One year, the company that I worked for decided to have a summer “Olympic” event. Several events built around departmental teamwork, and of course fun too.

Note: This would be a fun summer event for the neighborhood kids as well.

There was the traditional water balloon toss, pie eating contest, and sack race events, but the best event was the “Gutter Boat Race.”

Entrants were to build a boat, and then blow it down a rain gutter filled with water. We actually had two water filled gutters, and competed simultaneously, but you could just time each entrant using a stopwatch.

For this event, entrants were given a rectangular piece of plywood (8″ x 3″ x 1/4″), a piece of paper and a soda straw to build a boat. You could also add other items, but you had to utilize those three in your human-wind-powered design. The boat was built at home, and then brought to work on race day.

I knew that all the scientists and engineers would enter this event; I needed a great design!

After several beers and working in the garage, I came up with this idea:

A gutter boat made from a plastic liter soda bottle. You simply place the boat in the water, and blow into the rear of the plastic canopy. The sails were only decorative, as we had to use the paper and straw elements in our design.

First, I cut and shaped the plywood piece, as in the diagram below. I also rounded off the bow (front of the boat) and sanded the entire bottom. Later, I applied some wax to make it ‘extra’ smooth, for less resistance in the water.

Next, I cut off the end of the plastic bottle, and inserted the cut and shaped plywood into the bottle, as shown in View A, of the Gutter Boat diagram above. Angle the plywood so that you obtain a good rear canopy (opening) to blow into.

Once I was happy with the positioning, I used a black felt tipped marker to outline where to cut the plastic.

When cutout, I used carpet tacks to secure it to the plywood, and secured the bow of the boat to the plywood with a bit of wood glue. Keep the tacks near the last 3rd of the boat. This puts a bit of weight in the back and keeps the bow out of the water.

The rudder was also made from the plastic soda bottle. The rest of build is pretty obvious and can easily be completed from viewing the pictures.

I painted the boat silver and black, as one of my team mates was a Raiders fan.

I drilled a hole in the top of the plastic to insert the straw, with non-functional sails attached.

I trimmed the plastic to closely fit along the plywood, and added the rudder.

Ah yes, the Race. No one had a chance, Our team smashed all the competition! We didn’t use CAD, nor a machine shop, or injection molding. Just some beer and common sense.

Oh, and of course, a lot of ‘Hot Air.’