They came, they built and then they won! VIREB’s Joanne Russell, an MLS® Customer Service Representative, along with local long term community supporter The Buccaneer Inn, were the winners in the ‘Grand Challenge Heat’ during the Annual Silly Boat Regatta held July 15th at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo. The winning crew of Swashbucklers was one of 42 nautical teams to participate, with nearly $100,000 raised for the Nanaimo Child Development Centre during the event. The shoreline was crowded with an estimated 10,000 vocal supporters as the Buccaneer gang assembled and successfully raced their ingenious craft. Part of the rules for the event state your vessel has to be assembled on site just prior to the race, so the winners proved both sound shipwrights as well as fierce competitors. The winners are seen here posing around the statue of former Mayor Frank Ney whose piratical persona helped to put Nanaimo and its marine festival on the world stage. Joanne is the cutlass swinging scallywag second from the left on the bottom row. Congratulations to you and your winning shipmates! It was all in fun and all for a great cause!