Announcements for the Edinburgh Canal Festival are primarily done through their Facebook page

The raft race is held every year in June/July as part of the Edinburgh Canal Festival. The race takes place in the Lochrin Basin at the end of the canal in Fountainbridge.

Hacklab has entered every year between 2011 and 2019 inclusive.

• We're getting too good at this. We should aim for the Daftest Raft award and provide maximum entertainment value.
  • Carry lots of people (at least 6, 8-10 would be ideal). This provides entertainment value, and allows more Hacklabbers to take part.
  • Carry passengers (more fun, at doesn't give us the unfair speed advantage of lots of paddlers).
  • Articulated raft, multiple segments tied together (easier to transport, can be scaled up to more people).
  • Submarine.
  • Simple raft, outrageous decor. (e.g. look like an aircraft carrier, or a giant shark)
  • 
  • Complex Mechanical linkage, using bike chains, etc

Date: Sat July 9
Result: Finished 5th place

4-person raft based on 6 gym balls.
Blog Post: https://edinburghhacklab.com/2011/07/raft-race-report/
Photos

Date: Sat June 30, 2012
Result: Winner of Daftest Raft award!

2-person pedal-powered paddle-wheel craft with gym balls for buoyancy.
https://edinburghhacklab.com/2012/07/award-winning-hacklab-raft/

Photos

Date: Sat 6 July 2013
Result: First place winners!

4-person vessel constructed from PVC tubes.
https://edinburghhacklab.com/2013/07/edinburgh-hacklab-wins-canal-festival-raft-race/

Date:
Result: 1st Place

3-person vessel constructed from polystyrene sheet and PVC tubes.
https://youtu.be/tRphBr_lyEo

Date:
Result: (no prize)

2-person raft based on an oil drum and a large tub.

https://youtu.be/3GBIKQ-LbWo?t=561

Date: Sat 18 June
Result: (no prize)

4-person barrel and metal frame, flipper/paddle driven.

https://youtu.be/40T6zGjpbl8?t=304
https://youtu.be/UTO98LgxfhU?t=163

Date: Sat 17 June
Result: Prize for “Most entertaining”

Single-person inflatable banana hydrofoil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVVi5ptvL3A

Date: Sat 16 June
Result: 1st Place

4-person inflatable banana dragon raft.
https://edinburghhacklab.com/2018/06/edinburgh-hacklab-goes-bananas-at-the-union-canal-raft-race/

Date: Sat 15 June
Result: 3rd place prize

6-person banana flipper raft. Fippers attached to a lever plus bike brake cable mechanism, which overheated and popped the bananas.
Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cazagen/albums/72157709095336796
https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/80714c9b6e834ec5a4af31d4829004bd
https://yadi.sk/a/hyWWAK2I2Rn1jA

<sarcasm>This year's raft race was done fully online because of covid reasons. Each team 3D scanned and measured the physics properties of the materials they would have used in building their raft. The materials were assembled into a raft inside of CAD software before being simulated inside of a Computational Fluid Dynamics/Multiphysics program.</sarcasm> https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3507286949301403&id=237399276290203

Date:
Result:

The race is back after 3 years!
3 person raft (it flipped over with 4 people on it) - triangular wooden frame with styrofoam blocks underneath. The design was based on a water skeeter / pond skater. Built by Gandolf and Miron, with Jim sitting in the middle
Got 2nd place and a prize for 'Most Creative Raft'

Photos
Video here (7:24 is when it tips over with 4 people on it)
Date: Sat 18th June, 2.30-4.30pm

2023, Sat 17 June: Not enough interest from the Hacklab members to form a raft building team.

2024, Sat 15 June: Unfortunately the canal festival team didn't want to secure the insurance and safety people required to run a raft race of DIY rafts, and so each team was only allowed to decorate two pre-prepared canoes taped together. Someone from the Edinburgh Forge did build their own raft and sailed it in the canal, separately from the event.

2025: Scheduled to happen on the 23rd Aug, 12-5pm. We will see if they will allow DIY rafts or not…