Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta Held In Park

The Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) held its 11th Annual and Final Cardboard Boat Armada sailing in the park’s Sandy Hook unit last month.

Family and friends lined the bank of Plum Island to witness students putting their cardboard boat designs to the test.

Students were split into ten teams to design cardboard boats to shuttle their seven to eight team members across to Plum Island. Each team selected an explorer to research and represent during the project. The design of the cardboard boat had to resemble the explorer’s boat in some way. 

All boats are made from cardboard, contact cement and caulk. Some also have layers of latex paint on the exterior for waterproofing. Even the paddles are constructed of these materials.

The project was created by MAST teachers Mike Ellithorpe and Wendy Green in the spring of 1999. Green also credits the project to Dean Matthews and Brian Reed, both technology education teachers at the Admiral Farragut Middle School in Pennsylvania, for the initial idea. The project has been a great tradition for 11 years and will be remembered by hundreds of students and families who have been associated with the Marine Academy of Science and Technology.

This year, only one boat could be credited with surviving the whole journey. With a creed of “Yes We Can,” Team Powerhouse’s seven boys paddled their way to a strong finish. Their project represented Italian explorer navigator and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.

For next year’s freshman class, Green has chosen to venture into new design projects with her students.

“I am keeping it a bit hush-hush right now,” she says, “but I may be challenging the students to ‘walk on’ or ‘under’ water. For now, that’s my little secret.” 

The Marine Academy of Science and Technology strives to develop literate, ethical and productive members of society empowered to meet the challenges of a global community by providing a rigorous academic environment with a core specialization in marine science and technology. MAST, a co-ed four-year high school, is located in the Fort Hancock Historic Area on the tip of Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

For further information about this program, contact Wendy Green at wgreen@mast.mcvsd.org