Eric Jones, left, and Richard Rodriguez paddle their entry during the Anything That Floats regatta Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, in Key Largo, Fla. The duo won the contest’s top overall prize for their vessel that was framed with PVC pipes and covered with plastic film wrap. (Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau/HO)
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KEY LARGO (CBSMiami/FKNB) – Buoyed up by a cheering crowd, plastic water bottles and bumpers, 17 teams of amateur boat builders raced to the finish line as they clambered to stay atop self-made vessels during the offbeat weekend “Anything that Floats” regatta race in the Florida Keys.
Team ‘Sea Ran Wrap’ of Miami kept their swift cruiser tightly together as they crossed the finish line first in a sleek PVC pipe and plastic Saran wrap creation. They won the Saturday afternoon contest’s top overall prize,
Racers from as far as the United Kingdom, as well as Tennessee, Fort Myers, Fla., and Orlando navigated watercrafts constructed from unsinkable household items such as bubble wrap, foam, plastic toys and inflatable pool alligators.
A team from Davie, Fla., aboard the ‘The Recycler,’ won the Most Creative Boat award for their converted paddlewheeler fashioned together with sliced five-gallon buckets, cardboard, conduit, tape, glue and the builders’ popular choice, plastic wrap.
Other prizes were awarded for best Keys spirit, slowest boat, vessel containing the most participants that still floats and a hard-luck award to the boat that sank before reaching the finish line.
The event was organized by Sundowners Restaurant in Key Largo.
The Florida Keys News Bureau contributed to this report.
