Sandcastles spring to life on Ocean Beach

3:41 pm PDT

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! The sandcastle judged best in show by this year’s judges was built by students at Garfield Elementary School and McCoppin Elementary in San Francisco! Their sandcastle depicted a kamikaze penguin jumping off an iceberg into a shark’s mouth. The project was assisted by the Design Partnership LLC, Interface Engineering, Holmes Culley, Martinkovic Milford Architects, and Plant Construction Company.

Congratulations go out not only to students from Garfield and McCoppin — and everybody involved with the winning team — but to all of this year’s participants from all teams and supporting companies!

Everybody is a winner at the Leap Sandcastle contest — literally — and SFBay will publish a complete list of winners as soon as it is available.

2:43 pm PDT

The judges have evaluated the sandcastles and are deliberating over the winners! The 2012 Leap Sandcastle judges are John King, Urban Design Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, Margie O’Driscoll, Executive Director, AIA San Francisco, Rob Cox, Artist, Joe Landon, Executive Director, California Alliance for Arts Education, Patricia Maloney, Director, Art Practical.

 

1:34 pm PDT

An amazing guest just dropped in off Ocean Beach for the sandcastle contest: A large whale swimming past Ocean Beach! The whale just attracted the attention off most of the sandcastle builders, drawing everyone to the waterline to catch a glimpse of the giant creature. Amazing photo by SFBay’s Eric Peterson!

1:17 pm PDT

We told you it was sunny out here at Ocean Beach!

1:05 pm PDT

The sun is out! The sun is out! The fog has burned away from Ocean Beach and it’s downright comfortable. Get on out here!

12:33 pm PDT

Carrying water to keep their castles wet is a big challenge for all the teams on Ocean Beach today. Some teams use the old-standby bucket brigade. Others are getting creative, digging trenches which run from the waterline back to their sandcastles. Fewer and shorter trips for water — just pour into the trench and the water flows to the castle!

12:13 pm PDT

11:43 am PDT

Mario has made it to Ocean Beach! Longfellow Elementary School students work away behind a scale model of their sandcastle: A real-life Mario Bros. game scene complete with game player and TV. Longfellow students are supported by volunteers from Stantec Architecture and Skanska USA Building.

11:34 am PDT

The team from Miraloma Elementary School in San Francisco is building a sandcastle they call “Animal Olympics!” A big frog is reading a pop-up book with animals jumping into the finish line to a smaller flog. Led by Katelyn Braithwaite, 60 third-graders from three classes are being assisted by volunteers from NBBJ architects, Hensel Phelps Constructions and 3-Form Material Solutions.

11:13 am PDT

10:59 am PDT

Ocean Beach is filling up quickly! Lots of kids, parents and observers checking out the sandcastles!

10:54 am PDT

28 teams — each representing a local school and supported by professional firms — are on Ocean Beach, furiously constructing their castles.

Also sprouting from the sand is a community castle effort, led by San Francisco-based Wix. Jamie Moore, Wix’s U.S. Director, says 50-60 kids are helping build a panda on a pogo stick — with a Giants logo! 15 Wix staffers are volunteering to help the kids, who, from what we can tell, are having a blast!

10:14 am PDT

The horn has sounded and the contest is underway!

It’s a brisk 56 degrees on Ocean Beach this morning, and 28 teams are finding out the best way to stay warm is to get busy — and stay busy. Massive piles of sand are starting to be formed, really the first step in building any sandcastle. What shapes will start to take form? What fantastic plans will emerge? Stick with us and find out!