Full steam ahead... a couple of hundred people gathered in Marrickville yesterday to watch contraptions being propelled by C4 rockets.

Full steam ahead... a couple of hundred people gathered in Marrickville yesterday to watch contraptions being propelled by C4 rockets. Photo: Dean Sewell

A TENNIS racket, a teddy bear, even a cooked lobster and a corn cob - if a rocket can be strapped to it, it is a worthy entrant.

What started as the obscure passion of a few mates - launching model rockets into the sky - has become somewhat of an underground phenomenon, with a couple of hundred people turning out yesterday afternoon to watch the rocket races in the backstreets of Marrickville.

''It became a little bit boring too quickly, so we thought to keep it more interesting we'd put wheels on the rockets and race them along the street,'' said an organiser, who wanted to be known as ''Mook''.

Dozens of cars raced in heats of four or five yesterday, to see which contraption, propelled by a C6 rocket, could travel the furthest.