10/20/08 More than 200 hundred people came out to race their boats across the pond, and cheer on their neighbors

Emmin Shung launches the family's model sailboat, while his son, Artimis, 4, in brown, and Ajax, 7, in blue,watch at the Model Sailboat Regatta at Binney Park Pond.

(Helen Neafsey/Greenwich Time staff photo)

Model boats cruise at Binney Park

Old Greenwich residents Josh Boksenbaum, 6 and his father Steve, were putting the last-minute finishing touches on their homemade boat "R 4," just an hour before the race.

With their catamaran, made out of smart water bottles glued together as the base, wood, painted purple, a baking sheet as a rudder and a garbage for the sail, Josh felt confident they were going to win.

"We always win with this design," he said.

Josh had designed the boat with his father for the 46th annual Model Sailboat Regatta, sponsored by Old Greenwich Riverside Community Center, which was held Sunday at Binney Park....

...Johnny Pastore, 7, made a sailboat out of water bottles to make it float, and an egg carton as the base, with paper as the sail, held together by glue, while Julia Peldunas 5 and her father Brian, sailed a 30 year-old homemade, hand painted sailboat with a fiber glass haul and an aluminum rudder.

Brothers Elias Frank, 12, and Gabriel Frank, 15, collected wine corks for more than a year in anticipation of Sunday's regatta.

They built the bottom of their sailboat with chicken wire, bubble wrap and black tape and filed it with more than one hundred wine corks, some stained from red wine. The sails were made from old white T-shirts, and they added a red flag for design. They aptly named it the "Drunken Sailor." ....

....There were nine races, which were determined by age and type of boat, ranging from mono hulls to radio-controlled to homemade.

With the windy, cool weather many of the boats easily made their way across the pond in Binney Park, demarcated by flags, to determine the start and finish.
For new sailor Richard Jove, 9, racing his radio-controlled sailboat is a chance to learn more about sailing.

"It's a great way to learn the principles of sailing and it's fun," said his dad, Old Greenwich resident, John Jove.

But for Josh Boksenbaum, it's not just winning that matters. The most fun was making the boat, he said.

"I am always looking forward to (this event)," he said, "We try to come up with something good every year."

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