Amaral wins Cardboard Cup
Cardboard Cup competitors Ryan Amaral, top, and Tyler Barter were among five entrants in this year’s marine technology boat races held Dec. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Ryan Amaral won this year’s Cardboard Cup with a time of 63.44. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Chip Schwehm’s marine technology class tested the principles of buoyancy, water lines, Archimedes principle, and the quadratic formula in designing and racing cardboard boats in this year’s competition. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Marine technology students learned another lesson, too. It’s not easy staying afloat in a cardboard boat. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Ryan Amaral won the Cardboard Cup. Courtesy of Chip Schwehm
Cardboard Cup competitors Ryan Amaral, top, and Tyler Barter were among five entrants in this year’s marine technology boat races held Dec. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Ryan Amaral won this year’s Cardboard Cup with a time of 63.44. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Chip Schwehm’s marine technology class tested the principles of buoyancy, water lines, Archimedes principle, and the quadratic formula in designing and racing cardboard boats in this year’s competition. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Marine technology students learned another lesson, too. It’s not easy staying afloat in a cardboard boat. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Ryan Amaral won the Cardboard Cup. Courtesy of Chip Schwehm
It was a test unlike most high school students take. On Dec. 7, Chip Schwehm’s marine technology class tested principals of buoyancy and water lines in the annual Cardboard Cup races. For six years, Schwehm’s class has studied boat design, water buoyancy, quadratic formula and Archimedes’ principle in preparation for the race.
In 246 B.C., the Greek mathematician formulated a body at rest in fluid is acted upon by a force pushing upward, called the buoyant force, which is equal to the weight of fluid in the body displaced. With Archimedes’ help, Schwehm’s students designed and constructed cardboard boats for this year’s competition. Schwehm reported if a boat stayed seaworthy for one lap down and one lap back, it was a successful vovage. Tyler Barter, Ryan Amaral, Connor Wenners, Austin Orne and Finn Jaaskelainen competed for the Cardboard Cup. The champion was Amaral in 63:43 at the Boothbay Region YMCA pool.
‘I made my boat a little shorter which made it a little sturdier in the bow and it really helped me out,” Amaral said.
Schwehm explained a cardboard boat floats because it displaces more water than the passenger’s weight. Conversely, a cardboard boat sinks due to a lack of structural components like gunnels and bulkheads.
