Blessing of Fleet, Duct-Tape Regatta today in Swampscott

SWAMPSCOTT – The Swampscott Yacht Club’s annual Blessing of the Fleet is scheduled for 2 p.m. todayBut the boats that may really need blessings are those participating in the Duct-Tape Regatta this morning.”Paddle fast, don’t tip over, don’t let your boat fall apart,” said Swampscott Rotary Club member Darryl Smith, explaining his goals for the race. Flotation, he said, is not usually the issue.This is the sixth year that the Swampscott Rotary Club has held the regatta, which each year raises money for a project to provide clean water in an impoverished community. The event takes place in Swampscott Harbor at Fisherman’s Beach.This year each team’s $400 fundraising goal will help pay for a project in Tantiaka, a village in Burkina Faso, West Africa.Rules say the boats must be homemade.But construction materials are limited to 2 x 4 boards, PVC pipe, rope, duct tape, recyclable bottles and cardboard. Each of four team members must paddle – or in some cases, swim – their boat around a course.Smith said that he originally proposed the idea as a way for the Swampscott Rotary Club to raise money and have fun. But the region’s maritime history – along with rivalry among local rotary clubs and towns – has led to some pretty high-tech and high-stakes designs.Smith said that he has refined his team’s entry from a “floating billboard” to promote the event to a “real contender” and defending champion.Basing his design on an eskimo kayak, he said that he used strips of 2 x 4s to build a frame. Then he constructed a “skin” out of recyclable bottles and duct tape that is wrapped around the frame and even, in places, sewn with the rope.A team from the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor favors an 8-foot-long canoe design, according to designers – and General Electric engineers – Andrew Dexter and John Williams.”It’s fluid dynamics,” Williams explained. “It’s just a different medium of fluid.”