The cheers began before the first cardboard boat even touched the water at Stony Brook University’s 37th annual Roth Regatta, where students transformed Roth Pond into a floating video game arena filled with creativity, competition and the occasional sinking disaster.
This year’s regatta adopted a video game theme, inspiring teams to construct colorful boats modeled after popular gaming franchises using only cardboard, duct tape, paint and string. Some boats sped across the 200-yard course in under a minute, while others barely made it off shore before taking on water.
“I am so thrilled to be here on this absolutely glorious day,” Stony Brook President Andrea Goldsmith told the crowd gathered around the pond. “You bring incredible energy and passion to this, celebrating our amazing students and the community that defines Stony Brook.”
Organized annually by the Undergraduate Student Government, the beloved campus tradition featured nearly 100 entries competing in Speedster and Yacht divisions.
Among the standout teams was “Dunkin’ Kong,” a Donkey Kong-inspired boat created by students who work together at Dunkin’ Donuts. “When we saw the theme, the idea of ‘Dunkin’ Kong’ just clicked,” said senior Yoselin Garcia. “Once we started building, everyone had a role in making it happen.”
Junior engineering student Andrew Girgis admitted the team may have gone overboard with construction. “I definitely over-engineered this boat a little bit,” he said. “We made three trips to the store and probably used around 30 rolls of duct tape.”
Not every team relied on careful calculations. “We kind of improvised the whole thing,” freshman Matthew Cirrito said with a laugh.
By the end of the afternoon, “Super Mario Book Kart” claimed the Speedster title with a winning time of 54.82 seconds, while Professor Basile’s Lab captured the Yacht division crown.
“The best part was working together,” Girgis said. “That’s what made it fun.”