What the F*ck is Beer Can Regatta? and How to Build a Boat Made of Cans…
What the F*ck is Beer Can Regatta?
Making ships from beer cans and racing them (the regatta part). Well why the f*ck not?
According to drunken legend, this yearly event takes place in Darwin, Australia and has something to do with cyclone Tracey devastating the area in 1974 which caused people to drink lots of beer (because they were depressed? Water was scarce?). No recycling programs were in effect so, given the large amount of empty beer cans littering the beach, those creative Australians decided to build boats to resolve the issue. Now it’s a full-on annual festival with the next one coming up on August 8, 2010.
While some boats are nothing more than dinky rafts, others resemble yachts even P-Diddy would be proud of. Whatever your choice of floating beer vehicle, some rules do apply. Cleverly listed as the “10 Can-mandments” (get it? Like commandments but with cans and without Moses), the rules of the Regatta are as follows:
THE TEN CAN-MANDMENTS
- Thou shalt enter the event in the right spirit
- Thou shalt build the craft of cans.
- The craft shall float by cans alone.
- Thou shalt not drown.
- Thou shalt not take the name of the craft in vain. Any craft bearing signs lettering that may be offensive will be barred.
- Thou shalt not drift from the straight and narrow and end up at Mandorah.
- Thou shalt not protest too much.
- Thou shall honor thy Committee.
- Thou shalt not commit adultery (nothing really to do with the Regatta, but it gives us an air of responsibility and respect.)
- Thou shalt go back and read the first can-mandment again.
There is also a $50 entry fee that must be paid before 9:00 a.m. on the day of the festival. Now that we got all the details out of the way, let’s build you a kick ass beer boat.
Beer Boat Building 101
Step 1: Materials
From now until August, you will likely need to drink at least a 6 pack per day to get enough materials for the Regatta (think of it as training). Although the boat must be made mostly of beer cans, using a little fiberglass or wood here and there will help you stay afloat.
Step 2: Can-struction (it just never ends with these guys)
Tape cans together in pairs with open ends facing each other. Get a few meters of taped cans going and use them as you would planks. You can construct a frame using wood and add durability by stringing chicken wire across your wood frame. Then attach your beer can planks to make a large sheet. This will float and looks like a raft.
Step 2.5: Take a Beer Break
Why not? Plus you get more building materials. Win win.
Step 3: Get crafty
You can use construction methods described in boat-building how-tos, just swap beer cans whenever the instructions call for any kind of building materials. Here are a few to look at: Instructables.com, 6 minute Youtube Instruction Video and the picture at left of a boat plan.
Step 4: Sinking
If you followed our steps closely, you’re likely slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. For this situation, make sure to pack a life jacket. What do you do with all the leftover beer cans?
Maxim magazine recently put out an article featuring 25 awesome things made out of beer cans. Give it a browse, maybe something less complicated than a boat, like a beer teddy bear, is more up your alley. You can also just stick a beer in a chicken’s butt and contribute to the Regatta by grilling up some flavorful bird. Here’s the recipe.
Even if you’re not very skilled at beer can construction, you can participate in other Beer Can Regatta festivities (for instance the thong throwing contest, like flip flops not panties, unfortunately). On top of everything, all proceeds of the event are donated to local charitable causes which is even more reason to drink, eat, build boats, throw thongs and be merry. Cheers!
Written By: Anna Starostinetskaya
Head Writer/Editor-in-Chief of Off Track Planet. Pescatarians are not just cheating vegetarians; we're our own breed and the extra protein makes us more feisty! Rawr
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You are amazing OTP, you are interesting and fun too!
Love it! Now I can tell people that I’m not just getting drunk, I’m collecting materials for the Big Race.
Absoltely True!!