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 A
Change in Pace
2006 saw a change in the timing of some of the items at Kon-Tiki like
running the Tender Race on the Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning.
One of the reasons for this was because of the meal having changed from
Saturday supper to Sunday breakfast and also for raft teams to complete
their raft figureheads for judging on the water. This also put
the time out for the raft race, should it be held.
Most teams
guessed what was happening with the meals and that breakfast was going to be
judged. This did mess up the well-laid plans of those teams who were
convinced that the meal was going to be a hamburger supper, as could be seen
from some of the hamburgers that arrived at breakfast with the hash browns.
The Spare Time
Activities also changed somewhat in that two of the STA's had to be
completed before 8pm on Saturday evening and the 4th STA didn't need to be
brought ashore. The STAs for Saturday night were to complete a cartoon by
drawing the final panel of a 4 panel cartoon. It had to continue the
story and had to come to a logical, funny conclusion. The other
Saturday night STA was to make a cartoon hero marionette puppet.
Very few teams dismembered their plastic dolls and ended up with marionettes
with frozen joints.
 The
STAs for Sunday morning were a gadget that Wile Coyote would make to catch
the Road Runner. The gadget had to have four stages with each stage
triggered by the previous one. It also had to be accompanied by
operating instructions that even Barbie could understand. After all,
we expected the judges to operate them.
The final STA was
for the raft teams to construct a bowsprit and figurehead on board their
rafts. These had to be pioneered to the raft deck. This
was judged on the water.
A few teams
missed STA6 which always allowed for some social catch-up and meeting the
other teams. STA6 will be re-introduced next year in one flavour or
another. STA5, which was the Sunday morning fishing competition,
was dropped because of the other early Sunday activities.
The weather
seemed to accommodate the various activities. Saturday afternoon the
sun came out for the tender race and brilliant weather was enjoyed as the
teams raced around the island. The strong team of 2nd Plumstead
held on to the trophy that they won in 2006. The rain and wind stopped
during the night hours when the teams brought STAs to shore and while the
campfire was on. This was repeated on Sunday morning when teams
brought STAs and meals to shore. The only activity that the rain
did spoil was the opening parade. It came down in buckets, and the
smurfs and hulks saw their body paint running while other teams had their
costumes clinging to them like Superman suits. Parents, Scouts, Guides and
judges were soaked to the skin before the launching started.
But when the rain stopped, the weather was good.
Teams have learnt
to construct really solid, weatherproof rafts over the years and this was
clear to see during the weekend as rafts rode out the various buckets of
rain that dropped on their heads and the wind squalls that came through
periodically. The other thing that many teams can be proud of is that
they managed to ride out the weather on their own anchors. A lot
of focus was placed on the anchor gear that rafts were using this year.
Judges made recommendations as to which rafts had anchors good enough to
ride out the South Easter should it be windy. Of course we need
to remember that a one ton raft in calm weather could create up to three
tons of strain on anchor lines should the wind come up.
The rafts on
Saturday night, as usual, were a stunning display and a number of visitors
returned to enjoy the spectacle on the water, as well as the campfire on the
jetty.
Through the
course of the next few weeks, the Chief Judge will be submitting the various
criteria that were looked at during the competition, in particular the
judges brief during raft construction.
Later in the year
you will be able to see the visual criteria for 2007, but for those of you
that want to get an early start, have a look at their original Kon-Tiki raft
and it will b e a good indication of what will be expected. Most
definitely you will need to have a mast and sail similar to the original
raft. You will not need to use balsa wood for the raft
construction (I can hear the wheels turning inside those heads). Drums
will still be the order of the day.
To the various
winners, congratulations. To the rest of the fleet, I hope that you enjoyed
the competition and if you have any ideas for the future, then please let us
have them well in advance. If you have any point that you would like
us to make a note of, good or bad, then please send an email . |
The
roar of the crowd said it all. It has been a long time since a
Guide Company has won Kon-Tiki, certainly more than ten years. Cape Pen have
been hard on the heels of the Neville Coxon Trophy for a number of those
years and their diligence and hard work has finally paid off.
In the last ten years, they have been in second place no less than three
times and now their time had come. They put on a brilliant
performance in most categories as can be seen from the results. 
Kon-Tiki
through the years has seen Scouts come to the aid of Scouts more times than
anybody can remember. 2006 was no different and one example was when
3rd Gugulethu arrived at the Base with a campsite but no tent - and the rain
was coming down. Brian Long opened up his workroom and in no time,
with the help of Mike Duthie, Manelisi Jack and his Scouts were in a dry and
warm environment that enabled them to experience their very first ever
Kon-Tiki. Hopefully next year they will be on a raft on the water.
Just recently Manelisi put a call out for any donations of tents and he has
the right idea. It is a lot easier for people to provide
equipment if they know exactly what is required by those Troops in need of
tents, sleeping bags, gas equipment etc. So, those Troops who do have
specific needs, put a call out with exactly what it is that you require and
you could be in for a pleasant surprise.
