redlands Cardboard Boat Regatta and second victory, as they won the 2018 inaugural regatta.
“We’ve made this a tradition,” Huynh said, adding that they plan to return next year.
The costume winners were also announced, with the SS BAGS team winning the Best Cardboard Costume Design while the Snow Sports Club team was deemed the Best Boat Design. A small awards ceremony then followed, where each team was presented with trophies.
Wrapping up the event, Jillian Strong, the assistant director of Student Involvement and Success, thanked everyone for attending and encouraged them to return for next year’s regatta.
McKenzie Rose is a freshman at Redlands with interests in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She worked for the last three years as a freelance journalist with the Hermiston Herald, a newspaper near her hometown of Echo, Oregon. She is looking forward to covering the interesting, the exciting, and the intriguing happenings at the university for the Redlands Bulldog!
