A winning raingutter racer stays on an even keel, moves in a straight line, keeps the bow above water and does not drag. If your boat does all this, it finishes ahead of any boat that can't. Here's how to build your winner.
you should cut your car into a “boat shape” (cut into the bottom of it). It’ll save you fractions of a second.
I can’t wait until the race on Saturday!!!!!! It is my first year racing. Do you have any tips?? I am going to win!!
Tiger Cub dad here…not mechanically gifted. rounded the axles (took off burrs), rounded wheels put some tungsten weight in the back, graphite…eyeballed the alignment, son did ton of the work and worked together each step of the way. I was just hoping that he would compete. To my astonishment, he did end up winning his pack. Craziest thing I have ever seen. Districts are 3/21/10, I thought it would be funny to see how far it could go. I think we will go just to see.
I never went for speed I always go for most original because it is easier than speed.
Who says that plain looking “fast” designs can’t be crafted well and be both fast and “cool” looking?
I made a bananna car, and one first place! it was very surprising.
Are model rocket engines legal if the car still weighs under 5oz ?
No sorry the only propolsion you can use is gravity.
tip for you:dont have your car primered and painted like a real car i did that and i only won a participant ribbon
I know the answer to this one. Strap a GE jet engine to it. It will go 759 MPH.
its all about axle alignment in the end, make a test track ( a piece of drywall works great) raise one end with a 4×4, ensure your car rolls straight and true.
I think its about axels and weight. we had our weight in the front then we put it in the back and won by alot more.
I used the speed secrets last year on my sons car and he won first place in his den, first place over all and first place at the district race. I also wanted to let evcery one know that attention to detail is what wins the race. we did a test with 3 cars without graphite and with graphite, with graphite all three cars picked up 1/10 of a second in time. Graphite makes the differance.
Good luck to all racers and have fun.
A person told me awhile ago if you want to win speed then go with a wedge and get it as close to the weight requirement as possible. That was the best advice ever. All the other ideas are tweaks but, if you put together a boring old wedge you will be top 3 at least, with pretty much no axel polishing, straightening etc. Another great tip for weigh in is thumb tacks. Easy to place and move off or on. The cars right at the weight do the best everytime.
This will depend on how competitive your Pack is. My Pack dads are engineers and builders. If you don’t polish axles, you won’t be a speed contender. Then again, we give certificates for good looking cars, goofy looking cars, and the most obviously boy-made car. It’s about fun.
My son just won for the 2nd year in a row. Kept axle space the same per local rules. used tungsten weights which are much heavier and also used a COG kit to balance the car. We made a Batmobile and even put red LED lights in the front. We also won the most orginal design trophy
Last year I went for looks with a sweet looking 1933 Ford Coupe design;AND WON FIRST PLACE!!!!! This year is my first to go for speed points, and my Dad recommended these tips to me.
Axels are not to be moved from the origional markings. And 3 legged cars are not allowed in our rules.
We had a scientist dad in our Pack whose son is now in Boy Scouts that built their own track at home, and made hundreds of minute changes to their car to develop a very fast car. They did this every year and won every race in the Pack and District. The book is simplistic compared to this guy’s secrets. I just wish he had written a book. But if you’re not in an overly competitive pack with alot of kids, it’s great.
Encourage the parents who win EVERY year to leave some room for everyone else. My son won 2 years in a row. The third year we made a fun, goofy car that was fast enough for him to win a few heats, but not enough to win overall. Its good to let everyone have a taste of victory.
these tips are the best my son one first place when he raced his first year
We came in first the very first year we entered the race. Every year after that we were dead last. I’m going to try the tips.
i am excited to race in my first race this saturday, my car is black and sleek, I hope i do well
These tips are really helpful! But i thought it would be much better instead if putting more weight in the front than the back.
The longer gravity can push your car, the greater the final speed when your car exits into the flat portion of the track. Gravity; placing the weight near the rear of the car will place it high on the track, providing a longer drive or push into the bottom. Simply stated, having the weight at the rear means it has further to drop. Allowing gravity to push your car a little longer than if the weight where at the front.
Re: Legos-themed car: Two years ago my son covered his car in Legos. We cut the car wood block in half, and then covered the car with the thinnest-style Legos. We thought it looked ptryy cool, but it didn’t win any “original design” awards…
No, we did a Wii remote last year. This year we are doing a solar system with planets and a sun
Lego themed cars never win. Make your wheels parallel to each other and make your car aerodynamic; I used those tips and I was in a three way tie for first. p.s. now I’m a boy scout and help out at the races.
by the way use the spell checker by right clicking on the red underlined word. this will make it better for everybody.
We had two Lego cars this year. One looked like a long flat 8×2 board piece with a starwars character driving, the other was a half-pipe with Lego characters skate boarding in it.
