Kids, adults compete in cardboard boat races at Atascadero LakeFest

Three men from San Luis Obispo threw a large, rubber duck styled cardboard boat into their truck and drove up the Cuesta Grade to Atascadero Lake with one goal: to participate in the Atascadero LakeFest cardboard boat race for the first time.

The event, organized by Friends of Atascadero Lake, returned Saturday after two years on hold due to the pandemic.

The event was paired with Children’s Day in the Park and included live music, vendors for food and goods and informational booths from various organizations that have resources to support families and kids.

But at the core of the event were two boat races — one “Open Class” race for boats built at home and a “Kids Class” race for boats built at the event.

Contestants made boats out of only cardboard and duct tape and paddled out to a buoy. They were judged based on finishing place, boat presentation and the amount of water that got into the boat.

In the “Kids Class,” Carson, a freshman in high school, paddled out in a boat he described as “a box and a full send.” He had worked on the boat with his friends since Saturday morning and earned first place.

“We don’t expect (the boat) to do well — we know it will,” one friend said before the race.

Colson Henderson, 11, and his brother Kellen Henderson, 7, attended with their parents and grandmother. The two brothers came in third in the boat race.

Colson said his boat had pontoons underneath to hold air and help them float, 3 inches of cardboard at the bottom and 2 inches on the side, as well as a lip at the end of the boat so it’s “super durable.”

“It’s like a jet boat mixed with a pontoon,” Kellen said while working on the boat.

The design was two years in the making. In a class in third grade, Colson made a boat of a similar shape out of tin foil that could hold about 75 little marbles. Now in fifth grade, Colson took his design to the next level at the boat race.

“We’re having lots of family fun today,” mom Laura Henderson said.

Solarponics, a sponsor of the event, has participated in the boat race every year as a way to “have a presence in the community,” according to Solarponics Service Manager Ryan Montague.

“It’s been great,” Montague said. “We haven’t done it for the last two years and, you know, we’re the two-time reigning champs so we had to come and defend our title. But I think some newcomers might’ve gotten it from us.”

Those newcomers were Michael Asmundson, 35, Tanner Drill, 27, and Gavin Pruitt, 38, who won the Open Class race with their rubber duck boat.

The group was camping in Morro Bay last weekend to watch the lunar eclipse when they found out about the boat race and decided to try it out. They were up until 4 a.m. Saturday morning finishing up the boat.

The group said they would take the boat back out on the lake and have some beers after their win.

“I think we have to come back next year and defend our trophy,” Asmundson said.

San Luis Obispo County Public Health nurses had a booth where they talked with more than 40 people about led prevention in children. According to Friends of Atascadero Lake, proceeds are being put toward improvements in and around Atascadero Lake and toward programs at the LINK Family Resource Center, another organization present at the event.

Hair thanked the sponsors, including City of Atascadero, and all the vendors that showed up.

“It wouldn’t be an event without all of them and all of the volunteers — it takes a lot,” Hair said.

Nancy Hair of Friends of Atascadero Lake said this fifth annual LakeFest seemed to have the biggest turnout yet.

“It’s a wonderful event,” Hair said. “It’s a family event and raises awareness to Atascadero Lake and what a resource it is.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.