A windy start to the day didn’t deter too many people from participating in the annual Davis Bay Sandcastle Competition on July 3, hosted this year by the Sunshine Coast Lions Club.
Andrew Kovats, whose team came in first place in the group category, said they entered last minute when they went down to check out the competition.
“We really didn’t have a strategy,” Kovats said. “We didn’t even know we were going to be competing until later this morning. We started around 11 a.m. and one of my kids suggested an airplane.”
They built a Canadian fighter jet in honour of Canada Day, complete with maple leaf decals on the wings and colour-accurate port and starboard markers – port was a cherry, starboard was green seaweed.
About half of Kovats’ team is from the Sunshine Coast; the other half were visiting from Vancouver.
Aldo Tacchi, event planner for the sandcastle competition, estimated that the annual event has been running for 23 years, but said he couldn’t confirm that number. Tacchi said that organizing the event has changed hands several times since then.
“The Sunshine Coast Lions do the polar bear swim in the winter, so I thought it was a good fit and I approached them,” Tacchi said. “They liked it and it looks like they’re going to be doing it from now on.”
Last year the BC Lupus Society was in charge of the Sandcastle Competition but they were not able to host it again this year.
“Last year there were more people, but the weather was nicer,” Tacchi said. “It started out really windy and there were about 36 or 37 entries this year. Last year there were about 46.”
Last year’s event was held later in the summer, at the beginning of August. Sunshine Coast Lions Club treasurer Jim Brookes said the Lions would like to continue to host the competition in coming years.