I don’t care about winning. I just like cool cars.
why is it called “boy’s life” …im a girl..and i can assure u that im no boy!!!
Why does baking it to make it lighter help you will add weight later anyway.Also it is called “Boy’s Life” because it is for boy scouts.
Baking to make it lighter helps because then you can control where to place the weight you add.
“Baking” it makes it so all of the mosture is completly out of the car.
I find this very helpfull. My son won 1st place in den race YEA!
less friction = more speed. i got 1st because one wheel never touched the track i won every race i beat the best people.
3 wheelers (one wheel raised) are faster, but banned in many districts. Check your district rules first.
also some districts don’t allow baking or lubricating the axels so please check Your district rules before you begin making your car.
some of these rules do not meet the standard rule requirments.
my sons car won first in pack first in district and first in council finals. his car was undefeated in 2009,after we used secrets or pinewood derby cars..
my car was a bannana and i got 1st place! (same trophy as the one in the video…)
This is the best idea ever.I got 2 place in the pinewood derby.
Heres a tip to win best sportsmanship trophy;shake everybodys hand that you race against thats how i won best sportsmanship
Great idea, Little Will!
You know, you can’t make believe about good sportsmanship, so I think you must have been smiling and had a twinkle in your eye when you were shaking hands.
Good for you!
I beat my whole pack in 2008. Beat about half of District. But didn’t get any rewards.
Speed secrets book, Is a good book! Just keep in mind the rules for your pack’s race! (IT’S NO FUN IF YOU CANT RACE!) As some pack’s have strict rules! When it comes to the mod’s you can and cannot do to the wheels and axels and the car body! Desings and patterns book, Has a great way to walk you threw step by step, If your looking to build a cool car! The different car patterns in this book! Will have first time builders say wow!
on my car i extended the weal base and put the weights on the back and i also put grafite on the wheels (THAT MADE THE MOST DIFRENCE)
those are my tips
i just build a awsome award-winner. or i used to. im aboy scout now.=(
I prefer to try to make my cars look cool not just go fast
in my first year in scouts (weblos1), i used similer tips and won against my whole pack!
we have been doing these races for two years and these tips have really helped also I love your magazines
There are many ways to make your pinewood derby car go faster. Here are some of them.
Make that block of wood look like steel with these pinewood derby painting tips.
They might annoy us or amaze us, but there's no question about it: Bugs are an essential part of the natural order of things. Here's how to make your own nature museum to display them.
Making a periscope from wood and a few pieces of mirror is easier than you might think. Here are plans and instructions for a periscope more than two feet long—just what you want for heavy-duty secret agent work.
Mother’s Day is coming up. Show your mom just how great she is by making her a gift inspired by Mother Nature herself! Topped off with a homemade card, it will be a present Mom will never forget.
Show off your patches and other stuff with this rustic “hide rack” display.
Conserve water by collecting rainwater and using it for your garden or lawn.
A kazoo is perfect to add some extra fun to your campout sing-alongs. Here's how to make one.
Awesommee! Dude best igloo making guide ever!! Whhoo hoo
My boys used 1 gal ice cream buckets packed full of snow to build their igloo and it was so great the local paper published a picture of it.
I hope OH gets a little more snow this year so that I can try this.
I would like to try it if we ever get enough snow Here in RI.
I wish there was more snow here in Minnesota so I could try this
I wish it snowed in TX more. I would like to try it.
if it does not get to cold in tx then i would like to move there!
Doesnt everyone wish there was snow in FL then on some days we wont have any school and only a whole day of playing in the snow and just having some fun
The best-known snow shelter is the igloo. A brilliant use of engineering and resources, this simple dome made out of snow blocks is both strong and versatile.
When Old Man Winter bares his cold, sharp icicle fangs, don't turn into an indoor flake. Bite back! Here's how to sink your teeth into winter and walk away with a few cool souvenirs."
Here's how to tumble your way to rich compost for your garden and plants.
Make a stereograph, using two cameras to create cool 3D snapshots.
Twig pencils are fun, easy and cheap to make. And the expressions on your friends’ faces when you start scribbling with a stick will be writetious!
Go Green and recycle empties into fun and useful projects.
If you curve some aluminum foil just right, you can cook hot dogs with the sun's heat.
Cave paintings have been around for thousands of years. Light up your own bedroom "cave" with this torn-paper lamp shade.
Looking for a homemade gift or just a fun game. Try making this classic Soma puzzle.
Want a natural nightlight? Catch some fireflies and make a firefly lantern. Here's how.
Charge up your power drill, sharpen that saw and make this cool custom-made Off-Shore Battle game.
Love the pinewood derby? Want tips for making your pinewood derby car go faster? Looking for ideas for an amazing pinewood derby design?
I want to do this but we don’t have a random rain gutter sitting around or some balsa wood.
