Dozens of bathtub racers won't take to the waters off Nanaimo this year. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo tradition

Annual Nanaimo bathtub race cancelled, organizers hope for fall event

May 15, 2020 | 4:25 PM

NANAIMO — The waters off the coast of Nanaimo will be relatively calm this summer without dozens of bathtubs racing across the waves.

The Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society has decided to cancel the 53rd World Championship Bathtub Race being held in late July. It was the last of three events during the Nanaimo Marine Festival weekend to be cancelled.

Society commodore Greg Peacock told NanaimoNewsNOW Society board members voted to cancel the event during a virtual meeting on Thursday, May 14.

“There’s just no way we could pull off bathtub weekend without a gathering of more than 50 people,” he said. “There’s safety concerns and a number of other things.”

Going forward with the event would require permits and cooperation from the Coast Guard and other organizations, which Peacock said would be difficult to get at this time.

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Every year the event draws between 35 and 50 racers and their crew to Maffeo Sutton Park for a lengthy race from the park, around coastal islands up to Nanoose and back to the park.

It’s an integral event during the larger Nanaimo Marine Festival, which runs throughout the month of July and included the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival and Silly Boat Regatta.

Besides the various races, all other aspects of the festival are now cancelled. This includes a well-attended parade, concerts and fireworks show.

Peacock said Bathtub Society members are holding out hope they can still get bathtubs in the water this year.

“We’re hoping in the fall things have changed enough we may be able to schedule a race. The second an opportunity comes up for us to try and pull something off, we’re going to do it.”

With files from Ian Holmes

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit