Now that's ? ?

Creative, Silly, Hillarious, I'm not certain, but it definitely is something. I'm talking about puddle duck racers, the self described easiest boat to build and race. As you can see the boats are basically little plywood boxes, the sails ordinary plastic tarps shaped with scissors and the mast and boom are electrical conduit and curtain rods. That such contraption can actually float is already surprising. That they can sail and race is absolutely astounding. Although they may actually have some advantages over the sailboats that men used for 1000s of years before they learned to sail upwind.

I learned about these because I've been wanting to buy a sabot to teach the kids to sail, but I don't really want to spend any money. (I found one for $75 which I would have bought but I wasn't fast enough.) So I mused about building one. Plans for actual sabots cost $25, but these are hillarious. I couldn't use it for the sailing class (they require an actual sabot), but Puddle Duck's Philosophy is that the best way to learn to sail is to get out on a small lake in a light breeze and futz around until you figure it out. (They do recommend bringing oars in case you get totally stuck.) So I guess the bay is too big and El Dorado doesn't allow private boats, but there is a nice small lake near work that could do the trick.

I don't actually plan to build one (Staci would kill me if I took up that much space with a piece of junk boat.) But the idea is certainly amusing.