Plan now to attend the 16^th annual Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition held in Toronto this year from May 14^th-16^th 2010.  This is a competition that is open to colleges and universities to showcase their ingenuity in solving a difficult engineering problem – how to make concrete float.

Not only does it have to float, but a team of paddlers must compete in speed and skills races – the completed canoe must be fast and manoeuvrable, something we all want in our own canoes.

The unusual idea of building concrete canoes dates back to the 60s and 70s when teams in the United States began to compete regionally. Since then the practice has expanded worldwide with competitions from Singapore to Turkey.

The Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition was established in 1994 at the École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) in Montreal, who hosted the event for the first four years of its existence. With the growing success of the competition, it was decided to rotate host schools each year. The University of Toronto first hosted the CNCCC in 2002.

The 8th annual Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition (CNCCC) will be held on Saturday, May 11, 1 p.m. at Nathan Phillips Square and Sunday, May 12, 9:30 a.m. at Long Pond, Centre Island.

Source: University of Toronto