Pasco Cardboard Boat Race Sets Sail This Weekend

HUDSON, FL – For the third straight year, Pasco County is challenging its residents to build boat worthy of crossing the mighty Veterans Memorial Park Pool.

The Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department is hosting its third annual Cardboard Boat Race on Saturday, July 15 starting at 4 p.m. The event will take place at Veterans Memorial Park Pool, 14333 Hicks Road in Hudson.

Advance registration is not required for the event, but regular pool entry fees apply for admittance. Entry is $4 per adult, $3 per child, while children 2 and younger are free. The competition is open to social groups, families, friends, business organizations and individuals.

The Cardboard Boat Race features two competitions open to the public, and the Challenge Cup, where Pasco County departments compete against each other for victory and bragging rights.

“This event creates a fun and competitive environment,” said Rob Mahler, Pasco County Parks site supervisor. “County departments challenge each other in a friendly competition for a year’s worth of bragging rights and then our pool patrons can get in on the fun, too.”

Boats in the competition can be made only with cardboard, duct tape and paper tubes and must have clearly defined sides. There is no minimum or maximum size, and they can hold up to two people. Decorations are encouraged, as long as they don’t provide any competitive advantage, such as floatation devices.

In the Challenge Cup, the first event of the afternoon, staff from Pasco County Emergency Management, Libraries, Facilities, Fleet and Fire Rescue have signed up to face off in the pool. The public is invited to cheer them on before the open competitions start.

The two contests in which the public can duke it out are the Race Across the Pool and the Last Boat Standing. During the Race Across the Pool, participants are provided two ping pong paddles as their only means of moving across the 25-yard pool. In the Last Boat Standing, participants can use any paddles to help their boat remain afloat the longest.

For more information and complete rules, visit the 2017 Aquatics Special Events web page at http://fl-pascocounty.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=2501. For more information about the Veterans Memorial Park Pool, visit http://www.pascocountyfl.net/index.aspx?nid=2498 or call (727) 861-3033.

Images courtesy of the Pasco County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department