I saw the offbeat-pic-of-the-day on cnn showing the Great Kitsap Duck Race, but I was wondering how does the race itself works?
This appears to be a race very similar to that which is held in Thurston County by the local chapter of the Rotary Club. I don’t know about the one held by Silverdale Rotary so I will describe the one I’ve seen here; they appear to be materially similar.
Locally, the club drops about five thousand yellow rubber bath ducks in the Deschutes River. Each duck has a number written on its side. The ducks bob downstream in the current and are tagged and collected at the finish line. Whichever duck(s) cross the line first win the prizes.
It’s more of a lottery than a betting system, since in order to enter you buy a duck (or ducks) which will represent your stake, and prizes are not split. You will receive tickets with the duck’s numbers imprinted on them. Because of its nature it is monitored by the Washington State Gambling Commission.
Prizes are often goods and services donated by the members of the Rotary Club. Rotary is a business organization so you’d find things like a wide-screen TV, a manicure, a cruise, a lawn mower, an evening of fellatio—excuse me, perhaps not that. Still, you get the idea.
I used to work for a man who was president of the local Rotary club, and he used his employees to help sell tickets. Here it is called the “Duck Dash.”