PORT TOWNSEND — This year’s 24th annual Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race was no less mediocre from previous races. It was done for nothing more than the glory.
“The only point of this is for the glory,” said the head judge and President for Life, Lyn Hersey.
“There’s this metamorphosis that happens to everyone,” Hersey said.
“The most timid people by the end of the day are totally fabulous and making a spectacle of themselves.”
The theme this year was “Follywood,” so it was not a strange sight to see Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi following the pack of racers.
Sunday’s race had 18 participants peddling, pushing, bouncing, rowing and hobbling their skulptures of various designs through the Port Townsend course that began and ended at City Hall from noon until after 5 p.m.
Mediocrity Award
The most prized award of the day, the Mediocrity Award given to the racer who comes in the middle of the pack, went to Ray Grier and Michael Gibson, both of Port Townsend.
Their skulpture was called “R.U.N.T. (Really Undersized Nontraditional Transport) of the Litter.”
Sunday’s race began with the skulptures being put to the test in the water to see if they would sink or swim, as it were.
Every skulpture made it — swimmingly.
But one entrant seemed to enjoy the water too much.
“Frogasaurus Rex,” kinetically moved by Dave Neiman and Allen Brown of Corvallis, Ore., decided not to dock right away.
Instead, they continued around Point Hudson to Fort Worden State Park, where the other racers were heading via streets.
Neiman and Brown were cited by Kinetic Kops for the illegal maneuver.
