A day at the races: the Saltspring Island Zucchini 500
Yo ho ho and a bottle of . . . zucchini marinade?
The zany artist behind this vegetable creation—which debuted in the Zucchini 500 at Saltspring Island’s fall fair last weekend—is none other than Susan Rybar, former director of publication at British Columbia Magazine. She and her son Kje fashioned their pirate ship to race in the fun annual event, profiled in “Zucchinis on wheels” in our Fall 2008 issue.
“The design started simply with what we could scavenge from around the house. The wheels were the only ones we had,” says Rybar. “I thought it would be good to put something on the front and found the ‘aerodynamic’ corn-cob holders, which reminded me of the mermaids at the front of pirate ships (a bit of a stretch, I know), which led me into our Lego collection where I found the crow’s nest and skeleton crew.”
Stylish looks may not equal great performance, as it turns out. In the practice run on the steeply inclined racetrack, the pirate ship blew a wheel at the halfway mark, finishing last.