Several weeks ago, I was invited to join or like a Facebook page for Splendid Teapot Racing. It’s a steampunk group for mounting teapots on remote control car chasses and running the contraption through an obstacle course. It looks to be the new con thing.
Simone Montgomery of New Zealand’s Capital! Steampunk group dreamed up Splendid Teapot Racing. It debuted at the 2014 Steampunk NZ Festival. March 2015 saw it debut at a Wellington Street festival called CubaDupa. There will be panels and races at the 2016 Steampunk World’s Fair.
The radio-controlled teapot races against a clock. The vehicle should be less than a foot tall. It has two minutes to navigate a course fraught with hazards like ramps, jumps and hopefully immovable objects. Points may be awarded for hazard avoidance, course completion and aesthetics. Points may be deducted for the same, as well as failure to complete the course in the allotted time. The Official Rules of Splendid Teapot Racing are available at Splendid Teapot Racing (PDF).
With the consent and support of the New Zealanders, Facebook groups have been sprouting up throughout the USA. Perhaps it will come to rival tea dueling as the steampunk sport of choice!
1 Comment.
Good day, Chicagoeans. I bear greetings from New Zealand, the home of Splendid Teapot Racing.
It was marvellous to discover this post (headed by the photograph of my own Stanley, fine fellow that he is). However, I must offer one correction. Although we of Capital! Steampunk might wish to adopt Simone, she in fact hails from Dunedin, one of New Zealand’s southernmost cities. But she is indeed the creator of this most splendid of sports.
Should any of your number be visiting our country, we should be delighted to hear from you. We particularly commend to your notice the Steampunk NZ Festival, held at the end of May/beginning of June every year.
Best regards,
Hawthorne