PORT TOWNSEND — The 41st running of the Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Sculpture Race is set for Saturday and Sunday.
The starting point for the annual race has moved to Water Street, in front of the American Legion’s Marvin G. Shields Memorial Post 26, located at 209 Monroe St.
The theme for this year’s race and parade is “Kinetic Kinautical!” and points will be awarded for art and pageantry.
Ki-nautical kostumes are recommended for spektators as well as kontestants.
A kinetic skulpture is a human-powered, artistically enhanced vehicle that must go through kwicksand, kross the Dismal Bog, float on water and traverse hilly neighborhoods.
Kinetic racers and spektators must be kapable of having fun without taking the event too seriously.
Each skulpture should be a work of art and an engineering wonder; the pilots, pit krew and akkompanying entourage should dress in kostume and perform pageantry throughout the kourse weekend.
While some skulptures are engineering marvels, most are a mixture of bicycle parts, Styrofoam, duct tape, imagination and prayers.
Awards are given to each racer. The most highly prized award, the “Mediocrity Award,” goes to the skulpture that finishes in the middle of the pack.
According to event organizers, bribes help.
The two-day race starts at noon Saturday with the Art Parade and Kontest.
Parade entrants will line up at 11 a.m. on Water Street and, starting at noon, will make a loop up Monroe Street, turn left onto Washington Street, left onto Taylor Street, left onto Water Street and then back to starting line at the Legion Hall.
After the parade, racers will participate in a brake and safety test and inspection with skulptures careening down Monroe Street for a brake check at the skateboard park.
Skulptures that pass the safety test will show off their flotation and propulsion through the water with a dive into the bay at the Salmon Club by Northwest Maritime.
The Rosehips Kween Koronation Ball, a 21-and-older event, will begin at 8 p.m. in the American Legion Hall. Port Townsend band Cosmophonics will provide entertainment.
Kween Kontestants will strut their stuff around 9:30 p.m., vying for the Rosehips Krown. The koronation will occur about 11 p.m.
Admission will be $20 per person at the door. Kameras and video equipment are not allowed.
The Street, Sand and Mud portion of the kourse is set for Sunday.
Skulptures will line up by the American Legion Hall about 10 a.m. The race with start with a “Kheap shot” by some local dignitary precisely at “low noon.”
The kourse goes up Lawrence Street, kornering by Aldrich’s Market before skulptures enter the sand course at Fort Worden State Park, then pedal hard through the mud at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
Those who make it through the mud will head back down San Juan Avenue, through Uptown via Walker Street and then to Lawrence Street. Racers will then head down Monroe Street and finish at the Legion Hall.
For a detailed map of the route, visit www.ptkinetic race.org/racers-page.
