Video: Making The Spirit of Survival

The Rock River Anything That Floats Race isn’t just a waterborne parade — it’s a design, engineering and team-building challenge, as well. 

In 2018, we met the crew of The Spirit of Survival – a boisterous and clever  gang of high schoolers from Beloit, WI who designed, built and rowed a Viking longboat during last year's race. Cameras in hand, we documented the team's journey from inception to build to sea test to race day last August. 

Along the way, we came to admire the industrious good nature of these young leaders of tomorrow: to appreciate their off-the-wall humor, collaborative attitudes and their keen intelligence. 

The team's mission was to make a cool raft and have fun rowing it, but the fringe benefit was making memories that will last forever during their final  summer together before Senior year. 

Take a look at this short making-of documentary by GrahamSpencer, narrated by lead designer and captain Sam Stadelman. We think you'll admire their spirit, too.