Jumping aboard a boat made of nothing but cardboard and duct tape takes a lot of guts - or a good grasp of physics. About 90 students from Jamaica High School will race each other's hastily assembled boats in the basement swimming pool Friday, but what they learned in the classroom will help them navigate what appears to be a risky venture. "There's the density formula," explained senior Travis Arrington, 17, who competed in last year's race. "As long as you lay yourself [in the boat] correctly, the boat won't sink. We did really well last year." Physics teacher Scott Pecorino explained the laws of buoyancy to his students so they wouldn't be afraid to ride the seemingly flimsy craft. "It's all based on Archimedes' principle, where a buoyant force [moving upward on the bottom of the boat] is equal to the weight of the displaced water," said Pecorino, 43. Therefore, he noted, the boats will float despite the deceptively flimsy nature of cardboard. "I wanted to apply science to something that's real," Pecorino said. "One hundred people are watching the race, and there's a lot of yelling and screaming going on."

The students are forming 15 teams with a teacher-coach and an average of six pupils on each boat. Starting at 3 p.m. Friday, they will hold a series of races in the four-lane pool to determine the champions. Physical education teacher Mitch Abramowitz, 48, was on the losing end of a regatta controversy last year. His boat was defeated by another whose occupants fell out but got back in - and officially won the cardboard crown. Abramowitz jokingly said he attaches an asterisk to their victory. "My boat won last year," he insisted with a laugh.

Junior Asha Henman, 15, said the key to winning is planning the design before you start building, and not overdoing it. "Simplicity really rules," she said. Travis said he was confident he'd end up with the 2007 title. "I'm going to take home the trophy this year," he boasted. "That's a guarantee." But being first to finish isn't everything. Another award goes to students for best boat theme - using colored duct tape to make designs, the likes of Silver Surfers or SpongeBob SquarePants. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2007/11/26/2007-11-26_jamaica_high_school_students_will_race_c-2.html?print=1&page=all

Quoted from Daily News November 26, 2007.

: : : : 01/08/08