"Basically, it's an entire engineering process that they have to go through, whether it's choosing and fine-tuning the material, the formwork production process, designing the shape of the canoe so that it has the best possible driving characteristics. The actual race is a fun part, where they test whether their assumptions are met. This means that the canoes will stay afloat and are able to float on it," said Frantová. Lightweight concrete is used in production.
"The benefit of the competition is that the students prove that they can do more than what is their duty at school, that the team is united, they have one interest and work hard on it and try to push it to a successful end," Otakar Pancner, deputy director for vocational training at the Otrokovice Technical School, told ČTK today. A team of first-year science lyceum students at the school participated in the project. "From a professional point of view, it is quite challenging for us, because we are not a construction school. It was an introduction to the issues of the construction process and the actual concreting," said Pancner.
It is not just about making a boat, it was preceded by a study of materials, concreting and the mold process. Preparation began last fall. The Prague faculty also passed on their experience to the students. The students of the Otrokovice Industrial School were helped by the Josef Sousedík Secondary School in Vsetín with the production of the mold. "Then we brought the mold to us and our work began, where we first made samples of concrete. We assessed their strength, how they would suit us, how they behaved in general. When we found the right composition, we started large-scale production," said Pancner.
The students enjoyed making the canoe. "Given that we are freshmen, it was great that we got to know each other and had our own team. In general, it was fun to do it and find out things," said Ella Přikrylová, a student at the Otrokovice school, to ČTK today. The students also came up with a design for the canoe, which was blue with painted yellow ducks. "Everyone made their own duck, so we have seven ducks like us students and three ducks like the principal, the teacher and the teacher who helped us with the canoe. And there is one duck at the front of the boat, which is just there for design," said the student, who also competed in the girls' canoe category. Her team came first in the race. "It's quite challenging, the canoe weighs a hundred kilograms," said Přikrylová. The advantage of the school was that it is in close proximity to Štěrkoviště and the students were able to test the canoe on the water. Teams of girls, boys, and mixed teams competed on a section about 200 meters long. There was also a long-distance race.