By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Last year, a team of employees from Woodward Inc. completed the 1.65-mile Rock River Anything That Floats Race on a boat in which the most expensive component was a $12 rubber duck.
This year, the team is building a new watercraft with the same parameters: Nearly everything used to build the boat is salvaged from the Rock River.
“We do have an environmental group at Woodward whose goal is to increase Woodward’s sustainability and to help cleanup the Rockford area,” said John Willsea, an operations technician at Woodward who served as the team captain a year ago.
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This year’s Rock River Anything That Floats Race is two months away, but for many teams designing and building a winning — or at least ingenuitive — boat is already underway.
Registration is now open to participate in the event, which takes off on the river from the Auburn Street bridge on Sunday, Aug. 18. The race is back for a second-straight year after a previous three-year hiatus.
The team from Woodward, named RCC Amos after the company’s founder Amos Woodward, started disassembling last year’s boat this week as it prepares for its new design.
Last year’s design earned it the judges’ choice award for its creativity, but it didn’t win it any points for speed.
RCC Amos found that its waterwheel, which was built from discarded bicycle components, wasn’t a model of water-churning efficiency. It was the slowest of the boats that were able to finish the full route.
“We did the math on the waterwheel design and we found out by placing it in the front like we did, we actually increased our drag rather than assisted our speed,” Willsea said. “We’re hoping to do better this year by replacing our waterwheel design with a propeller-based design.”
But what it lacked in speed it achieved in creativity. The total cost of the boat was $17.50. Aside from the rubber duck, which was purchased as part of the Release the Quackin’ portion of the event, the only other money spent was for small pieces of rebar.
“That was the biggest thing that I wanted to push, put something together that would look pretty cool, and we got creative with it,” said Lori Viederis, an operations technician with Woodward. “It was exciting for all of it to come together.”
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Viederis lives along the Rock River and started pulling scraps out to reuse for the boat. That included a broken canoe and a series of planks and boards. She kept stressing to the team that there would be no money spent.
“As an engineer, I’ve always had a drive for innovation,” said Paul Koch, a quality engineer at Woodward and new team member. “Being able to build a boat being so constrained on materials seems like a great challenge.”
This year’s team RCC Amos consists of Aaron Almberg, Austin Taylor, Joseph Abene, Nathaniel Gomes, Scott Foley, Shannon Milligan, Julie Baker and Viederis, Koch and Willsea.
Last year, Taylor, Viederis, Gomes, Samantha Spencer, Jerry Bunders, Willsea and Julie Baker competed. Jim Hotwagner offered assistance both years.
The race, which has roots going back to 1976, returned to the river last year for the first time since 2019.
Other boats last year included Barbie and Super Mario-themed designs, and the People’s Choice-winning pirate ship created by Tim West and his group from team Rrrr.
The event raises money for charity each year, with last year’s beneficiaries being the Rockford Fourth of July Civic Committee, Rockford Park District, Loves Park Ski Broncs and Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful.
“Rock River Anything That Floats is a great group, it doesn’t cost that much to join and it’s a lot of fun,” Willsea said. “It helps build friendships along the way, and it benefits the Rockford community as a whole.”
Rock River Anything That Floats Race | sign up
When: Noon Sunday, Aug. 18
Where: On the Rock River, from north of the Auburn Street bridge to Prairie Street Brewing Co.
To register: If you want to register to participate, visit HERE. Registration is open through Aug. 14.
More info: rratfr.com
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas