Building castles in the sand

Young Chang

Dan Hamilton has seen windows in these castles.

He’s seen brick outlines in the walls, fruit pieces used as eyes in

sculptures and toe nails and fingernails neatly shaped out.

“It’s amazing what people can do with three hours,” said the chairman

of the Sandcastle Contest.

He expects the same intensity and creativity during this year’s

competition, which happens today at Corona del Mar State Beach.

Presented by the Commodores Club of the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of

Commerce, the 40th annual Sandcastle Contest is said to be the second

longest running in the country, attracting teams from both corporations

and families.

Hamilton estimates that about 40 teams will compete, with around eight

people to a team, for prizes and plaques and the added perk of each

participant receiving a round-trip ticket to Catalina -- a gift from the

Catalina Passenger Service.

“What we try to do is keep it on a lighter note where we’ll have some

very elaborate sculptures, in terms of traditional castles, and some

unique ones in terms of humorous ones,” Hamilton said.

Awards will go to the overall best creation, the most unique

sandcastle, the most unique sand sculpture, the most humorous creation

and some honorable mentions.

Masters class participants -- which includes architects and engineers

-- will be allotted plots of sand 20 feet by 20 feet, and businesses and

families will be given 15 feet by 15 feet spaces.

One important rule is that only biodegradable props are allowed. This

means fruits can be used as decoration, shells too, but no buttons or

other plastic materials.

Contestants have used food coloring in the past, which is allowed.

But Chris Sommers, a loan officer with Barrington Capital Corporation

in Newport Beach who plans to participate in the contest for his third

year, suggests using lots of buckets.

“The more buckets and the more people, the better,” he said from an

expert’s standpoint. “You just want to use as much water as you can and

pack it down.”

His team of about 35 people -- they’ll rotate people in and out so the

group is no bigger than eight at any one time -- is still debating

whether to build a shark or a mermaid.

“There’s been so many shark incidents this year that we want to try to

portray it in not the evil manner,” Sommers, 36, said.

Marc Africano, a Huntington Beach resident who will build a castle

with his two children and wife, has a title for his creation: “Devon’s

Castle.”

“It’s going to be a very special one this year because we have a

neighbor who’s been diagnosed with leukemia and we’re gonna be building a

castle for her,” the 35-year-old said. “We’re gonna make a huge one for

her. She’s been in chemotherapy for a month now.”

The castle will have bridges and peaks, arches and moats.

Sommers and his team built a similar castle last year. When asked

about his fondest memory of the event, he said laughing,

“The fact that our sandcastle did not collapse, like it did the

previous year.”

FYI

WHAT: Sandcastle Contest

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today

WHERE: Corona Del Mar State Beach, Ocean Boulevard and Iris Avenue

COST: Free to watch. $60 for masters class participants, $40 for those

in the business class, $30 for families, and other organizations,

including civic and service groups.

CALL: (949) 729-4400