According to the Floatzilla Facebook page, 225 paddlers were signed up on August 2, just 19 days before the event. Venture Outdoors records show that two weeks prior to their attempt, 1,105 were registered—the exact number needed to break the record.

“We wish them luck, of course,” said Jon Lucadamo, Program Director at Venture Outdoors and one of the masterminds behind Venture Outdoors’ June 5 attempt. “But we also really wouldn’t mind if our record stuck on the books for a while.”

Floatzilla’s official website, www.floatzilla.org, features a shout-out to Pittsburgh for “raising the bar.” Linking to the time-lapse photography of paddlers merging together and scattering when the rain starts, the site author wrote,

“If you care to see what a world record attempt looks like just check out this video of Paddle at the Point.”

Darn right! Paddle at the Point and Floatzilla originally set out to beat the same record: 1,104 canoes and kayaks set in 2008 in Inlet, New York. Cross your fingers for the Midwest as they set out to raise the bar even further in the coming week!

Taken right around the time of the World Record attempt

Just after the record attempt, just before the rain!

And there's the rain!

]]> http://www.paddleatthepoint.com/2010/06/15/birds-eye-view/feed/ 2 http://www.paddleatthepoint.com/2010/06/09/1-minute-time-lapse/ http://www.paddleatthepoint.com/2010/06/09/1-minute-time-lapse/#comments Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:23:32 +0000 admin http://www.paddleatthepoint.com/?p=520 This is our favorite. We can’t stop pressing replay. Check out this awesome time lapse video created by Randy Sargent and Paul Heckbert of the Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab. Be sure to wait until second 36 when everyone gets soaked in the rain!

It’s even better in HD, download the HD version here: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~gigapan/timelapse/flotilla-timelapse-1080p.mp4

She participated in Paddle at the Point and sent a first hand account to National Geographic, who published it on their Intelligent Travel blog.

Check out the full post here: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/06/christine-otoole-is-a-feature.html

Thanks Christine for joining the fun and sharing your perspective!

For anyone who didn’t get their certificate, there’s how to pick one up:

1. Print your own at home. Download a pdf of the certificate to print.

2. Stop by the Venture Outdoors Office to pick yours up. We’re located in Downtown Pittsburgh at 304 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Please bring your wrist band from Paddle at the Point to prove your participation.

3. Pick yours up at Kayak Pittsburgh Downtown. Stop by our kayak rental concession under the 6th Street Bridge, on the North Shore, next to PNC Park. Please bring your wrist band from Paddle at the Point to prove your participation. Certificates will be available here starting Wednesday, June 9th.

We’ve had an overwhelming response over the past month, bigger and better then we ever imagined!

The Guinness World Record™ for Largest Raft of Canoes/Kayaks is currently held by a group in Inlet, New York. They assembled 1,104 boats on Fourth Lake. Our region’s old rival, Cleveland, held the record previously with 776 boats.

We’re on track to smash the record: As of this writing, nearly 2,000 people have signed up to participate in the Pittsburgh region’s Paddle at the Point!

But wouldn’t you know it, there’s already a group nipping at our heels. We hear rumors that the Quad Cities region in Iowa and Illinois is organizing an attempt later this summer they’ve dubbed Floatzilla.

While we hope everyone who participates in Floatzilla has a fun and safe day on the water, we want the Paddle at the Point record to last. Let’s show the world what Pittsburgh is made of and blow that record out of the water, by getting out on the water!

Remember Friday at 10:00 AM is your last chance to register!

If you’re planning on signing up for Paddle at the Point please do so soon! We’ll be sending out several email updates over the next week with important logistics information.

If you’re already signed up and requested to rent a boat, but haven’t paid for your rental, please do so now. Click the red ‘rent your boat’ button on the right side of the screen and follow the directions.

The record attempt was conceived by Venture Outdoors as a way to raise awareness of World Environment Day and give the region’s residents, regardless of age or ability, a chance to celebrate the outdoors together. Sally Newman is one good example of the range those ages may reach.

