Wheel Be Back!

Rachel and Vanessa, along with several other contenders, had hoped to win the Easter Regatta’s Crazy Craft Race with their home-made sailing vessel. However, the wind had not co-operated that year and they had been sorely disappointed; the C.C.Drought had not placed for one of the coveted prizes, and the girls vowed that a lack of wind would NOT be a factor for them the following year!

The plan for their next craft did not involve a sail, rather some old pieces of wood, twine, some P.V.C. pipe and a LOT of used water bottles. I laughed when I heard what they intended to build, it was a pretty outrageous idea, but Vanessa and Rachel gathered the materials they needed in the months before the Easter Regatta with focused determination.

Wheel Be Back was the name of the contraption they built. The initial phase of its construction took place in the living room, and when more space was needed, the vessel was moved to the front yard. Nik helped the girls with the craft’s measurements, and also cut the P.V.C. pipe for them. As their creation took shape, I started to think Vanessa and Rachel might actually have a chance of winning the Crazy Craft Race. They were making a giant hamster wheel, something they could propel over the water using their own energy instead of depending on the wind to fill a sail. Race rules forbade the use of oars and motors, so they decided to use gravity created by their bodies as a means of propulsion. Brilliant idea in theory, but whether it worked or not remained to be seen!

It would have been nice to try the wheel out before the event to see if it worked, but sea trials were not allowed; the competing crafts had to be launched for the first time at the start of the race, a rule which in my opinion made it a definite challenge for the participants. It also made the event even funnier, those racing had no idea whether they would sink or float in the contraptions they had toiled over, and spectators lined the beach at Lower Bay to watch and applaud their antics.

Speaking of challenges, it was NOT easy to get Wheel Be Back from our house at Belmont to Lower Bay. We made it intact, and the giant wheel drew an admiring crowd as the time for the race drew near. When Peter “Fixman” and Marianne “Whynot” finished inspecting the crafts entered in the event, the horn was blown and the race began.

I laughed until I cried that day, watching Vanessa and Rachel trying to propel the wheel was downright hilarious! Without benefit of a sea trial, they floundered about inside the wheel until they attained some degree of coordination, a bit of practice would have been nice! The previous year a lack of wind had prevented their craft from sailing, this time around a strong tide pushed the light-weight wheel, and with no rudder it was difficult for the girls to steer a course. They kept running like hamsters, and miraculously managed to cross the finish line first. HOWEVER, the tide kept pulling them out to sea, further and further away from the beach.

Wheel Be Back indeed. But WHEN!? Vanessa and Rachel would have ended up in Venezuela if they hadn’t been rescued by a dive boat, they floated across the harbour in that contraption incredibly fast thanks to the strong tide. They were towed triumphantly back to Lower Bay Beach, where they were roundly congratulated for their success. They were interviewed on T.V. and written up in the newspaper, and to this day remain Crazy Craft legends! My girls won the race that day, and they deserved to win not just because they crossed the line first; the amount of thought and effort that went into building the wheel was inspirational to say the least; it had been fun as well as educational, and that’s an excellent combination for any age group!