OFFICIAL VESSEL DOSSIER · HULL 26-A · DOUBLE HONOREE

The Unsinkable Luau

Second Place and Captain’s Choice at the 2026 Taft Library Great Cardboard Boat Race—a tropical exercise in counter-fluted lamination, distributed cheer, and documented flotation.

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The Unsinkable Luau and its crew racing across Lake Nipmuc in 2026

RACE RECORD

Second place. Captain’s Choice. Mission accomplished.

On July 13, 2026, The Unsinkable Luau carried its crew across Lake Nipmuc to a second-place finish in the 26th Taft Public Library Great Cardboard Boat Race.

The vessel also received the Captain’s Choice Award, recognizing collaboration, innovation, and most attractive design. The yard has filed both honors under Evidence That the Flowers Were Structural.

  • 2026 race finish: Second Place
  • 2026 special honor: Captain’s Choice Award
  • Award citation: collaboration, innovation, and most attractive design
  • Race number: 15
  • Post-race condition: recovered with dignity

DESIGN BRIEF

A family vessel with a festival disposition

The Unsinkable Luau was laid down for the 26th Taft Public Library Great Cardboard Boat Race at Lake Nipmuc. Its broad beam, high sides, reinforced transom, and interior spine were selected for crew stability and the administrative comfort of the technical inspection committee.

Its yellow hull carries palm leaves, flamingos, pineapples, and a name applied at a scale visible from the opposite shore. Decorative optimism is distributed evenly to port and starboard.

YARD SPECIFICATION

Hull 26-A

The hull uses layered corrugated panels, transverse bulkheads, a longitudinal floor spine, taped structural seams, and a wide open passenger compartment. The curved transom and raised backrest provide shape without enclosing the crew.

  • Home port: Newburyport, Massachusetts
  • Builder: Capt. Dan Thistlewack
  • Construction: layered corrugated cardboard
  • Finish: tropical yellow with teal and pink livery
  • Regatta: 26th Taft Library Great Cardboard Boat Race
  • Builder’s revised odds of floating: Demonstrated

PATENTED INFLUENCE

Distributed Luau Buoyancy

The vessel is the first full-scale deployment of Thistlewack Patent TWK-CB-2026-001. Strategic tropical ornamentation is positioned around the hull to improve crew spirit without measurably reducing displacement.

The patent remains vigorously cheerful and has not been evaluated by any agency lacking a dock.

PHOTOGRAPHIC VESSEL RECORD

From yard floor to award table

The Unsinkable Luau racing on Lake Nipmuc
Underway to a second-place finish, July 13, 2026.
Captain Dan and a crew member holding the Captain's Choice Award
Captain’s Choice for collaboration, innovation, and most attractive design.
The Unsinkable Luau returning to shore after the race
Return to shore through the corrugated fleet.
Captain Dan beside the recovered Unsinkable Luau hull
The post-race hull and its satisfied builder.
Decorated bow of The Unsinkable Luau with palm leaf and pineapple graphics
Bow quarter: the tropical livery begins.
Full side profile of The Unsinkable Luau cardboard boat
Port profile: beam, flare, and wave pattern.
Named transom of The Unsinkable Luau with flamingo graphics
The named transom, entered into the registry.
Layered corrugated cardboard visible along the boat’s gunwale
Laminate evidence at the gunwale.
Captain Dan’s finishing bench in the cardboard boat workshop
The finishing bench after a long watch.
The Unsinkable Luau during early structural construction
Structural stage before fairing.