Rain Gutter Regatta
From the January-February 2012 issue of Scouting magazine
Raingutter Regatta is an annual event typically held each October. The event requires cub scouts to build a sail boat utilizing the parts contained in the official BSA Raingutter Regatta trimaran kit – alternatively the pack is considering to use recycled materials. We typically sell these kits at cost during the first pack meeting of the year and at rally nights for signing- up new scouts. The boats are then raced down a length of water-filled rain gutters, powered by the boy blowing into the sail through a soda straw. Each boy will race in several heats and the fastest time overall will determine the winner. The winning boat from each rank will also race in a pack race. There is a separate race category for siblings.
Typically the fastest boat from each den will receive an award. The fastest boat in the pack will win an award and the runner up in their respective den will get the den award. In addition to racing, awards are also given for kids favorite by voting and Cubmaster’s choice.
The rules can vary from year to year, but we typically require the boys to build their boats using the parts found in the kit.
This is a great event for new boys to jump right into because no tools are required other than a screwdriver to build the boat and it can usually be done (except for paint) in under an hour. We typically also have spare boats for siblings and other kids.
The evening of the event the each boat should be inspected to ensure that it is within the parameters allowed by the rules. Once inspection has been passed, the boy’s registration information should go into the race computer and his boat will be given a unique race number. Boats are then “impounded” until the end of the races to insure that they are not modified following inspection.
On race day, boys can pick up their boats when their race is called. Each boat should race 1 time in each lane and there should be 2 timers per lane (just in case one doesn’t work). After each heat, the timers will come to a consensus as to who’s time should be the officially reported time. Times are not averaged, The fastest time across all heats will be the time used to determine the winner.