2010 RUSH Regatta

On August 14, 2010 Team RUSH hosted the third annual RUSH Regatta, a summer engineering and entrepreneurship challenge as well as team building and mentorship exercise for the students over the summer. The actual event is a cardboard boat race across the local Deer Lake. Over 300 people attended the Regatta and media coverage of it reached over 1 million people.

This year, the team members had the task of contacting local companies to ask for their support of the team, with each Regatta team having to collect $300/team to be able to participate. In addition to raising sponsorship money, students have to design and build a cardboard boat for the actual race across the lake. After the designs are finished, they have to be submitted to a team of engineers for approval before they construct their boats.

Another "improvement" for the Regatta this year, was the Parade of Boats. Prior to the boats going into the water, all teams had to parade their robot down the beach. It was a sight to behold!

This year we also added the Typhoon division, expanding the event by inviting other FIRST teams to participate. This has strengthened inter-team relationships and cooperative spirit. As you can see, not all were successful to the finish line!

Results this year were outstanding! Students realized how to follow-through with past relationships and contacts from the years before. One team raised over $3000+ this year! Our total monies raised exceeded $10,000 for this one day event. Special thanks to all our sponsors on this event! This year, the local newspaper was not only there to put the article in print, but they posted video on us as well!

Local Media: Clarkston News Video

 

2009 RUSH Regatta

On August 22, 2009 Team RUSH hosted the second annual RUSH Regatta.The work for the Regatta had been going on since the beginning of the summer. Team members had the task of contacting local companies to ask for their support of the team, with each Regatta team having to collect $150 to be able to participate. In addition to raising sponsorship money, students have to design and build a cardboard boat for the actual race across the lake. After the designs are finished, they have to be submitted to a team of engineers for approval before they construct their boats.

 

2008 First Annual RUSH Regatta

In an attempt to create a new engineering challenge, the students of team RUSH got more than they bargained for! The first annual RUSH Regatta was an engineering and entrepreneural experience! First, the students had to go through the "draft" ... to select the companies that they were going to request sponsorship. They were then trained by the mentors on "how to develop their business relationships". This led to the challenge of raising at least $50 per team (to offset their costs). And this was only half of the fun. From there, they were to design and build a cardboard boat that would carry at least 2 students through a course on Deer Lake. Prior to the day of competition, the students were to present their design ideas, concepts and plans to the mentors for evaluation. The regatta was a tremendous success, raising $6000 and increasing our public/private sponsorships by 48 new sponsors, the event was a "sailing success"! We look forward to next year - where we hope to have an open division for the locals interested!

Regatta Documentation:

• Regatta Directions to Students
• Regatta Bill of Materials (required for presentation)
• Partnership levels
• Add a company form
• Company Contact Follow-up form

Clarkston News - Regatta Newstories:

• Almost Made It
• Floating to Victory
• Running out of Time
• Team RUSH uses robot skills to cross Deer Lake