Photo: At the June 14th Cardboard Boat Races, National Parks entry Parks & Wreck, crewed by Athena Victorio and Cory Clark, won its heat, edging out Tobermory Yacht Club’s Moby Dunk, helmed by Jacob Lefebvre. Great Botched Heron (back row), crewed by Shaun Mcphail, had stability issues and capsized at the finish line. Parks & Wreck got right through to the final (sitting a bit lower in each successive race).
By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
The Chi-Cheemaun Weekend Cardboard Boat Races went off without a hitch. Amazingly, they even went off without a single capsize. But the competition was intense and the crowd of close to a thousand went away happy.
A decision was made in mid-contest to split the competition into two classes — adults and kids.
The adult grand prize went to Z Serpent, crewed by Scott Thornton and Jamie Learn, complete with Viking face paint. The ship was outfitted with Viking-themed ornaments, courtesy of Viking Wenches Amie Zych and Tanya (Zych) Thornton. Z Serpent edged out the National Parks entry, Parks & Wreck, crewed by Athena Victorio and Cory Clark.
Z Serpent, crewed by Scott Thornton and Jamie Learn, won the Adult Final race, edging out Parks Canada’s Parks & Wreck, crewed by Athena Victorio and Cory Clark.Photo: Ezra Lott and Cora Stewart in the Holy Ship race Shane Robins and Gordon Robbins in Guinea Pigs Galore. Both boats stayed floating with Holy Ship winning the race.Photo: Tristen Barges and Izak Lefebvre in Chee-ky Men managed to stay ahead of Aurora Kearley in Minions to win their heat. Chee-ky Men went on to win the kids’ championship (for the third year running, with a different crew each year). Chee-ky Men has been entered in the Cardboard Boat Races every year since 2017; Minions has not missed a year since 2015. Both are products of the Larrivee Cardboard Boatworks in Milton.
The kids’ grand prize was won by Isak Lefebvre and Tristen Barges in Chee-ky Men, one of the Armada of entries from the Larrivee cardboard boatworks in Milton. Chee-ky Men first competed in 2017 but underwent a refit after its first couple of years. It has been the winning boat three years running (with a different crew each year).
Expect to see the Chee-ky Men back next year. Minions — which first raced in 2015 — is also expected to return, as are Larrivee boatworks’ 2025 productions, Tariff This and Cape Commodore.
Expect to see most of the kids again next year, too. As you can see in the photos, they had a blast!
Aurora Kearley in Minions put in a mighty effort but Tristen Barges and Izak Lefebvre in Chee-ky Men managed to cross the finish line first.Jacob Lefebvre made very good speed in Cape Commodore.Photo: Tristen Barges and Izak Lefebvre in Chee-ky Men managed to stay ahead of Aurora Kearley in Minions to win their heat. Chee-ky Men went on to win the kids’ championship (for the third year running, with a different crew each year). Chee-ky Men has been entered in the Cardboard Boat Races every year since 2017; Minions has not missed a year since 2015. Both are products of the Larrivee Cardboard Boatworks in Milton.Ariel Barges and Isabella Vanderkooy paddled We Slay to victory in two races before losing the final to Tristen Barges and Izak Lefebvre in Chee-ky Men.Shawn Mcphail had difficulty exiting the Great Botched Heron.