Newman, a retired Intergenerational Studies professor at Pitt, will turn 81 on June 4, the day before Paddle at the Point. That evening, she and her husband plan to attend the symphony to hear Beethoven’s 9^th. The evening of June 5, post-record attempt, they intend to paddle downtown and see the Zambelli Brothers light up the sky above PNC Park during a Fireworks Paddle with Venture Outdoors.

Newman insists that there’s nothing exceptional about her active lifestyle. She has a “lousy back,” but loves to be outdoors. A week-long family vacation of backpacking and kayaking in Alaska stands out as one of her most memorable experiences. Could breaking a world record cause a similar thrill?

“More people my age should go!” said Newman. “We’re outdoors folks … but it’s not that we’re great.”

Of course, she’s has a point. No experience is necessary to take part in the event and it won’t be particularly strenuous, so it’s welcoming to beginners of all ages. To participate in a kayak or canoe, individuals need only be at least 3 years old and 35 pounds, And although paddlers won’t travel far or fast, two-seater tandem kayaks offer families or couples, like the Newmans, a way to keep an eye on each other.

For more detailed information on the logistics of the event, see the FAQ page.

Ivy, what’s a flotilla? I keep hearing that word.

Loosely, a fleet of boats. It often refers to naval vessels, but describes what we’ll be doing equally well.

It’s also a videogame featuring “Chicken space pirates, psychic dog advisers, and rhino bounty hunters,” but that’s not what we’ll be doing. We will be in kayaks and canoes!

What sort of things can make up a flotilla? Just kayaks?

Tugboats, yachts, submarines, warships (yikes)…you name it. On the civilian side, there are flotilla sailing vacations abroad, you can hitch your pontoon boats together and have a cookoff, or use kayaks to break world records. The world record is technically the “Largest raft of Canoes and Kayaks,” so please leave tugboats at home.

What’s the correct pronunciation of flotilla?

Rhymes with Godzilla: float-illa. The word is a derivative of the Spanish flota, but don’t be tripped up when you see the lovely double “l” found in words like quesadilla (mmm…) we dropped the “y” sound upon appropriating the word for English use.

Will there be drinking? I associate flotillas with alcohol.

A: No. We encourage families to take part in the day together, and alcohol use is prohibited during our record attempt. However, we are working an after-party celebration if you’re interested.

Do I have to have my own kayak?

No, and you don’t even have to know where to get one. Register now and receive a follow-up e-mail about reasonable kayak pricing through our partners, or watch this website and www.ventureoutdoors.org for updates on local outfitters and their prices.

If you do own your own boat, great! Let’s get it on the water.

Ok, sounds fun! What will I have to do that day?

In the afternoon, we’ll gather and push off from several convenient points on the shore downtown and gather our kayaks to form a raft near the Point. Once everyone is assembled and the helicopter is positioned above to get some high-quality footage (how cool is that?), we’ll pull up our paddles and hold onto the boats next to us. The record attempt should be done and we’ll all shoot to be out of the water by 3:00, if not lots earlier.

Of course, the logistics will take slightly longer to complete than to explain, but we’ll keep you updated through the website, via e-mail, and at the point.

I’ve never kayaked before. Is that a problem?

Not at all. It’s not too difficult, and you’ll only paddle a short distance for this event. We do require that you wear a life jacket, and remember that quite a few of your fellow participants will be experienced paddlers or trip leaders. In the unlikely event that you have a problem or tip over, you’ll have a life jacket to keep you afloat and 1,500 friends to help you upright.

If you like this experience, we do hope that you’ll try kayaking on another day in a more traditional format. It’s fun!

Paddle at the Point
Saturday, June 5 is World Environment Day and Venture Outdoors and its 30 plus outdoor partners are taking over Pittsburgh’s three rivers in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record^TM for the largest kayak and canoe flotilla in the world. 1,200 kayaks and canoes are needed as we set a mark at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers to beat a record that was previously held by long time arch nemesis Cleveland!

Don’t have a boat? Don’t worry. Sign up early and rent a kayak from Kayak Pittsburgh before they’re all gone. We’ll need everyone and anyone, clubs and groups welcome! Parking will be offered for free on the North Side and we’ll shuttle your boat to the landing for launch. Be part of history in the making and celebrate World Environment Day in Pittsburgh with Paddle at the Point!