Huldenberg – A spirited rowboat race featuring concrete canoes brought together architectural students from Brussels and pupils from Hoboken and Aarschot in an exciting blend of creativity, engineering precision, and collaboration. The event took place on the serene waters of the ‘De Zeemeermin’ fishpond in Huldenberg and served not only as a fun activity but as a valuable hands-on learning experience.
The Concrete Canoe Race, now in its second year, saw participants from the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels, the Damiaan Institute in Aarschot, and Don Bosco Hoboken. As reported by VRT, the competition challenged teams to construct fully functional canoes entirely out of concrete — a task requiring significant ingenuity and technical skill.
“It’s no easy task,” said Christophe Ryckeboer, one of the supervising teachers. “A canoe like that is incredibly heavy, so the risk of sinking is high. The key lies in displacing more water than the weight of the boat itself. If the weight is too concentrated, the canoe will sink immediately. The trick is to widen the surface area and use a hollow shell structure to ensure it floats.”
Students had to make complex calculations to determine how much water their canoe could displace and how deep it would sit in the water. But the real test came when they had to turn theory into practice.
“They had to build formwork, determine the correct thickness for the concrete, and reinforce it,” Ryckeboer explained. “It involved lots of trial and error — making changes, trying again, and sometimes completely redesigning the canoe.”
The final results varied widely. Some canoes floated with half a meter of clearance, while others hovered just centimeters above the water. Ryckeboer emphasized that this experience prepares students for the realities of a construction career.
“When they enter the workforce, they’ll face unexpected issues, logistical problems, and flawed calculations. This competition introduces them to those challenges in a fun and adventurous way.”
Beyond the academic value, the race fostered camaraderie and team spirit. Students spent months building their boats, and despite obstacles, many found joy in the process.
Second-year students Tara Ceuppens and Emile Bertoe Dewachter, whose canoe ultimately won the race, recounted a last-minute crisis with their canoe crumbling as it was removed from its mould.
“We panicked,” Emile admitted. “We rushed to the store to buy a chemical anchor to repair it.”
Their quick thinking paid off. “Our success was in the design,” Emile said. “We built a narrow canoe, which made us faster. It was also the lightest — only about 90 kilograms.”
The “Who Rows the Fastest with a Concrete Canoe?” competition has its roots in civil engineering traditions dating back to the 1960s. The first official contests took place in the 1970s and 1980s and have since evolved into a global phenomenon. The goal is to challenge students to apply engineering principles and creativity in developing a functional watercraft made entirely from concrete.
From the selection of cement mixes to the final race, students must demonstrate teamwork, technical knowledge, and problem-solving skills. More than just a race, the event is about learning through experimentation and collaboration — and it continues to inspire students across the world, including those racing in the waters of Huldenberg.
Eurotoday is a daily online publication based in Belgium. Eurotoday offers unique and independent reporting on European and international affairs. With a pan-European approach, it covers EU policy, politics in member states, and global issues from a European perspective.
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