6 minute read
Race Against the Tide
CBC's new competition show is pitting world-class sand sculptors against each other, and Mother-Nature
By Linda Browne
Many of us can remember building sand castles and sculptures as a child while spending a fun-filled day at the beach – crouching with the sun in your face and your toes in the wet sand as you constructed whales, dragons, castles and entire kingdoms from your imagination. But regardless of all your time and efforts, your world would always come crumbling down, literally, as the waves rushed in and swept your creations out to sea.
Now, imagine you’ve carried your interest and skill into adulthood and you’re at the top of your game, competing against not only some of the best sand sculptors around the globe, but the highest tides in the world. That’s the premise of CBC TV’s new reality/competition series, premiering this month. It’s a wild ride hosted by Newfoundland funnyman Shaun Majumder.
"Race Against the Tide" host Shaun Majumder
A Force of Nature
Growing up in rural Newfoundland, in Burlington on the Baie Verte Peninsula, there weren’t a lot of sandy beaches to practise his own sand sculpting skills, Shaun says. Other than the nearby Flatwater Pond Park (“That was our Hawaii when I was growing up,” he recalls), there was an abundance of these “clay holes.”
“There was a clay hole out by the brook, and there was a clay hole down on this other rocky beach which we would dig in, get the clay, we would sculpt it, make little men out of it or women out of it, and then we would smear it all over our bodies. It was like going to the spa,” he says, laughing at the memory. While Shaun might not have been destined to become a famous sand sculptor when he grew up, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dig deeper into the art did arise later in life. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Shaun was living in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Shelby Fenner, and their baby daughter Mattis last summer when the COVID-19 pandemic had practically shut down the film/TV industry. So with the cancellation of his comedy tour and no new job prospects on the horizon, along with the United States’ alarming coronavirus rates, the family decided to pack up and head home to Newfoundland. That’s when Shaun received a call from his agent, offering him a hosting gig for a new show shooting that August in New Brunswick.
“I was like, well that’s funny because I’m driving to Newfoundland. It’s kind of on the way,” Shaun laughs. “So all the stars aligned. And I didn’t even know what this show was about, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna do it.’”
Photo Courtesy of Marblemedia/Denis Duquette
“Race Against the Tide,” is a halfhour competition series that features 10 teams of two world-class sand sculptors working together to create extraordinary art. But there’s a twist. Filmed at New River Beach (which has hosted an annual sand sculpture competition since 1985) in the Bay of Fundy, home to the world’s highest tides, the teams are competing against not only each other, but also Mother Nature’s unstoppable clock.
According to the Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership, 160 billion tonnes of seawater flow in and out of the Bay of Fundy twice daily, which is “more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers.” Parks Canada says at the head of the bay, the tide can rise 16 metres – about the height of a four-storey building. “Race Against the Tide” contestants have about six hours and 13 minutes to build their sculptures (the time it takes to change from low to high tide). Whereas under normal circumstances, Shaun says, it’d take them an entire weekend, or longer, to bring their creations to life. In the end, all the sculptures meet the same fate as they’re swallowed up by the tide that same day.
“I don’t see this show ever happening anywhere else around the world... growing up in school you hear, ‘Oh, the Bay of Fundy, the highest tides in the world.’ Until you’re there standing on the beach, and you see how quick the tide goes out and then how fast it rushes in, it truly is a heart pounder,” Shaun says.
“When you’re down to your last half-hour, your last 20 minutes, and the ocean is creeping up the beach so fast… and you’re trying to get your sculpture done, and you’re trying to get the details in – it was really, really intense.”
Smooth Sailing
For Shaun, who’s well-known for his years on “This Hour Has 22 Minutes,” his Burlington-based ‘OME not-for-profit social enterprise, and The Gathering fire, food and music festival, this latest gig is unlike anything he’s ever done before. But he dove right in.
“It was more fun than I could have ever imagined. It blew away all my expectations, and I loved every second of it... because I had no idea really of what I was getting into. When I met the artists and saw what they do and the level of skill that they have, it was mind blowing,” he says.
Premiering September 9 on CBC TV and CBC Gem with two back-toback episodes, the show features sculptors from all over the world in pairs of various combinations, including a husband and wife, mother and daughter, and father and son. Their work is judged by Karen Fralich and Bruce Phillips, multiple award-winning sand sculptors. Each episode, one team gets eliminated and, ultimately, one will be crowned “Race Against the Tide Champions.” .
The show was filmed in all sorts of weather, from hot and dry conditions to sideways rain, wind and fog (“I mean, it’s the Maritimes,” Shaun says), and thunder and lightning storms, which all makes for great television, he adds.
Shaun checks in with one of the artists on "Race Against the Tide"
The pandemic, like everything these days, played a part in the production as well – though Shaun says you’d never tell. “Race Against the Tide,” he says, is the first production that CBC got back up and running during COVID, and the strict protocols put in place helped put everyone at ease.
“You would never know that there was a pandemic happening around the world when you watch the show, and that was their intention,” Shaun says. “Marblemedia in New Brunswick, they were amazing, because they were the on-the-ground production team and they kept everybody incredibly safe.”
Considering the pandemic’s allconsuming grip on the world, perhaps there’s no better time for a show like this. As the tide ebbs and flows, it’s also a gentle reminder for us, too, to go with the flow and take life as it comes.
“Honestly, it’s truly so much fun. I think that’s the key, is it’s fun... and it’s for everybody. And it’s a great Canadian background,” Shaun says. “So I think the fall, people are gonna fall in love with this show.”