Going 2 use some of the directions for a school project hope it works.
I have to say that following this there is a few rule violation that comes with the regatta. One is there needs to be a space between the keel and the rutter and also super glue is not supposed to be allowed only “a water-based resin or wood glue. I find it disheartening that one of the scout codes is to do your best. Yet the rules are not taken into account. My own sons pack did this and I am not happy. However we (my son and I ) followed them he placed 3rd.
Wing15 is a real whiner,
Inverting the keel with the narrow part in the hull did not work
for us. This design is slow… Build it according to directions in the box to win.
My regattas tonight i hope it works
Third place finish for my Tiger Cub’s first regatta, even against some older scouts in the pack!
Worked like a charm tonight! 3rd place finish for my Bear Cub! Followed it all to a tee, and put three coats of poly on it.
I sure hope this works???
I totally believe in this article! My son won the overall pack by following these instructions to the tee! He will be racing in the district races sometime in the next month! Thanks to Mark Lardas for this great article!
Still working on it. Hope it works.
This had better work!! I NEED to keep my pack event winning streak going!!! I won the Cublympics and Pinewood derby. if i loze, ill be this-
>>>:<
-angry dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pce out
Boy i hope this works because this is my first time and my last time!
My Race is Nov. 17th hope I win a trophy
This boat better work…
This is the second year we have used this design with one alteration. We are the only ones in the pack to use it. There is something to the keel and rudder being set against one another because for the second year it produced a win. And when I say win I mean blowout. In a few of the races the win was by a full half the distance of the raingutter.
hopes it will work for me
i took first last year but i hope this helps me do even better
We followed your instructions and won!
We built one nearly the same, but trimmed the sail and glued it to the deck. No one else had the keel moved and no one came close to beating us !
Hope this works!!!
Followed the instructions, and even though we didn’t have any polyurethane my son still won! Noone else had the keel turned this way or so close to the rudder. The tips for blowing really helped too since I noticed most of the other contestants blowing downwards. Thanks!
I also used the instructions.It really works! I learned the hard way not to put too many stickers on it…makes the balance off!
My son and I will be following these instructions and hopefully we will do well – at least better than we did in the Pinewood Derby last year! Our regatta is Aug 4 – so keep us in mind!
going to make my boat . hope this works for me.
today is the race
Followed this exactly and did terrible!! Only won against one other boat. Most of the boats were totally different… either had sail all the way to deck and glued down on sides or cut theirs into catamaran… those were the ones that won. We were no competition!
Best instructions I’ve seen. Simple enough for my bears boys to do on their own. The best “trick” was the polyurethane! Really helped the boat stay dry throughout all the races. Boys took 1st and 2nd overall.
The boy is a Tiger. We followed the directions, with particular note to the keel/rudder design, raking the mast, and, most importantly, blowing techniques (even the fastest boats will not win without a good skipper), and he took the Pack Championship UNDEFEATED. This is the by far the best boat design for packs that race traditional boats (no catamarans or cup sails).
Trying this year with my son. Tomorrow is the race. I hope pans out well! he is so excited.
We followed the instructions over the weekend and we are now headed to the races. Wish us luck!
It’s going to make me win!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My son just finished his first raingutter regatta today. He took 1st place with only one loss. He was a tiger cub and transitioned to wolf. Design and ideas are great. Just make sure to glue your sail about 1″ up from the deck.
Great design, my son won his first five races with this boat, and was in the top 5 winners, as the youngest and only tiger cub!
Im gonna put a cannon on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First time doing this project for my two boys. One took first completely undefeated and the other took 5th (he is younger and did not try as well).
I have two sons too, 1 is young and the other is in his last year.
This was a great design! We will be using it again next year
Won all 13 races using these instructions. Undefeated as a Tiger. Beat a Webelo scout in the finals.
Cool
works great but i lost, i am SURE my opponent cheated!!!
Third place overall (out of 32) with only these instructions!
We got 2nd place against a lot of kids who had been in scouts longer. Trophy and a good night. Thanks for this easy to understand and use page.
I’m a first year too!
Thanks for the tips…my son just won a second place trophy thank to you!
Done!
I hope this works!
I falowing the steps right now im on 3
My sons placed 1st and 3rd with these tips. Thanks!
il try it
i won this year with a catamaran and a cup sail
Step 5: Glue the keel’s narrow edge next to the hull and the angled edge forward. This makes your boat harder to tip and quicker to right.
The keel has no bent section to attach to the bottom of the boat. How do you do this?
dunno
My son has used these directions every year and has done great! Thank you for the tips!
My son won this year as a Wolf. The directions were great!!! Thank you!!
We used these directions basically and my son took 2nd in the pack.. This included wins over 3 or 4 catamarans with no masts, etc. Thanks for the tips!