Articles and Videos
We've added this
partition to highlight key articles and videos related to concrete canoeing.
Our objective is to give our visitors an appreciation of the history of
the sport and allow serious competitors to gain a competitive advantage by
seeing some of the best deliveries in the game. At the same time, we want
you to have fun and keep abreast of new developments in concrete
canoeing. We'll be expanding this library and updating information on a regular basis, so be sure to
check back often to see what's new.
Re: Concrete Canoe
History - UIUC and UAH keep records of years past...
Things have changed quite a bit since
this cartoon was published in 1974.
"Forty
Years of Concrete Canoe at Illinois." - video produced by Armen
Amirkhanian (UIUC) as a trailer for the 2011 competition in Evansville, IN. It
was created to showcase the history
and accomplishments of the Boneyard Yacht Club at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign... the team that started it all way back in
1970. Armen became infatuated with concrete canoeing when he accompanied
his Dad, Serji, to the national competitions. Serji served as the faculty
advisor to Clemson's 3CT since, well, what seemed like forever... until
Brad Putman took the helm.
"Boneyard
Yacht Club Concrete Canoe Team, CEE at Illinois." - video
produced in 2010 by R.J. Mosborg after Armen became the
faculty advisor for the BYC at UIUC. Check out the thermo graphic images
at frame time 3:31 and the credits at 5:18 to ConcretCanoe.org and
Concrete Canoe Pictures (see links on our main menu). Two years
later, Armen and the Yacht Club gave it their all as the host of the 2013
NCCC.
"Concrete
Canoe Fever" - article written by Francis Young (UIUC) and John Gilbert
(UAH) documenting the history and evolution of concrete canoeing. Young
and Gilbert both served as ASCE faculty advisors for decades. Francis won
many of the first faculty races held at the regional level in the early
'70s while John won the only two faculty races ever held for points at the
U.S. nationals... a sprint race in 1994 and a slalom in 1996. The points
he earned in 1994 enabled UAH to sweep the competition... making them the
only team in history to do so.
Ok, so concrete canoeing
has become an international epidemic but what does it take to become a
national champion? Here's how it's done...
Re: Concrete Canoe
Competition - Cal Poly - SLO and ETS document their rise to victory...
"Vintage" (left) and
"Grand Prix" (right) paved the way to national wins by Cal Poly
- SLO and ETS, respectively.
"Cal
Poly Concrete Canoe" - this video shows how Cal Poly - SLO built
"Vintage" which propelled the team to a first place finish in
the Pacific Southwest Conference; and, a win in the final product category
as well as a third place finish overall at the 2009 NCCC. The team went on
to win three consecutive national titles in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
"Canoë de Béton de l'ÉTS Video
Officiel 2011-2012" - this video shows how ETS built
"Grand Prix" which propelled them to a first place finish in the
Upstate New York Conference, a second place finish at the Canadian
Nationals, and sixth place overall at the 2012 NCCC. In 2013, the team
went on to win the first U.S. title held by a Canadian team.
Now that you know a
little bit more about the competition, let's focus on paddling...
Re: Concrete Canoe Races
- Once upon a time, there was a fierce nautical rivalry...
At the 2005 NCCC, the Wisconsin Badgers
(left) won two races while Clemson's 3CT (right) took the other three.
"2008
National Concrete Canoe Men's Final" - the most frequently
watched paddling video in the history of concrete canoeing shows members of Wisconsin's "six pack" paddling to victory in
"Buckingham" during the men's sprint final at the 2008 NCCC in Montreal, Canada. Wisconsin's canoe was designed by David
Blodgett who is racing in the bow. David was an avid kayaker and, at the
time, the Badgers were the defending champions with five consecutive
national titles to their credit.
"2008
National Concrete Canoe Women's Final" - two members of
Wisconsin's female contingent paddle to clear victory in the women's
sprint final at the
2008 NCCC in Montreal, Canada.
"2008
National Concrete Canoe Co-Ed Final" - team captain, David
Blodgett, pulls off a risky dual slice at the turn buoy to propel Wisconsin's
co-ed team to a decisive victory in the co-ed sprint final at the
2008 NCCC in Montreal, Canada.
"2003
National Concrete Canoe Competition - Part I" - this video
is a well kept secret but clearly demonstrates the Badger's paddling
prowess as they ramp up their stroke rate to a staggering 110 strokes per
minute at frame time 11:06. This propelled the team to the first of
five consecutive national victories. The Badgers later extracted still photographs from
the footage and added a musical score to produce "2003
National Concrete Canoe Competition - Part II."
If you're a part of your
concrete canoe team and you haven't gotten the gist of racing your boat by
now, you'd better focus on making the presentation. Here's how it's
done...
Re: Oral Presentations -
The Bears step up to the podium...
"Bear
Area"
- this
presentation enabled Berkeley to win the presentation category at the 2009
NCCC in Tuscaloosa, Alabama which propelled the Bears to their fifth
victory with "Bear Area".
"Vocal"
- this
presentation on "Vocal" enabled the Berkeley Bears to win the
presentation category at the 2008 NCCC in Montreal, Canada. This set them
up for victory in 2009.
Re: See what's
in store for 2014...
"Episode
11 - Kaleidoscope" - Pitt-Johnstown,
host of the 2014 NCCC, discusses their involvement in the national
concrete canoe competition. See Episode 11 entitled, "Team
Work."
Re: Concrete Canoe Magazine...
In
2006, alumni
from Laval
published the inaugural issue of "Concrete
Canoe Magazine." Their intent was to
disseminate knowledge and recent developments
in concrete canoeing and to share experiences among concrete canoe
enthusiasts and former
participants. Volumes were produced in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010. If you haven't seen them
yet, you can download PDF
copies... free... by visiting:
Concrete
Canoe Magazine
