#nauticalbutnice

“Some arrived early, bouncing in their U-Haul and pick-up trucks over the dusty pot-holed road that snakes its way down along the piers behind the campus where the SS Stevens is moored. On this day in April, under the bluest of skies, amid the rising cheers of over 300 spectators, seven concrete canoes vied for victory on the murky currents of the Hudson.” — Stevens Indicator, Summer, 1974.

This all begs the question, can a canoe made out of concrete really float on water? The answer is well... yes — that is, of course, if you apply the proper amount of dedication and ingenuity while also studying advanced civil engineering. Concrete canoe races have been around since the 1960s, but the first intercollegiate competition sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971. According to the ASCE’s website, these races provide students with a “practical application of the engineering principles they learn in the classroom, along with important team and project management skills they will need in their careers.” 

A few years later in 1974, seven engineering colleges in the Metropolitan area faced off in the first concrete canoe regatta held at the former site of the Stevens Yacht Club in Hoboken, NJ. Represented were Rutgers, Columbia University, Manhattan College, Polytechnic Institute of New York, the Newark College of Engineers, City College of New York, and the Stevens Institute of Technology. The Stevens entry, named ‘CUE-1′ after the Civil-Urban Environmental program, required more than 400 hours of intense team-work and experimentation. Steven Zellner ’74 designed the 120 pound canoe which consisted of a reinforced wire mesh wrapped around the wooden skeleton with a 1/4 inch layer of cement lathered on top. 

The one obvious requirement was that the canoe must stay afloat when filled with water. So once the initial construction was completed, rigorous testing was carried out in the tanks of the Davidson Laboratory, the same facility where research was conducted on everything from championship racing yachts in the 1930s to NASA lunar rovers in the 1970s and 1980s. 

To man the canoe itself, a crew of two was chosen from the among the 25 civil engineering students who worked on the construction crew. It was understood among the contestants that no member of a varsity sculling, rowing, kayak, canoe or similar team could compete in the race. The course itself extended a quarter mile into the Hudson River and each team had to face the grueling currents of the river as they made the trip out and back to the starting point. A gripping account of the race was relayed by Peter McCormick, writing for the Stevens Indicator:

“Slowly the finalists padded towards the starting line. The man squinted through the sighting device. Suddenly, as the crowds squirmed in anticipation, a passing freighter created huge rolling swells. The race was delayed. The crowd grew silent. All waited. As the last wave silently rolled past and dissipated itself with a slap against the concrete bulkhead, the red flag was raised and snapped down. The crowd roared... As the crafts neared the mid-point and with Rutgers in the lead, victory seemed out of reach for the Stevens crew. Did they have the stronger crew? Would Stevens, ‘could’ Stevens let Rutgers go home glutted with victory? Then it happened. Miraculously, the CUE-1 picked up the pace, moving faster with each stroke, its crew had saved their strength for the last few meters. ‘THEY’RE NECK AND NECK!’ howled the man through the megaphone. Imperceptibly at first, then quite definitely, the CUE-1 moved into the lead, gliding easily through the water like a pat of butter on a hot pan. They gained on the Rutgers canoe with each stroke. Everyone on shore was on their feet screaming. Victory for Stevens hung heavy in the air. Sensing that defeat was near, the Rutgers canoe surged forward in one last frenzied effort to overtake Stevens. But in the twinkling of an eye, the CUE-1 was over the finish line, its crew waving their paddles in the air in triumph. The crowd exploded with cheers. The race was over.” — Stevens Indicator, Summer, 1974.