Students Set Record with 8-Meter-Long Paper Boat
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An extraordinary record was set in July 2018 by students from Hövelhof in East Westphalia, Germany: In a self-built boat made of cardboard and paper, 20 passengers paddled a total of 250 meters across a lake without the vessel sinking.
20 Students Paddle Across Lake in Self-Built Boat Made of Cardboard and Paper
The boat, shaped like a Roman galley, had an impressive length of 8.30 meters and a width of 2.40 meters. This significantly surpassed the previous record for the German-speaking region, which was held by a paper boat measuring 5.50 meters long and 1.80 meters wide.
Olaf Kuchenbecker, a record judge for the Record Institute for Germany (RID), confirmed the successful record attempt on the Lippesee near Paderborn. Despite the large number of passengers, the boat reached its destination undamaged. The number of paddlers does not play a role in the recognition of the record, according to Kuchenbecker. It is always a matter of weighing the load of more passengers against the faster movement provided by more paddlers before the boat softens.
The 20 students from the Salvator-Kolleg special needs school had been building their boat out of paper, cardboard, and water-soluble adhesive since March 2018. Their inventiveness and craftsmanship paid off: With their record-breaking paper boat, they proved that great things can be achieved even with simple means.
