Cypress’s 2024 boat races have come to a close! Students in physics class were tasked with building a boat with only duct tape, cardboard, and some paint.
Many racers decided to have fun with their teams and boats, creating fun themes around them. These boats were decorated with all kinds of fun and unique designs. These included: a bright pink Barbie boat, a cake boat, a Wing Stop boat, a box boat, a war canoe, a Mario go-kart, and more. Students also decided to dress up as well. Some interesting outfits you could see were: guys in maid dresses, a group of Barbies, chics dressed like chickens, the Mario brothers and Peach, and Zorro from One Piece.
Though the races were nerve-wracking, those who participated, including the survivors and the swimmers, couldn’t help but rave about this school event. Yasmin Qandel, a senior in honors physics said, “I think it’s really nice. It’s like, a little bit stressful to build it and you have a lot of nerves leading up to it, but it’s a really fun experience. And I think that everybody should try to do it a least once in their Cypress years.” Many participants and observers, when asked about their thoughts, tended to agree with this sentiment. Mr. Dull said that this is his “twentieth year at Cypress and [he]can’t recall a year where [he] didn’t go to the boat races.” He praised the races saying, “I think they’re awesome! I mean you get to see these kids applying physics to real-life situations and having some fun at the same time.” Mrs. Fenton praised the more creative side of the races saying how she “loves all of the pageantry and the showmanship, the costumes and the themes.”
While many were able to zoom through the water, some weren’t as lucky. Connor Lee, a junior, was, as he said, “soaking wet” after his team’s boat sank in the water. When asked what he expected would happen he responded, “I said we’d last five seconds in the water, and we lasted five seconds in the water.” When asked why his boat failed he claims that they “ran out of tape and cardboard” and that the boat’s
“walls were too thin, and I think there were gaps at the bottom.” These reasons would most likely lead to a sunken boat, and it did. Though his team’s boat didn’t make it far he didn’t seem all that upset about the outcome. Throughout his interview, he was smiling, and joking, and later went back to watch the other races.
The Cypress Boat Races have been going on for over 30 years and with how much praise and joy it brings to the school it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
