Youthful sailors ply waters of Ellis Lake

Joseph Meyer and Bitsy West liked their chances. The 10-year-old friends, both students at Barry School, were sure their vessel's Mach-5 styling would give them an edge against any stiff cardboard competition.

"And we sort of have a secret weapon," Joseph said, pointing out his V-shaped prow. "It acts like a canoe."

On Friday, Marysville hosted its annual cardboard boat races at Ellis Lake for the 15th year.

Twenty-two child teams applied duct tape and spray paint in the final minutes before the contest's first entries were plopped in the water.

Bitsy said that she had been highly motivated to make her boat sea-worthy; she did not fancy the prospect of taking a dip in Ellis Lake.

"It's very gross, 'cause it's full of bird poop and pee," she explained.

Her mom, Chris West, shrugged at the thought of fishing her daughter out of the muck.

"The lake is dirty, but I've gotten over it," she said. "I have sanitizer and clean water in the car."

Rich Lopez, Bitsy's uncle, walked by and shook his head, doubtfully.

"Oh, that's a sinker," he whispered.

Nearby, Bitsy's sister Brielle West, 11, put the finishing touches on her own creation, which featured a root beer float mounted to the back.

Friday was Brielle's sixth cardboard boat race.

"Our boats have never sunk," she boasted. She and her partner, Juliana Meyer, 11, were so confident, they entered their boat against designer/paddlers from an older age group.

Brille and her sister, Bitsy, both finished second in their respective races.

Apple Computer product themes did exceptionally well Friday.

A boat built to resemble an iPhone and another built to resemble an iPod both finished first in their races.

There were no spectacular sinkings, though a cardboard tugboat manned by two boys took on water and listed badly, causing the boys to paddle in circles.

Lacking a bilge pump, they were forced to continue in this fashion until a rescue boat towed them back to the dock.

Randy Reed of the National Exchange Club, which sponsors the races, looked on as the young sailors struggled.

"Sometimes sinkings are automatic or immediate," he said. "Other times, there's some flair to it."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Nancy Pasternack at 749-4712 or at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com.