Seven bathtub racers took to local waters and provided great entertainment for the spectators who watched the race from the shore.
“We had a good, safe race,” said Melvin Mitchell, a qathet region racer and organizer of the event. “A couple of guys went down but they were fine and there were no injuries. Those in the rescue boat were on the ball to provide assistance.”
The race took place on August 19, starting at Gibsons Beach.
Sea conditions were good for the race. Mitchell said winds died down by the time they started. Compared to the Great International World Championship Bathtub Race in Nanaimo earlier this summer, the waves were smaller, although there was a little chop that the tubbers felt.
“There’s still the ocean motion,” said Mitchell. “Bathtubs are a bit bumpy.”
Mitchell set up the course so spectators could watch the racers, unlike Nanaimo, where the tubbers travel away from the spectator area.
“When we are at the big race, there’s nothing but a splash at the start when we are leaving the harbour and then it gets all quiet. The people are all sitting there and waiting for more than an hour for the tubs to come back. I don’t know what they are thinking because I’ve never sat on that side. I’m always in the race.
“When we are in the lakes, where we don’t have to worry about the tide, sometimes we’re racing eight feet off the shore. When we race here, we try to make it more of a spectator sport. A race fan is a race fan and the goofier the better, sometimes, but bathtub racing is a real sport.”
The launching area was at the Gibsons Beach boat ramp. Markers were set up off the breakwater at the ramp as a start and finish line.
“We had to use a depth sounder to make sure we were okay because the tide was still dropping when we were setting up,” explained Mitchell.
First place in the race went to tub 006, belonging to Jamie Garcia, who was the winner of the 2022 Nanaimo bathtub race. Second place went to tub 002, piloted by Trevor Short, from Yellow Point in Nanaimo. Third place was tub 055 piloted by a tubber named Pierce from Nanaimo. Mitchell took fourth in tub 727.
Mitchell said he was sore after getting out of the water.
“In the race I have a blast and I have the best seat in the house,” said Mitchell. “I was clocked doing 35 miles an hour.”
The six tubs that travelled to this area for the race, which Mitchell puts on annually, were from Delta, another was from Vancouver, and there were four from Nanaimo, plus Mitchell.
Mitchell said Nanaimo has a great bathtub community and he’s really lucky when he goes there for the world championship each year.
“We’ve been going there so long and know so many people,” said Mitchell. “They always take really good care of us when we get there. They’ve known me for a long time. Some of them I knew as kids and now they are racing. I’ve known them for generations.”
Mitchell said the locals did their best to show their usual hospitality, with the out-of-towners being able to use the Salish Centre for the kids to set up tents, and people with campers and trailers could set up outside. He said a nice dinner was served for the competitors and their entourage.
“I’m glad they get to see our town,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell has one more race before the end of the season. He said he will be participating in the year-end bash at Horne Lake on Vancouver Island on Labour Day weekend.
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