This week we have two featured teapot racers, Imperator Katiosa and War Boy, created by the mother and son team of Kat Cain and Draiden Cain.
They are both rather menacing, Imperator Katiosa with screws and nails penetrating from its skull and teapot, and War Boy with its shiny chrome teeth and partially melted teapot.
Although they are both made from the same remote controlled car base and use mostly the same decorative components, they did not run the same.
Here they are at Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show in Mount Dora, Florida on January 23, 2016:
This week's featured teapot racer is "Sir FrankenKasket," built and operated by Harry Morris.
Steampunk art is full of found objects, recycled and put to new uses. Artist Harry Morris, also known as Harry 8TRX, has a truly unique and creative way of doing this. He is an artist who creates the majority of his work using stretched 8 track tape, which he then paints in vibrant colors.
"Sir KrankenKasket" never made it to the finish line, but it was fun to watch. The audience enjoyed the tension created by the racer repeatedly bumping into what looked like a poorly balanced teacup on a candlestick.
Photo by Harry Morris
We all learned an important lesson after the race, which is to make sure that all the racers have their power switched off before they are placed on the table for display. My son started playing with his teapot racer, which turned out to be on the same frequency as Harry's racer, and "Sir FrankenKasket" raced forward off the table and onto the hard pavement, smashing the nixie tube on the front.
Today's featured teapot racer is Earl Grey, the over-all winner in both the October and January races.
Earl Grey was built by my son and me and operated by my son.
Registering for the race:
Practicing before the big race:
Bribes for the judges (the quality of the bribe is part of the contestant's over-all score in teapot racing). These are chai cupcakes:
The race:
While the judges were tallying up the scores, we ran our first teapot drag race. Earl Grey won that, as well.
Today's featured teapot racer is Octo 1, owned and operated by Stephanie McGillis.
The design of the teapot racer was fun and creative and so were the outfits worn by Stephanie and her family!
Octo 1 was one of the few racers to take advantage of practice time on the ramps, but that was when it was discovered that the batteries were not fully charged.
Proof that Octo 1 could run a little under its own power earlier in the day:
By race time, though, its get-up-and-go had got up and went. The batteries were too weak for it to run the course without help. Luckily, a plan was devised:
Octo 1 won two awards at the Jan. 23rd race at Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show, "Most Splendid Design"
and "Most Dastardly Driver".
"Most Dastardly Driver" was new this race. I had explained it as an award for the most entertaining cheat, but it really was more than that. There is so much that can go wrong when one is traveling with a teapot racer and running it on an unfamiliar track. At our first race, the grass and rough terrain made it impossible for some of the remote control cars to move at all. This time, we had a contestant whose batteries were going dead before the race began. The "Most Dastardly Driver" is the person who can think on their feet. When things aren't going their way, they don't quit, they become creative. They may not be able to finish the course in the way proscribed by the rules, but they will complete it in the most entertaining way possible. I jokingly told the children in the audience not to learn from this example of cheating, but in actuality, I hope the children watching learned from this example of good sportsmanship. Stephanie knew she wasn't going to win the Grand Champion trophy, but she was one of the most memorable and fun racers to watch.
More highlights from the Jan. 23, 2016 Splendid Teapot Race.
This week's featured teapot racer, "Hot Toddy" was built and operated by Lori Knott. It was the only racer at the Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show to come with its own adorable support vehicle.
The cheerful minion behind the wheel never stopped smiling, even through a shattering accident and an inability to complete the course.
I'm not sure how we managed to get through the races without the loss of a single teacup or saucer, but twice the racers themselves suffered from broken glass.
