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Events > April tools > 2018

APRIL TOOLS WOODEN BOAT CHALLENGE 2018

April 28, 2018: A boat in Two Parts

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2018 Winners: The Fireflies (Nick Price, Bonz Cote, Bruno Cote, Kerry Rand)
Mother Nature gave April Tools a rainy day, but it sure didn’t dampen the enthusiasm and creativity of the 14 teams that took on the 17th annual boatbuilding challenge!

Their task was to construct a boat in 2 approximately equal parts using hand tools and battery powered screw guns, but they were not allowed to join the halves until the start of the race.

The materials they had included 2 ¼ sheets of plywood, a bundle of 1 x 2s, some caulking, a whole bunch of screws, some string, some sill foam for a gasket and 4 carriage bolts with wingnuts to work with.

The preliminary races began with the teams placing their unattached 2-piece boats at the start line at the top of the launch ramp and when the horn sounded they had to assemble their craft using ONLY hand tools. When that was accomplished they had to carry their boats to the water, launch and paddle the course around the finger piers.

Since the paddling part of the races is relatively short, speed joining the halves was fairly critical…but not everything! One team (The Cheap Oars) cleverly made their 2 halves nest together so assembly was a snap, but the resulting short boat turned out to not move very quickly. Shapes varied from canoes to scows to catamarans. Four boats didn’t hold together well enough to finish the course. 

The Fireflies again brought home the First Prize, and their good looking craft decorated fittingly with flames also won the Spiffy Skiffy Award. Cabin Fever took a comfortable Second Place and the Gunboat Bay Challengers
prevailed in a photo finish for Third. Cheap Oars had the Broken Paddle Award for really persevering in adversity!

In the Youth Races, Michelle Fielding piloted the Train in Trades Carpentry boat to a First Place finish in the Trophy Race. The Fun Race was wet and, well, fun with Train in Trades (Driest), The Costco Wholesails
(Sportsmanship), Bean Boozlers (Piracy), Egg (Bad Egg), and The Rhondas (No Quitter) all bringing home bags of goodies.

Lots of miniboats were built, faces painted, crafts crafted, and faces stuffed with good food. All in all, 2018 was classic April Tools!​
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2018 Youth Winner: Michelle/Train in Trades
Thank you to our ​2018 sponsors!

Location

Situated on the shore of spectacular Pender Harbour, Madeira Park is a jewel of the Sunshine Coast.  With only a ferry ride and a scenic one hour drive north, it is easily accessible from both Vancouver and the lower mainland. View our location on Google Maps.

2018 Winners

2018-april_tools-adult-races.pdf
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2018-april-tools-youth-races.pdf
File Size: 103 kb
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​What happens on Event Day:

10 am: the twist and building materials are revealed to the teams. Then they have one hour to plan how they'll build their boat. Hand tools only!

11 am - 2 pm: Boatbuilding action, lots of activities for kids, museum displays, snacks, and more.

2 pm: Youth Races the high school teams run two races: the trophy race and the free-for-all

2:45 pm (approx.): Adult races follow the youth races. It's float, sink, or swim!  Will they even get all the way around the course?  Can anyone beat the multi-champion Fireflies? (aka the Garden Bay Firefighters)  Upsets of all kinds can happen! 

Family Fun 
  • Wooden boats are available to row or paddle around the Harbour for free.  
  • Burgers and baked goods keep everyone energized
  • Lots of fun activities for the little kids, including free mini-boatbuilding!    
Check out our photo galleries from past event years! 
Pender Harbour Developments and
Additional support provided by Sunshine Coast Resort.

To sponsor April Tools 2018,
​please contact Jackie at 604-883-0539.

APRIL TOOLS WOODEN BOAT CHALLENGE 2018

 And the winner is: The Fireflies! (with Gunboat Bay Challengers a close second!)

​Boatbuilding and Kids Activities

Youth Races

Adult Races