Trophy winners in the Pack 1 Rain Gutter Regatta.
PROSPECT HILL — Sure, there are camping trips and meetings, but none of those are as exciting as the Cub Scouts’ Rain Gutter Regatta. More than 40 kids competed in this breathtaking competition.
During the event, Cub Scouts ages six to 11 raced their handmade boats in inflatable rain gutters. Scouts must use a straw to blow their boats across the water. The name of the game is to blow your boat across before your opponent does.
Since this is my last year as a Cub Scout (soon to cross over into Boy Scouts), I know how intense the races get. You must use every last breath to get your boat across the water.
My favorite part of the event is getting to the last stretch of the races. You push yourself so hard because you want to win, and it makes the races so much more thrilling.
The toughest part of doing the Rain Gutter is keeping your boat straight during the races. If your boat gets stuck on one side of the rain gutter, you and your boat are doomed. When you build your boat, you have to be exactly on point with your calculations to keep your boat from drifting to one side.
Cub Scout Den Leader Darryl Jackson, who ran the races, said, “It was very exciting. When the last few races happen, it is very exciting for everyone. Although this event was tiring and exhausting, it was still a lot of fun.” Mr. Jackson did a lot to make the regatta a terrific event.
There were some scouts who don’t receive a trophy, but that is not the point of the event.
At the end of all the preliminary racing, their were championship races. The Scouts racing were blowing on their boats’ sails as hard as they could. There were just a few championship races, and in the end, the winner of the entire event was a Wolf Scout. Some kids were sad because they had lost or they were excited because they had won. Winning really isn’t the point; it is having fun.
For Scouts like me, it will be remembered as our final Cub event. As with Scouts in general, it was fun and it will be a happy childhood memory.