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The Adventure Zone

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Photo credit: David Ekins

The Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival's race "Fast and Furious" celebrates the sinkers as well as the winners
By Kate Wallace

In most regattas, losing a boat to the bottom of the harbour is a very serious incident. But at the Mahone Bay Classic Boat Festival's Fast and Furious race on August 6, un-seaworthy vessels are not only expected, they're rewarded with "Best Sinking" prizes. And they provide great entertainment for the cheering crowd onshore, as well.

This madcap Sunday afternoon sea trial, a highlight of the more, well, classic and casual festival, which celebrates the rich wooden boat heritage of Nova Scotia's South Shore, sees teams of two race to the finish line in boats they've designed and built themselves — in just four hours.

As Carolyn Ekins, a volunteer with the festival, explained, the $30 registration fee pays for each team's identical supply of materials: plywood, spruce lumber, lots of caulking to hold it together, and a length of sailcloth. Hand tools are allowed, as are nails. Besides building a watertight craft, creativity is encouraged and, outside of the allotted four-hour construction time slot, contestants are permitted to jazz their boats up with wild paint jobs that reflect the event's lighthearted nature.

With names like "Bottom Scraper," "Stayin' Afloat," and "Magic Carpet" the boats form a vivid flotilla when they hit the water Sunday afternoon, the finale of the four-day festival.

Contestants range from experienced veteran sailors to adventurous festival visitors who sign up the weekend of the race. "Some people enter it year in, year out, but there are always people who just show up and want to take part so you tend to get a real cross-section," she says. "I think what the Fast and Furious race brings to the festival is that anyone can join in."

A pewter cup and bragging rights await the first team to paddle out and sail in. The race's three heats, each with five or six boats, run late in the afternoon, to the delight of 1,500 or so spectators ranged along the wharf and shore.

Last year, Ekins was among the throng, cheering for her husband who got in on the Fast and Furious action as one half of the "Rock Lobster" team who, true to name, carried the crustacean theme though to lobster costumes for the two-man crew, down to paddles shaped like lobster claws. Another contestant, pregnant at race time, dressed as a baby, while another team of newlyweds donned a tuxedo and wedding dress and toasted the crowd with champagne.

Here's to you, Fast and Furious.

Link:
http://www.woodenboatfestival.org/festival/