Red Bull Flugtag

Red Bull’s annual Flugtag event takes a dip in Miami’s Bayfront waters on Saturday, July 10 and features local entrants

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Reb Bull Flugtag 2010
When: Saturday, July 10
Where: Bayfront Park, 301N. Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Fla., 33132
Time: The Bayfront gates open at 10 a.m. and the first flight (‘The Flying Manatee’) will take place at noon. The final flight is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Photo Gallery: Click here for a look at the Miami teams participating
Getting there: People are welcome to show up on their boats and watch. Parking is available at the Bayside parking garage, but get there early as it could fill up fast. There will be no street closure or reserved spots for cars.
Tips to survive: The folks at Red Bull will have the crowd somewhat taken care of with water stations and several food and beverage stands (including beer) – and port-o-potties of course. Credit cards will be accepted, but you are encouraged to bring cash. Unless you bring portable chairs, plan to stand as there is no bleacher seating. And pack plenty of sunblock, light clothing and even a nifty spray fan.
Simulcast: If you can’t make the event, you can listen to it on FM station 105.8 or watch the streamed broadcast at the following locations: MIA (20 Biscayne Blvd., Miami), Bubba Gump (401 Biscayne Blvd., Miami), Hard Rock Café (401 Biscayne Blvd., Miami), Blue Martini (900 S. Miami Ave., Miami), The Clevelander (1020 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach), Burger and Beer Joint (1766 Bay Road, Miami Beach).

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By Michelle Rada7/6/2010

With 19 years in flight, Red Bull’s annual Flugtag event will be taking a dip in Miami’s lukewarm Bayfront waters this year. On Saturday, July 10, homemade aircrafts (air-animals and air-pizzas included) will be launched 30 feet off of a ramp overlooking the downtown Miami cityscape. (Flugtag means “flying day” in German.) Locals and non-locals alike, the 2010 competitors are promising in their entertainment factor and built-from-scratch showmanship. Yet, attempting flight is more than a charade cushioned by a somewhat safe water landing – there is, in fact, a prize for the farthest distance covered.

Still, it’s the quirky crafts (and participants) that have attracted thousands of people to Flugtag events in the past. Venues have been filled to the brim with crowds from Istanbul to Prague, eager to watch large objects fall into water.

Inspired to participate by the sheer thrill of competition or by a life-long desire to plummet (or ‘fly’) from a tall ramp while being watched and recorded – the teams are as diverse in their missions as they are in character. There’s a pair of fiancés with a wedding-inspired craft (a giant wedding cake), whose story traces back to a romantic (in a very postmodern sense of the word) meeting at a Red Bull event. Even the University of Central Florida (UCF) has an unofficial team, whose common workplace, a local pizza bistro, provoked their “save salad, toss pizza” slogan. So ardent is their cause that there was a red smudge of pizza sauce on their application.

A few Miami-based teams were willing to share some trade secrets about their crafts, as well as prospects and ambitions for the upcoming affair. One of these nearby gems is ‘The Flying Manatee,’ a team entirely composed of architects and an industrial designer, who accordingly propose to build a flying manatee. The manatee theme stemmed from more than its obvious relation to Florida waters – the craft and the accompanying skit were designed with a message regarding animal safety and preservation. “We want it to be comical, but adorable,” said Giancarlo Cuniberti, 28, on the subject of their now-beloved creature.

Putting their message to practice, ‘The Flying Manatee’ team built the colossal mammal almost entirely out of recycled or recyclable materials. They used an old foam mattress, recycled carpet padding, a used sail, used bike tires, and locally grown bamboo – in addition to a few non-recyclable essentials like duct tape, rope, and plywood. Even the surfaces they used to build props for their skit were taken from old work presentation boards.

The manatee-building process trekked from a team member’s bedroom – where the carpet that was to become the manatee’s outer layer was ripped out – to a graffiti-covered warehouse recognizable to anyone who’s driven by the Design District on I-95. But the craft stays well hidden and guarded by a trio of German shepherds. ‘The Flying Manatee’ will be the first team to take the ramp on July 10.

Another local mammal-esque project, ‘Rubber Ducky’ prospects to be exactly what its name suggests: a massive yellow duck. All the team members work at The Clevelander in Miami Beach and seem to have put together a random assortment of skills completely unrelated to their Clevelander employment. Only Peter Sheppard, 24, also a private pilot, has any experience with flying – and proudly displays his passion with an “I’d rather be flying” license plate.

The team members claim that they wanted to bring back the rubber duck in their adult years. Of course, the large number of songs (oddly enough) about rubber ducks doesn’t hurt either. Neither does the fact that the word duck opens up many possibilities for puns, all based around its obvious rhyme (“What the duck” was the first of several mentioned). Among the materials implemented is, ironically enough, chicken wire. They also used wheels from a wheel barrel, electrical metal tubing, plumbing pipes, burlap, plaster, and Styrofoam to build the large craft. With a quirky assortment of skills, resourcefulness, humor, and wit ‘Rubber Ducky is third in line to take flight.

One of the more notorious Florida teams this year are ‘The Flying Luchadores,’ who will wrestle in full-on luchador garb and plunge into the water on a home-made wrestling ring. As there was another team with the same idea during Flugtag’s selection process, the team’s pilot, Pete Montalbano, 38, whose dream it’s always been to fly Flugtag, crashed a selection party (to which applicants were absolutely not invited) in costume and began raving madly about why his team should be selected. And so, they were.

“We had to build it fairly sturdy since we will be doing bodyslams, drop kicks, and trying to pin each other all day long," says John Sulser, 37 from the ‘Flying Luchadores’

Yet, not all 33 teams are locally based. Beer Connoisseur Magazine, famous for their victory at the Red Bull Soap Box Race, is sending the ‘Fear the Beer’ sports team from their hometown in Atlanta, Ga. Even Dallas (Ibis Engineers) and Boston (One Giant Leap) have their share of airborne representation.

Although abstract gratification – like the dignity gained from doing dangerous and uncanny things – is at the core of what drives teams to spend endless hours building something that’ll eventually be thrown into water, there are a few tangible prizes as well. Each team will be judged on flight distance, the creativity of their craft, and on their skit performed before taking flight. The winners will be offered different variations of top-notch flying lessons. There’s also a People’s Choice Award, which is awarded to the audience’s favorite team and will be determined by a text-to-vote component during the event.

With such international rapport, Flugtag gathers a loyal audience and continues to provoke ardent dedication in its competitors. After a successful Miami debut in 2004, Flugtag’s sequel landing in Bayfront comes as no surprise. Aside from Bayfront being a perfect location for the event, Miami’s repute as a laid-back city emanating with ‘summer fun’ assures a large, excited, sweaty crowd. The oven-like weather also makes diving with a massive object into water a bit more appealing.

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mosesx

Posted on Wed, 07.07.2010 @ 15:42

More info and photos on team flying manatee is available on their team facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miami-Flugtag-Team-Flying-Manatee/117298488303305?v=wall... Read more