Rose Parade float may set a record

Construction on the Natural Balance Pet Foods 'Surf's Up' Tournament of Roses parade float at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale Wednesday, December 28, 2011. (Hans Gutknecht / Staff Photographer)

Belinda Onate, Arcadia, works on the Natural Balance Pet Foods 'Surf's Up' Tournament of Roses parade float at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale Wednesday, December 28, 2011. (Hans Gutknecht / Staff Photographer)

It's as long as a tennis court, weighs as much as 10 African elephants and carries a tropical paradise where seven dogs surfboard on 65-foot-long waves.

And when the "Surf's Up" float travels Monday along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, it is expected to break world records as both the longest and the heaviest float in Tournament of Roses Parade history.

"Nothing like it has ever been done before," said Joey Herrick, founder and president of Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Pet Foods, which is sponsoring the float. "It's a monstrosity."

Just shy of 120 feet, "Surf's Up" is about three times longer than the typical float and seven feet longer than the record-setting float Natural Balance sponsored in 2010.

And on Friday, when the California Highway Patrol brings its commercial scales to the Irwindale warehouse where the float is being assembled, designers expect its official weight will top 100,000 pounds. That's about 8 tons more than the record set by last year's Natural Balance entry and would earn the company another listing in Guinness World Records.

Like the previous Natural Balance floats that featured company mascot Tillman the bulldog on a skateboard, a snowboard and jumping off a dock into a pool, Herrick got the idea for "Surf's Up" while commuting.

Herrick wanted Tillman and his canine companions to really surf - to give spectators an eye-popping experience and, perhaps, break the world records.

He

took his vision to Tim Estes, president of renowned Fiesta Parade Floats.

Estes loved Herrick's idea, but conceded the logistics of the design initially gave him "a moment's pause." Because floats are built on a single chassis, the extra weight and length of "Surf's Up" will make it even more difficult for the float's pilot to navigate turns on the 12-mile trek from Irwindale to Pasadena. Using the experience of nearly 35 years of float-making, Estes created an engineering marvel.

Tillman and six other specially trained dogs will be placed on surfboards for the one-minute ride down the Plexiglass-lined wave channel.

"It's a year's timeframe come to life," said Estes.

barbara.jones@dailynews.com

818-713-3710

Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_19635093?source=rss_viewed

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