It’s time to get your team together for the 2015 April Tools Wooden Boat Challenge at Pender Harbour’s Millennium Park.
On Saturday, April 25, the 14th annual spring festival will pit teams of up to four in a three-hour boat building frenzy followed by a lap around the government wharf that may or may not see all contestants remaining afloat.
Boat builders will not get a chance to see their construction materials, nor will they know the racing “twist” until one hour before they first lay saw to wood. In past years participants have been challenged to paddle blind with a sighted guide or pick up and carry an inflated beach ball around the course or get into and out of their boats in the middle of the race. They have had to build a boat from a sonotube or without the use of screws or with more plastic sheeting than wood.
First prize is $700, second $400 and third $250! Entry fee is $160 per team and all team members will receive a T-shirt along with the building materials.
April Tools is a community event and the high school races are a thing of their own. Members of the organizing committee or the high school shop teachers will help the teens slam together boats after school, and the kids will show their stuff in the highly competitive trophy race followed by the wet and wild fun race. Treat bags supplied by local merchants, T-shirts, and the winning team name on the trophy are a bonus to the cheers from the crowd.
The little kids will not be left out. They will have hulls and wood blocks to hammer into mini-boats that they can then paint, decorate and float in a wading pool. There will be face painting, craft activities and this year will see little kid boat building with foam hulls, paint and press-in decorations.
See more details at www.apriltools.ca or call Jackie at 604-883-0539.
