Can you beat the Irish Times raft in the DePaul Race against Homelessness?

Shane Holland is best known for his award-winning lighting design, sculpture and furniture, as well as one-off special commissions with his studio Shane Holland Design. An experienced sea kayaker, he is possibly less well-known for his love of the sea and his skills as a home-made raft designer.

When the first De Paul charity raft race, the Race Against Homelessness, launches in the Liffey Basin at Grand Canal Dock in Dublin on Sunday, September 28th, it will be his careful guidance that will power The Irish Times team to possible victory. But, since this is a fun event, we want to level the playing field and share his experience with all.

His latest raft is called the Skinnymalink (above) and is based on a catamaran design, but a raft can be any shape or size and built using any materials you have to hand.

We asked him five questions:

What kind of people get into raft building?
"In a big company it's usually the people who do triathalons and marathons. The sports people - but you need good strategy and design people too. You need someone who's not afraid of building. Half the fun is in putting the raft together. You need a few boy scouts or girl guides who know how to tie a few knots, someone who can manage a Swiss army knife. You'll need a captain to be in charge on the day so a good team leader is essential – someone to sit at the back and steer and shout to the others what way to go. It's all about teamwork."

What can you build a raft with?
"You can build your raft from anything really. Lots of people use leftover building materials: foam from your attic conversion, scaffolding planks. Plastic oil drums are great for strapping together. They need to be watertight. Just get four barrels and strap them together with planks on top. Waven pipes are very popular. You can buy them in scrap yards. People seal up waven pipes and drainage tubes. Just go along to your general hardware shop and they can help you out. Pallettes too. You can fill them with foam to help them float."

Do you need to do a lot of practice?
"I built mine in the back garden and the first time I took it out it nearly sank. I had to run off and get lots of foam and glue it on to help it float. So put your raft together in advance and give yourself time to try it out on the water. You don't need to practice paddeling it as much as making sure it's seaworthy."

What's more important: staying afloat or speed?
"A lot of weird fun stuff can happen on the water – you can get attacked by other teams, get caught up in traffic. You need to plan how to get around obstacles. A streamlined boat is better than a very square piece. Remember you'll have to turn the raft – if it's too cumbersome that can really slow you down. The race won't be in a straight line either. You'll have to go around a buoy or two and other obstacles, so remember your team practice and be ready to listen to your captain."

What are the chances we'll fall in?
"Very good, I'd say. Plan to get wet and cold. There's a lot of glory in winning but a lot more fun in just taking part. You do this because you're a bit mad or you're chasing that boost of adrenaline from challenging and beating others. Sign up. You'll definetely enjoy it and who knows, you might come away the best in class."

Do you want to take up the challenge and try to outdo the Irish Times team? For full details on how to register your company or individual team see depaulireland.org