Third Annual Old Town Pond Sailors Regatta - just plain old unadulterated FUN!

The final Saturday in August is getting to be known as the evening to be down at the Government Dock in Old Town for the Old Town Pond Sailors Regatta - home-built sailing "vessels" of a specific size powered only by wind. As with so many Old Town (and Yellowknife) events, things are always a heart-warming combination of the homemade and the professional, as this sign...

Well! there was record turnout by spectators, and a record number - 39! - of entries. Young and old, female and male, the sublime and the ridiculous, the meticulously-crafted and the slapped-together-while-enjoying-a-bottle-of-wine --- the Regatta welcomes them all.

At the sound of the starter pistol (scaring the spectating dogs) the boats are launched from the dock. The first one to get to the yellow buoy over to the left (don't know if it's visible, close to the pale orange houseboat) wins. A few ships manage to tack against the wind (!), a few capsize immediately, the odd one sinks to the bottom (as happened to one distraught boy of about 8 or so), but most make it a respectable distance. Amazing!

The Regatta is the brainchild of the inimitable Tony, a.k.a. The Snow King, the source of many of Yellowknife's most fun happenings. Costs are covered in part by the $5 registration fee, but Tony also gets sponsors to provide - the many - prizes. As Tony registers the entrants, he also records imaginative things to say when he hands out prizes to almost all and sundry, and he makes sure that especially the children receive special attention for their efforts. Here is Tony with the coveted Regatta Cup (note the Old Town Glass Works logo):

Such fun! I'm already starting to think about what kind of boat I could contrive to enter in next year's Regatta...