For the second year in a row, Mike Stohler was the winner in the Great Ogopogo Bathtub Race.
The race was held on Saturday at Powell Beach as a fundraiser for the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation’s campaign to provide $20 million in medical equipment for the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion.
This is the second year for the bathtub race.
Mirjana Komljenovic, one of the organizers of the race, said there were 16 entries this year. Another seven racers from Nanaimo, using modified boats, participated in an exhibition race.
Except for the exhibition category, the boats are small, powered by two-stroke engines of 10 horsepower or under.
The 40-kilometre course consisted of three laps from Powell Beach to Crescent Beach to Naramata.
“It’s a wonderful event for our community,” Komljenovic said of the race.
Stohler said the longer course this year was challenging for participants.
“It was pretty choppy out there,” he said. “I was hanging on for dear life.”