Gentlemen, print your engines!
The Red Hook Regatta, an annual race of 3D-printed boats, returned to Valentino Pier Park on Sunday. This year’s festivities promised to be pure “mayhem,” according to the folks at Pioneer Works (the artist residency program and events space teamed up with Red Hook Initiative, an education NGO, to put on the regatta). Which didn’t stop some 100 people from braving the cold and rain to watch the homemade boats shred water. Participants used remote controls to steer their vessels halfway up the pier, where they delivered bricks to a person with a red-colored hook (get it? Red Hook?). The boat that delivered the most bricks was declared the winner.
Also launching on Sunday was Hope Floats, an art project encouraging people to record an audio message for their Congressional rep. The messages are sent to a boat that calls the Congressperson daily to deliver the message. Watch our video to learn more about that, and to see who took home the regatta’s coveted golden trophy.
The Hope Floats boat casting off. (Image by Diego Lynch)