Concrete canoes take to the water in Okla. contest

STILLWATER, Okla. – Twenty-three teams from around the country, including Maine, gathered to disprove concrete’s weighty image in a canoe competition that combines technical knowledge, building technique, artistic flair and paddlers’ might.

Mike Carnivale, chairman of the national competition committee, said designing, building and floating these concrete canoes pushed students to learn in a way they might not elsewhere.

“My favorite thing about the competition? Everything they learn,” said Carnivale, who has been involved in the concrete canoe showdowns since 1992. “They learn about concrete, design, project management, the works.”

The teams competing for the national championship put their boats through aesthetic, presentation and swamping tests on Thursday, with technical presentations on Friday and, finally, a series of races Saturday on Boomer Lake in Stillwater. Teams came from coast to coast and from Canada to the Gulf. Squads from Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma also are competing.

“This is a good way to test book learning,” said Brooke Shondelmyer, mix design leader of the OSU entry. “You can only learn so much in class.”

Teams prove their learning every year, said Joan Buhrman of the American Society of Civil Engineers. This, the 19th annual competition, fosters innovation and adaptation over the school year as teams put together their canoes, Buhrman said. The society organized the competition, whose sponsors include a number of concrete makers.

Technical ability and craftsmanship produced the sleek vessels displayed on Willard Lawn at the OSU campus, but people make the project, said Jonathan Rumble. Rumble has been a member of the Michigan Technical University team from Houghton, Mich., for four years.

“Without a doubt,” Rumble said. “You have got to be quick on your feet and willing to spend a lot of time together.”

Matt Kinney, leaning against The Arrrgregate, a boat adorned with skulls-and-crossbones, said his team couldn’t begin to calculate the hours that went into the project. Just getting it from the University of Maine in Orono to the competition took 37 hours on the road.

“Our goal was to get here,” Kinney said. “It’s been 15 years since we have been to nationals. This has been a learning year.”

Almost every team expressed a desire to win the national championship, and each touted different virtues of their canoes.

“We work hard on a straight, smooth canoe,” Shondelmyer said as she stood next to OSU’s The Scowl. “We like ours to look pretty.”

And pretty is a good sign, Carnivale said.

“It shows a quality of workmanship,” Carnivale said, as he dangled his legs in the swamp test tank. “The way a canoe looks is a reflection of its mold.”

Roy Berryman said the University of Alabama-Huntsville team saw technology as its edge. Unlike the rigid design of most boats, the Huntsville, Ala., team constructed a sleek, black canoe that flexes in the water.