The newly formed team of Jakub Zimacek and Fred Dobbs won first place in the doubles event of the 2025 Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition in Parksville on July 13.
Canadian Dobbs, who lives on Mayne Island, said he and partner from the Czech Republic, Zimacek, took some risks with their 14-feet tall piece, 'Acrobats', which depicts two bats in a trapeze act, hanging on the rings.
"We had our base form on this morning and took it off and it was a little bit of suspense, as you can imagine with how tall it is," Dobbs added. "We had our fingers crossed — put it that way."
Zimacek was excited to win his first sand-sculpting prize in North America. He's won several times in Europe, but added it's more competitive in Canada and the U.S.
"We risked," he said. "We went very high and it was very steep and so we didn't know until the end if it would stand or not."
This year's 'Circus by the Sea' theme was made purposefully broad, to allow the sculptors' creativity to run wild, according to Parksville Beach Festival officials.
American Thomas Koet took the top prize in the singles category for 'The Juggler', a tall (three-metre) sculpture that required "pushing the sand to the limit."
"I was really looking for something that was going to be just elegant and beautiful," he said. "I thought, juggling is always about elegance and beauty and I figured if I combined it with a mermaid for the underwater element, I think that will do it."
His was also a risky entry, since it was so steep and at one point Koet noticed cracks appearing near the bottom
"It had me scared for a moment," he said, and added that keeping calm and collected was one of the biggest challenges.
The doubles winners got to know each other in Australia, Dobbs said, and Zimacek suggested they join forces. Dobbs was without his sculpting partner of four years, Ted Siebert, who died last year.
They came up with their 'Acrobats' theme last minute, after they considered six or seven other ideas. Dobbs said when they landed on the idea "it really felt right".
"I'd never carved bats," Zimacek said. "I've carved many animals. But they're sort of cool, the wings. They're funny features. It's a very weird animal so I wanted to try to carve it."
He added he is happy to come back to B.C. because it is a beautiful place and he can visit his cousin in Whistler.
Dobbs has been coming to Parksville's beach since he was a child to make sculptures, and has been sculpting competitively for years around the world.
"And of course this being the first year that the site is in this location, it's really exciting to see that Parksville is actually behind this," he said. "And really wants to make this a constant. So, excited to see that happen."
Koet has been sculpting since 1998. He got his start in the Netherlands, after a friend signed him up for a competition on the beach.
"After the first contest on the beach, I was ready to do more," he said. He kept going with commercial projects and contests and before he knew it, he had found his career.
In the singles category, Manuel Campos of Colombia came in second, followed by Canadians Damon Langlois, Abe Waterman and Marie-Line Gagné.
In doubles, second prize went to Canadians Guy-Olivier Deveau and Isabelle Gasse, with third place awarded to Susanne Ruseler and Hanneke Supply from the Netherlands.
The 2025 Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition drew sculptors from around the world, as well as many Canadians.
The 30 master sculptors worked for 30 hours over three days on their masterpieces, which will be available for public viewing at the new location in Parksville Community Park from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily until Aug. 17.
