> I which I had a photographic memory, but there is a group that builds and
> races concrete canoes every year. This year the winner was built by some
> university and weighed @ 25lbs. I read it, so it must be true!!

That would be the American Society of Civil Engineers. All (or a lot) of the student chapters in the country build boats for regional contests. The boats from my alma mater, Montana State, usually weighed in between 150 and 250 lbs, so they never made it to the national competitions!

Heh...they didn't ever ask the folks who knew concrete---we construction engineering guys for assistance. The boat has to use portland cement for binder. I'd have used portland cement as a thickener/pigment in an epoxy matrix for a kevlar/glass boat (universities can get some cool composite cloths for little $$). Of course, that would have been an immediate disqualification, so probably better that I didn't help!

I think a lot of the concrete and concrete admixtures producers put a lot of sponsorship money into the competition--they probably get a lot of professional bragging rights if any of their sponsored teams win.

Shawn