Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race |
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Saturday 20 September 2025
Every September since 2016, Lowell, Massachusetts hosts a Kinetic Sculpture Race combining the industrial can-do spirit of the New England city founded in the 1820s with the creativity and joy of Kinetics. In 2025, the KineticBaltimore team came to document the race.
With fifteen entries, the Lowell race has plenty of diversity, and also enough entries to have some in common: There were two dog sculptures, two focused on aluminum, and two about cows (one Guernsey and one Holstein). The bright sun made photography challenging, but we heard was better than 2024’s rain.
The Lowell race has a lot in common with other Kinetic races, with its own unique character. Their entries are often called “machines”, and racers are “pilots” instead of “kinetinauts”. Instead of Baltimore’s home-made sock creatures, and Humboldt’s teddy bears, the rules of Lowell specify what many call stuffies: “lovable stuffed animal for those moments when your team is in despair and like a barnacle…, it must have a comfortable location to ride.”
Our 3 all-terrain photographers followed the race from start to finish, taking 4,748 photos. The best 185 are in this report.
Click the “Next Page >” button to go to the next team, or select any of the teams listed at the bottom of the page.
ACE Champion: Moo-Haul
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Recumbent 2-pilot trike Moo-Haul drove through a shower of bubbles on the cobblestones of Boneshaker Alley, where Lowell tests kinetic sculptures shortly after the start. The sculpture was built in Sparks, Nevada, and shipped to Massachusetts to be raced by a team of Lowell Kinetic Veterans who live in Somerville. The Legend of Storrow presumably referred to Storrow Drive along the Charles River, or just perhaps Boston City Council President
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The inflatable cow was hand-made, not bought, and bore the brown & white Guernsey pattern. The pontoon holders are sand-cast from melted aluminum cans. Every part of the machine was recycled from scrap or other prior projects. Fire Truck Pedal Car was in hot pursuit. |
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Lowell’s mud pit is just outside the Tsongas Center. It's longer than Baltimore and lined with bleachers on both sides for more spectator capacity. With large mountain bike tires, Moo-Haul seemed to have an easy time in the mud… |
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…but pilots really had to push hard to keep their momentum. They completed the mud, nonetheless, which likely helped contribute toward their top award. |
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The Lowell Race doesn’t have Baltimore’s Wash World, but Moo-Haul didn’t accumulate much mud anyway. (Other sculptures did, as seen in later photos.) |
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The water entry at Lowell Heritage State Park had a festive atmosphere. |
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Moo-Haul had a nice splash. While a single broad surface provides the highest volume splash, a variety of concurrently submerging surfaces gives nice dispersal. |
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Moo-Haul rode heavy in the stern, but lateral pontoons were stable and sturdy. |
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The front wheel was entirely out of the water, so the front pilot used an oar. |
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An enthusiastic chalk message welcomed racers across the finish line. |
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Pilots and crew dressed in black with bandit masks. They won an ACE award for completing the race while following all of the more stringent ACE rules. In fact, Moo-Haul was designated 2025 ACE Champion—but not on September 20. Another team received the award at the ceremony but later determined they were ineligible. |
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