Nearly 1,000 watch boat-building contest
Much fun was had during an event hosted by Hudson River Maritime Museum on the Rondout waterfront.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Much fun was had on Saturday during an allday event hosted by Hudson River Maritime Museum on the Rondout waterfront.
It was the city and regional premier for the National Wooden Boat Building Challenge, part of a growing East Coast waterfront trend.
Almost 1,000 people watched 12 teams compete to quickly construct small wooden rowboats, using only hand-held tools.
Later, the teams relay-raced against each other in the Rondout Creek.
Winners are invited to participate at a much larger contest in Georgetown, S.C., scheduled for late October. Similar semifinal rounds also take place in Beaufort, N.C., and Belfast, Maine. The event began in 1981 at the Wooden Boat Show in Newport, R.I.
“Everybody’s got the same materials, building the same boat, they get judged for speed and quality, and then we put ’em in the water,” explained Rob Dwelley, a carpenter from Camden, Maine, longtime organizer and former champion.
“It’s a 12-foot, flat-bottom pram, a very simple boat, very utilitarian, easy to build, nothing fancy, all plywood, pretty straightforward,” Dwelley said.
He said craftsmanship is endangered in the modern age. “As we see skills die, we try to keep them alive,” he said.
Teams included four doctors, four local Bruderhof members, Kingston brewer Tommy Keegan, and a burly pair of men with matching beards, who drove up from North Carolina to defend their title.
A cannon boom commenced the race segment, as each paired-off team took turns paddling around a buoy marker lo-
cated halfway between the shorelines. Several boats leaked, but none sank, although one got marooned by a wind gust, and many
had difficulty switching pilots.
The champions, Bobby Staab and Josh Fulp of Carteret County, N.C., put together their boat, named Carolina Flair, in 2 hours and 16 minutes. The duo holds the world record of 1:35:26 for constructing the
current Carolina Bateau design plan, achieved last year during the 2016 Georgetown event.
A secret weapon gave the winners a distinct advantage for the rowing race — a set of special oars made with strong wood and curved blades, allowing
maximum power with each stroke of their muscular arms. Rules specify that oars used must be handmade prior to the event.
Staab urged parents to get their children involved in future boat building challenge events, to help develop manual skills.