Wacky Handcar Regatta Debuts in Santa Rosa, Calif.

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Make was a sponsor of a wonderful event called the Handcar Regatta in Santa Rosa, Calif, which took place practically in our own back yard. Bringing together some of the makers from the Bay Area Maker Faire, and taking steampunk to the public in a new way, the Handcar Regatta used a railway that hasn’t seen much action in a while and invited entries for human-powered vehicles that could travel a short distance down the tracks.
We were all glad to see a great local turnout for such a fun and offbeat event.

And now to some of the contestants. The KrankBoomClank team raced the Hennepin Crawler, which was sporting incredible custom tires.

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This gentleman raced a lightweight frame on rollerblade wheels that he pushed like a scooter to a decent speed.

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My favorite entry, but certainly not the fastest, was the Viking-powered ship. With oars flapping and feet pedaling, this was one of the largest entry.

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I really enjoyed seeing “Spread Eagle” by Bryan Tedrick, out beside an old yellow bus.

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We brought the Make truck and Craft contributor Brookelynn helped people make their own moustache.

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It was the kind of day where anyone could pretend to be Snidely Whiplash.

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We saw our friends at Cyclecide and Neverwas Haul as well as good folks such as Christopher Palmer, LadyBee and Paul da Plumber.

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DALE DOUGHERTY is the leading advocate of the Maker Movement. He founded Make: Magazine 2005, which first used the term “makers” to describe people who enjoyed “hands-on” work and play. He started Maker Faire in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2006, and this event has spread to nearly 200 locations in 40 countries, with over 1.5M attendees annually. He is President of Make:Community, which produces Make: and Maker Faire.

In 2011 Dougherty was honored at the White House as a “Champion of Change” through an initiative that honors Americans who are “doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.” At the 2014 White House Maker Faire he was introduced by President Obama as an American innovator making significant contributions to the fields of education and business. He believes that the Maker Movement has the potential to transform the educational experience of students and introduce them to the practice of innovation through play and tinkering.

Dougherty is the author of “Free to Make: How the Maker Movement Is Changing our Jobs, Schools and Minds” with Adriane Conrad. He is co-author of "Maker City: A Practical Guide for Reinventing American Cities" with Peter Hirshberg and Marcia Kadanoff.

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