Cardboard boat builders set sail in Lakewood Ranch

She left her swimsuit at home, so 12-year-old Cora Augustine had a little extra pressure to prove her cardboard boat could float on the final day of the Lakewood Ranch YMCA's summer camp Aug. 9.

As she and other sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders lined up along the edge of the pool, Cora stepped into her boat, the bottom of which she had covered in duct tape. In moments, however, she was laughing as the boat sank and she she went under, clothes and all.

"I kind of failed," she said after the race. "I was too heavy."

She said she picked a cardboard box with too short of sides, and she should have used more duct tape. She shrugged.

"It was fun," she said.

About 30 middle schoolers worked in teams to create the boats. Younger campers enjoyed water balloon and water gun fights in lieu of the boat races.

About 200 children participated in the last week of summer camp at the Lakewood Ranch YMCA.