Brett Taylor couldn’t get the Lavendar Shark to turn, so, in an act of desperation, he bailed overboard. Before long, all but one of the cardboard vessel’s four-man crew were in the water and a crowd of several thousand people gathered along the shores of Lake Sacajawea was roaring.

“It wouldn’t turn. It was too wide,” said Taylor, 18.

“I was hoping maybe luck would change if I jumped out of the boat.”

Taylor’s craft, which came out of the water in three pieces, was one of the first casualties of Longview’s first Great Cardboard Boat Regatta® during Saturday’s Go 4th Festival.

Fifty-one vessels entered the race, which was sponsored by The Daily News and Longview Fibre. Crews spent weeks shaping boats from sheets of cardboard and brought them to Martin Dock Saturday to find out if they were seaworthy. Most were. The soggy carcasses of those that weren’t lay in heaps on the shore.

The event was the first sanctioned cardboard regatta on the West Coast and was emceed by Terry Mathias, the national regatta organization’s coordinator.

Among the contenders were several giant rubber duckies (one of which — ironically named “Hope Floats” — came out of the water without a head), a jet boat, a floating produce stand, an oversized Radio Flyer wagon, an outhouse and a huge cat.

Each had to navigate buoys between the dock and Lions Island.

The crowd cheered as a battle broke out between a boat built by the Longview police called “Lake Watch” and a small pirate ship, which tangled with the police vessel on the first turn. The pirate boat, captained by Jeff Jolly, a Longview physician’s assistant, ended up overtaking the police and winning the heat.

“This is our maiden voyage. We’re just happy it didn’t sink,” Longview officer Kyle Sahim said of his boat after the race.

Cheryl Grimes, 45, of Longview helped paddle the SS Game Day, a 400-pound replica of the Seahawks’ Qwest Field. Grimes said she and her team of six worked more than 500 hours on the craft. The boat’s crew won the regatta’s spirit award.

“It was a hoot,” she said after winning her heat. “We had a blast.”

Tom Stalick, a 44-year-old engineer from Longview, built one of the day’s most impressive entries  — a replica of the SS Minnow from the television show “Gilligan’s Island.”

His family dressed as the show’s cast. Stalick was the Skipper; his wife, Theresa, was Mrs. Howell; his 12-year-old son, Julien, was Gilligan. Another son, Anton, 15, was the Professor. His daughter, Eleanor, 9, was Mary Ann, and his 6-year-old son, Roman, played the millionaire Mr. Howell. A friend of the family, Robert Loren, wanted to ride along too. Only the role of Ginger was left, so he wore a dress.

The crew won the race’s best-dressed team award.

Stalick said he spent weekends and nights throughout June working on the boat, which also included a cardboard suitcase for Mr. Howell’s money and cardboard binoculars.

“It was a blast,” he said. Although, he said, “the Howells wouldn’t row because it’s beneath them, so we kept veering to the left.”

Regatta Awards

Final Heat Winner

Vessel name: Swamp Rat

Vessel type: Canoe

Captain: Daryl Rickert

Crew: William Larson

Judges’ Awards

Pride of the Regatta

(Most creative use of cardboard — structural/design)

Vessel name: Regatta Queen

Vessel type: Sternwheeler

Captain: Ty Herriges

Crew: Lucas Getman

Vogue Award

(Most attractive or spectacular-looking boat)

Vessel name: Suck My Wake

Vessel type: Drag Boat

Captain: Jeff Farland

Crew: Elias Farland, Kelly Sherrell, Blake Sherrell

Best-Dressed Team

Vessel name: 3-Hour Tour

Vessel type: SS Minnow

Captain: Tom Stalick

Crew: Anton Stalick, Julien Stalick, Elanor Stalick, Robert Loren, Theresa Stalick and Roman Stalick

Team Spirit

Vessel name: SS Game Day

Vessel type: Pontoon (Qwest Field)

Captain: Cheryl Grimes

Crew: Roger Fraidenberg, Jason Robb, Tina Porritt, Jerry Grimes, Michael Smith, Charlotte Coulter, Chuck Froslie and Norman Cooper

Titanic Award

(Most spectacular sinking)

Vessel name: Optimus Prime

Vessel type: Blue, red semi truck

Captain: Mitchell Tate

Crew: Rory Randall, Preston Tate and Tyler Stephans

Photo Gallery:

Go 4th: Regatta (277 photos)

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Videos by Greg Garrison, TDN

We asked some captains and crew to tell the stories behind their cardboard vessels. Here's what they had to say.