Third annual Nellis Build-a-Boat race weighs anchor Published Sept. 5, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Jacob R. McCarthy Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs office navigated their cardboard catamaran to victory at this year's third annual Build-a-Boat race, held Aug. 29 at the Nellis Olympic Pool. Boat Captain Senior Airman Travis Edwards and First Mate Charlie Keebaugh oared frantically across the pool in 41 seconds to beat out six other boats and reel in $100 cash and two $30 vouchers to Jerry's Nugget casino. "I love it, it's great! We've been doing this for three years with the same boat design," said Airman Edwards. "I put in a lot of extra training this year and we just so happened to pull it off." A $50 and $25 cash prize was also awarded to the teams with the best decorated boat and fastest sinking design respectively. The 99th Mission Support Squadron's "Yellow Submarine" took home the "golden rock" with a 13 second sink time in addition to the award for best decorated wood pulp pontoon. "It's awesome, we couldn't ask for more," said 99th MSS Team 1 boat captain Eric Champagne as he held both award plaques. "The 'Yellow Submarine' was built strictly for best decorated and fastest sinking." Teams from Maintenance Dorms, 547th Intelligence Squadron, 99th MSS, 99th ABW/PA, H-60 Combat Training Flight, and 99th Inpatient Operations Squadron had to turn five pieces of 4-by-8-foot cardboard and three rolls of duct tape into "poolgoing" vessels. A task that may be easier said than done. "With the limited amount of construction materials you have, you can't get too creative," explained Charles Cunningham, a design team member with the H-60 CTF. "You get a basic design and see if you can enhance it from the year before." Another challenge for the boat builders this year was time. In the past, teams were given up to one week to procure supplies and construct their designs. This year, teams only had one day. The Maintenance Dorms team completed finishing touches on its boat just minutes before the race. "We got the supplies last night and finished about ten minutes before we came here," said Airman 1st Class Jon Parks, the Maintenance Dorms boat captain. "I knew the design from last year, so it was easy to do this year." Despite who won or lost, the Build-a-Boat race is really about enhancing camaraderie amongst squadrons on base and inspiring some friendly competition, said Nellis Community Center director, Bob Garcia. The 99th Mission Support Group deputy commander, Lt. Col. Ronald Coleman, was on hand to present awards to this year's winners. The good turn out and the squadron support is what made this race a fantastic event, said Colonel Coleman. The ingenuity and creativity the teams used at putting these boats together was great, Colonel Coleman said.
