Riverhead, Southampton supervisors will face off for fourth time in cardboard boat race

Once again, Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter will get into leaky cardboard boats later this month and paddle into the middle of the Peconic River to compete for the coveted title of “King of the River.”

It’s the fourth time they will meet in the annual cardboard boat contest, which has scores of competitors in about a dozen categories, all in boats which must be made of unwaxed cardboard and held together with string, duct tape and other materials.

The Supervisor’s Cup race will begin the free event, which starts at noon on June 29. Throne-Holst won easily last year. Walter complained that his boat designer — town Councilman George Gabrielsen — made a vessel with the sailing capacity of a brick.

This year, Walter has a secret weapon, of sorts — a new boat designer. “He’s going to design it himself,” Gabrielsen said. “His son has a friend who is an engineering student.”