School pupils yesterday put their boatbuilding abilities to the test with a challenge organised by the island’s architects and engineers.

Youngsters were asked to build boats out of cardboard and duct tape and sail 50 metres down a swimming pool without sinking.

The race was won by a team from Saltus Grammar School, who took the top prize of $500 for their school plus a sailing experience with the America’s Cup Endeavour programme.

The Saltus team denied the Berkeley Institute a hat-trick of wins, although one of their teams came second, winning a tour of Belco and pizza.

The event, hosted by the Institute of Bermuda Architects and the Bermuda Association of Professional Engineers, was held at the National Aquatics Centre yesterday afternoon.

IBA president Duncan Simons said 23 teams and 89 pupils took part in the event.

He added: “It was a great success. A team from Saltus won, but everybody who was involved was a winner.”

Major Simons, who also serves in the Royal Bermuda Regiment, added: “As professionals in both architecture and engineering, collaboration, design and testing our ideas are critical to our success.

“This competition provides an opportunity for students to test their ideas and it is our hope that they consider a career as an architect or an engineer in the future.”

Teams of up to five pupils in Years 9 to 12 had two hours to build their vessels using supplied materials.

The youngsters were encouraged to plan and build prototypes before the big day.

The event was sponsored by hardware store Gorham’s, shipping company BISL and power firm Belco.