Inner Harbour hosts Victoria Classic Boat Festival

All the family can enjoy the Victoria Classic Boat Festival.

Organizers have introduced new family-friendly activities in addition to the many classic boats that will be on display in the Inner Harbour from Friday to Sunday.

The new activities to keep the kids busy include a pirate school, wooden boat model building, face painting and Adventures with Captain Cook.

Nearly 100 heritage sail and power craft from around the Pacific Northwest and beyond are expected to drop anchor in the Inner Harbour for the three-day show.

This year, the festival is showcasing classic boats from the ExForest Service Vessel Squadron, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Every year, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 visitors come to admire the classic boats, most of which will be open to the public.

You can expect to see vessels of all shapes and sizes, from runabouts to gaff-rigged schooners.

Although the festival celebrates genuine classic vessels, it also welcomes new classics and replicas — vessels built after 1955, but in keeping with a pre1956 design or construction.

Keep in mind that boats built in the late 1960s and early 1970s are now considered classics.

The event, Victoria’s longestrunning harbour festival, is celebrating its 40th year with an important milestone — the transfer of its operation from the Classic Boat Festival Society to the Maritime Museum of British Columbia.

“We are pleased to be playing a more active role in what has become an annual event and look forward to being part of this Victoria tradition for many Classic Boat Festivals to come,” said David Leverton, executive director of the Maritime Museum.

Other maritime organizations from around the region that will be represented at the festival include the Fleet Port Townsend Wooden Boat Foundation, the Sail and Life Training Society, the Seattle Center for Wooden Boats, Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre, Silva Bay Shipyard School and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.

These organizations provide mariners with opportunities for education, training and skills development.

“Boat owners and those that support them are why we are still celebrating our maritime heritage after 40 years,” said Ian Pontz, chairman of the festival.

The highlight of the festival will be a fleet sailpast on Sunday morning to salute the honorary commodore off the Ogden Point breakwater.

Immediately afterward, vessels will take part in a classic sail race (weather permitting).

The best viewing spots for landlubbers are along Dallas Road, between Ogden and Clover Point, the race route.

Boats will start arriving on Friday, docking along the lower causeway floats and Ship Point.

A registration tent in the lower causeway docks, in front of the Empress Hotel, will open at noon on Friday.

Admission to the event is free. The causeway floats and Ship Point docks are open to the public from 9 a.m. 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday’s sailpast starts at 11 a.m.

For information, go to classicboatfestival.ca.