1988 Kinetic Sculpture Race Brochure
15th Annual World Championship, Great Arcata to Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race!!! A 3 Day Event
History of the Great Event!
It all began in 1969 when Ferndale Artist Hobart Brown decided to make
his son Justin's tricycle look a little more interesting. Dubbed the
Pentacycle, the five-wheeled creation was tall, wobbly, bright red and
quite laughable - especially to other local artists who decided to
build better machines, and race down Main Street.
In the mean time, U.S. Congressman and Ferndale resident, Don
Clausen, happened to see Hobart test-driving the Pentacycle up and down
Main Street. When Clausen hopped on for a spin, he was photographed by
newsmen. The photo ran nationwide, giving Ferndale's first Kinetic
Sculpture Race more publicity than they had anticipated!
Thousands of people lined the street on Mother's Day to
witness the event, and with them came more surprise entries - a dozen
in all! The Race was a wonderful success, and despite changes in
location and date over the years, it became an annual event.
In 1974, the Race was lengthened and became considerably more challenging!
The first annual Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race ran a course from
Fields Landing to Ferndale, but it has since expanded even further due
in part to a sizable increase in the number of contestants - often over
60 sculptures per race! - and the desire for even greater course obstacles.
The World Championship Great Arcata to Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic
Sculpture Race has become a three-day, internationally acclaimed event,
and will be held this year on Memorial Day Weekend... (dates omitted to
prevent confusion)
Beginning at the Arcata Plaza, the noon whistle sends the racers on their
way - over sand dunes, highways, Humboldt Bay and the Eel River, with
two night stops; Saturday in Eureka, and Sunday on the beaches at Table
Bluff.
The
Race Certainly isn't easy, but the motto is "For the Glory," and no one
can experience the feelings of Glory and Accomplishment better than the
racers. Their dedication, high spirits, and wonderful machines bring
thousands of people together each year to cheer them on.
The race has become a Glorious tradition; man, machine, and nature joining
forces in a grand celebration of art and life!
They all want to know why we do this. There's only one good answer: For the Glory!
The Kinetic Address
One Score minus Five Years ago, our
Glorious Founder Hobart Brown, brought forth to this county a new Race
conceived in Insanity and dedicated to the fact that all mechanical
Nightmares definitely are not created equal.
We are about to engage in a great Battle of Wits, testing whether our
Machine or any other Machine so creatively built can long endure the Mighty
Test of this course before us.
We
have gathered here today before the Noon Whistle, beginning the Fight
of Mind, Muscle and Willpower against our Machines and the Elements of
Mother Nature to dedicate a Portion of the Course in a final and soon
forgotten memory of those who have gone before us and have failed so
miserably!
It is all-together proper and fitting that we should do this,
as they who have raced before us knew full well in advance of the
hopelessness and insaneness of this insane event.
But in a greater sense, we cannot consecrate them, not can we
hallow them nor the ground upon which they raced. These brave pilots
with their intrepid machines, struggling for every inch of forward
progress, have performed acts far below that which we do race today may
be capable of doing this Memorial Day Weekend. There are those of us
Present here that will not last until the end of this Race adding yet
more meaning to this great event.
The world will little note nor long remember the struggles
that have taken place or that will take place during the next three
days. It is for us, the current batch of Insane Pilots and Pit Crews,
under the close scrutiny and cat-calls of those who watch and grade us,
to forget the unfinished work of those who have raced before us, and
who have attempted to instill a sense of Class into this Classless
Event. It is rather for us to be dedicated to the Greater Challenges of
this undertaking, than from those who have failed before us, we take an
increased resolve to remember the Race Golden Rule "Cheating is a
privilege, not a right!" that they have raced in vain; that our efforts
will probably also be in vain; but that we remember this is one Race
that shall go through a process of rebirth each year, of the Insane, by
the Insane, for the Insane that shall not perish from this earth! For
the Glory!
Letter from the Board
Dear Kinetic Race Fan,
Welcome to the Wonderful and Exciting World of Kinetic Sculpture Racing!
Kinetic Racing is not for the Faint of Heart, for it demands not
only that you design and build a Kinetic Racing Sculpture in the
Highest Traditions of Kinetic Sculpturehood, but that you steel your
body to endure the utmost rigors of Humboldt Bay's treacherous Dunes,
Water, Mud, and Enthusiastic Spectators!
The basic requirement of a Kinetic Sculpture is that the Sculpture
be People-Powered, but almost anything else goes! As glorious founder,
Hobart Brown, has wisely said, "Cheating is a privilege, not a right."
Hobart Brown, a Metal Sculptor, hails from Ferndale, California, and is
held responsible for instigating the first Kinetic Sculpture Race in 1969.
It began as a friendly grudge match pitting Brown's Novel Five-wheeled
Contraption against a Fearless Wooden Tank built by an equally Demented
Sculptor (Jack Mays). The slow (but spirited) sprint down Main Street
in Ferndale in 1969 has evolved into the Kinetic Season Madness which
now prevails every Spring in Humboldt County! We will see many exciting
race related events in May with the final event being the 15th Annual
Great Arcata to Ferndale Cross Country Kinetic Sculpture Race! A demanding
event of unparalleled intrigue!
Enclosed for your information is a calendar of meetings and Kinetic
Season Happenings already scheduled. If this challenging series of
events fills your heart with eagerness to do battle with other
Sculptures, then you are encouraged to set aside the Terror that must
also fill your heart, and return the application to the Race Committee,
pronto. Also included in this booklet are Rules and a Map of Humboldt
County showing the Awesome Cross Country race course.
Please read the Application Blank, Rules and Schedule, and feel
free to call [the organizers] for clarification on events or rules.
Ever yours,
The 1988 Board of Directors
Kinetic Sculpture Race
Hobart Brown, Sue Alton, Scott Baker, Jeannie Freeman, John Ham, Jan Husband and Dick Daniels
(No old rules will ever be posted here to prevent confusion.)
Thank you for reading all the way down here... See you on race day!
