Cardboard Boat Regatta Headed To Greenport During Maritime Fest

GREENPORT, NY — A splashingly fun event is headed to the North Fork: The 1st Cardboard Regatta in Greenport is set to take place as part of the 33rd Annual Maritime Festival.

Sponsored by the Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. and the East End Seaport Museum as part of the 33rd Annual Maritime Festival, the event takes place at the Mitchell Park beach on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m.

Many have experienced the fun of the Cardboard Boat Races in Riverhead and the Cardboard Regatta will follow in the same tradition, with prizes awarded for kids and adults in a wide range of categories.

"After 33 years, our festival is one of tradition and community. This year we are creating what will hope to be a new tradition and another way for our community to connect. A friendly way to be creative and in the end, maybe even some bragging rights," said Tracey Orlando, EESM executive director.

"Greenport Brewery has always been a supporter of the museum. In fact ,they were our grand marshals once. We always appreciate this community and for those that show support year after year," Orlando said. "The festival is our main source of funding; we work rather hard to keep the community as the center of what we present. This is another way to bring our community together!"

Richard Vandenburgh, co-founder with John Liegey of the Greenport Harbor Brewing Company, said he couldn't take full credit for the idea to bring cardboard boat races to the village.

"It was suggested to us by Diane Tucci, who was involved with the Riverhead races," he said. "However, the seed was planted — or should I say, 'the line was cast,' and we were 'hooked' on the idea."

For years, Vandenburgh said, GHBC has supported the EESM's efforts to make the Maritime Festival a successful event; this year marks their 13th year of participating.

"As we have seen the festival migrate over the years, the most memorable ones have been where there are great activities for participating in festival events like this," Vandenburgh said.

"I recall one of the first occasions that we participated in was the dory races," he said. "While John and I didn't win —much less barely finished — it was one of the most enjoyable tangible experiences. Offering that same opportunity by sponsoring this Cardboard Race Event, allows others to participate in a similar fun, water-related and friendly competition. We see this event is a great way to build on those authentic experiences that will provide laughs, memories and bragging rights for years to come — and we are happy to be the sponsor in that regard."

Tucci said she was hired last year to organize the Maritime Festival for the East End Seaport Museum.

"At one of our planning meetings, one of the museum board members asked me about the Cardboard Boat Races because they knew I had run them in Riverhead," Tucci said. "It was a bit late in the year to pull it together, so I had suggested trying to put it together for this year."

Tucci said she put some feelers out to some key people, who responded very enthusiastically to the idea. Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. stepped up to offer the event sponsorship to pay for costs associated with creating and running a first time event, along with donation of prizes.

Greenport, and the Maritime Festival, is the perfect fit for the fun and well-loved cardboard boat races,Tucci said.

"Every year during the Maritime Festival, a kayak race is hosted by the docks. People turn out in droves to cheer on the kayaks and racers. It’s such a great event for all. We decided it was the perfect place to have the cardboard boat races."

It was decided to host the cardboard boat race event on Sunday — to offer the opportunity for more people to come back to the festival for a second day.

"With the piers and beach and overall viewing area, it’s the perfect place for racers and for spectators. And since they have hosted similar events, the logistics will be relatively easy to work out," she said.

For additional information, contest rules, and to register, click here.

"As the former producer of the event in Riverhead, I watched a lot of people leave behind boats that were destroyed because they had no other use for them and couldn’t store them for a whole year," Tucci said. "I always thought it was sad to see the hard work destroyed. When asked to put this together, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it would be to work with Riverhead and have people have the chance to salvage their boats and bring them to Greenport. Folks wanting to build boats for Greenport can go watch the races in Riverhead to learn — or maybe enter and take some practice runs. I really love when we can help each other in spirit!"