O.K. O.K. I know you are wondering what the heck is a minimal regatta. Well let me explain it this way. Besides being a lot of fun and excitement, the word "regatta" means a series of boat races. But, what makes these races so unique is the word "minimal" because that refers to the amount of material that can be used to make these boats. I am told each contestant is given one sheet of plywood, two 2 x 4's, and a roll of duct tape. As you may already know, duct tape is not exactly water proof!
With a minimal amount of material, the folks that build these boats must have a high degree skill and creativity, and the folks that paddle them must be cunning, courageous and small...as in child type small. However, if you are still in a baby stroller, you may be too small for this race! The creativity really comes into play when it comes to decorating these minimal boats as you will see in the pictures below.
This dock is the starting line and finish line...aah, I mean starting dock and finishing dock.
Get Ready! Get Set! Go!
And they're off and running...I mean paddling!
These guys mean business! Don't get in their way or they run over you!
Told ya! Those guys weren't kidding about running you over!
Ahh...Wait a minute...Someone is going the wrong way and that can spell trouble!
This little guy lost more than the race! It's a good thing that the alligators that frequent this area were not invited to the Minimal Regatta! He'd make great gator bait!
This contestant is showing off the bottom of her boat!
This is the face of serious competition, and this captain has a very stable catamaran design.
Look out!!! There's a traffic jam at the red bouy!
This guy has front and rear paddles! Is that fair?
Which turkey is the captain here?
The Turkey In The Front Boat Is Trying To Gobble Up A Victory!
There were several races today. Each race category was determined by the weight of the person paddling the boat. Between some of the races we decided to walk around and check out the festivities. It was a beautiful day and the crowd was taking full advantage of the perfect weather.
No, that is not a boat.
Here's some of the racing boats in dry dock.
I thought this turkey might fly away with this boat!
You can see the duct tape wasn't holding up too well on this boat.
One of the booths we stopped at was the Okeechobee news paper where we were given a replica of the very first news paper in Okeechobee. It's dated July 1, 1915.
I think we'll head home now and enjoy reading the Okeechobee news from 100 years ago and look forward to attending the Minimal Regatta again next year!
