West Fargo Boats Battle It Out

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 Boats take over a public swimming pool in West Fargo as dozens of student creations battle it out.
 
Some students created the boats as part of their physics class.
 
It’s an annual tradition at West Fargo and Sheyenne High school.
Students who are in physics classes create cardboard boats and pit them against one another in different categories.
 
And with the help of his teammates, Derek Schreiner is off hoping to help his team win the boat race.
But like many other teams, his boat met an untimely demise.
 
“We made it down and back once but the sides started collapsing in at the end so we sunk,” said West Fargo High School student Schreiner.
 
The regatta, or boat race is an opportunity for West Fargo students in physics and advanced placement physics to compete against one another in various categories.

Amanda Schatz is a West Fargo parent with two kids taking part in the races.
 
“My daughter’s boat made it both laps and my son took a dive so it will be interesting to see what the conversation is tonight at dinner,” said Schatz.
 
It’s a chance for the students to have a little fun after a long semester.
 
“It’s pretty fun that everyone gets together and just has a fun experience with it,” said West Fargo High School student Ashley Eisenbeisz.
 
“I guess a lot of our classmates we know everyone and competing against each other is kind of fun,” said Schreiner.
 
It’s not all fun and games. The boats took days of hard work and dedication to make.
 
“We had to do a lot of calculations on the boat to make sure it could handle the right weight of a person and stay afloat at the same time,” said Schreiner.
 
“The building process was a lot more work than we originally thought, ’cause you have to go find cardboard and tape all the seams together, and make sure it’s floating,” said Eisenbeisz.
 
Unfortunately for Eisenbeisz, she also pulled a Titanic.
 
“It just started sinking on the sides about halfway through so then I ended up falling through,” said Eisenbeisz.
 
There were several awards given out in different categories including best looking, most creative costume and of course the most spectacular sinking.
A total of 53 boats participated in this year’s Regatta, but after the day, there probably aren’t that many boats left.