Jerry-Built Boat Wooden Stay Afloat in Newport Race

Dan Swett and Peter Grandia may well have sealed their doom when they spray-painted “Das Boat” on their handmade, plywood vessel.

Competing in an amateur boat-building contest and race Sunday at the First Annual Newport Beach Wooden Boat Festival, the friends from Costa Mesa were confident before the launch that they could beat their three competitors.

However, the rough-hewn vessel of plywood, nails, staples and sealant--named after “Das Boot,” a foreign film about an ill-fated German submarine--took a nose dive at the starting line and remained virtually submerged until it was hauled ashore. But not before igniting controversy when it was named the winner of the competition.

Before the race, Swett, a boat repairman, and Grandia, a machinist, stood in admiration of the vessel they had constructed in one hour and 20 minutes.

A Unique Keel

What was special about Das Boat, Swett explained, was its unique rectangular keel.

The contest, held at the Boys Scouts of America Sea Base of Orange County at Newport Harbor, was limited to four two-man teams, who scored points according to how fast they could build their boats and where they placed in the race.

Each team was given six two-foot-square pieces of plywood, two saws, two hammers, sealing compound and some nails.

Swett put the finishing touches on their masterpiece. Using a staple gun, he secured Das Boat’s flag, a diaper bearing their emblem--a spray-painted martini glass.

The proud artisan glanced at his competitors’ boats, shook his head, and said, “They’re real poor . . . real lame.”

But at race time, when crews eased their vessels into the Newport channel for their maiden voyage, Swett’s words came back to haunt him.

While the two-man crews aboard Viking Express, Day Off and Scowette maneuvered 50 yards, around a buoy, and across the finish line, Das Boat was losing the struggle to stay afloat at the starting line.

The two men spent more time in the water than they did in their craft. They tried standing on the keel, even sitting on top, rather than in, the boat. Mostly, they just laughed, heads bobbing above water, thanks to their life jackets.

Then, to the surprise of everyone, Das Boat was named winner of the contest, apparently scoring the highest total points for building time and the race.

“Now how do you figure that?” asked a bewildered Rob Silver, whose Viking Express sailed across the finish line first. Silver and his partner Scott Kennedy of Newport Beach filed a protest.

The judges recalculated. The final results: Scowette, first place; Viking Express and Day Off, tied for second, and then Das Boat.

For the most part, participants left the contest in good spirits, if a little wet. But none as wet as the ill-fated Das Boat crew.

“Let’s get Das Boat and burn it,” said a soaked but good-humored Swett, as he and his partner lifted their vessel back onshore after the race.

“Where’s the lighter fluid?” Grandia said.

In the case of the Scowette, a speedy building plan paid off.

“We got done fast, but we figured it was worth the point advantage and we’d take our chances in the race,” said Marlow Barger of Ventura. He built the “very simplified scow” with fellow carpenter Zerrol Fry who works in Thousand Oaks, but lives in Washington.

‘Didn’t Have a Plan’

Day Off’s Brian Hough and Tom Adams of Laguna Beach weren’t even supposed to be in the race, but when a crew withdrew from the competition at the last moment, the two carpenters stepped in.

“We didn’t have a plan or anything,” Hough said after the race.

“But it worked,” said Adams. “And the temperature of the water was very pleasant.”

The Viking Express crew took twice as long as its competitors to build the race-winning vessel, as they meticulously nailed boards and applied the caulking, often to the applause of admiring on-lookers.

“We wanted it to be able to float, but also have speed and maneuverability,” said Kennedy, an artist and historian with the Maritime Gallery in Newport Beach.

His partner, Silver, recently returned to Southern California after spending 15 years in Denmark, where he built his own boat and restored antique ships for the queen of Denmark.

Only four teams were allowed to compete in the event sponsored by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. “We wanted to try it out and see if we had the right formula first,” explained Marshall Steele, chairman of the two-day festival, which drew 2,000 people.

The contest apparently proved popular. “People are already signing up for next year,” he said.