Despite the threat of bad weather, the Bermuda Sandcastle Competition returned to Horseshoe Bay this morning with teams ready to get their hands dirty.

Hannah Emmerson, who organises the annual event, said that while the competition had to be pushed back a week because of weather concerns, turnout remained solid.

“We have 27 out of the 30 plots filled, signed up and ready to go, and we have a good mix of children, teens, families and a large adult category, so we are looking forward to some interesting designs,” she said.

“We have some returning teams, and Pete Faverio is back this year. He flew down from Delaware.”

Ms Emmerson said it was wonderful to have people travel to Bermuda for the event, adding that: “It’s exciting to know we are getting out there and that we are growing, slowly but surely, granted that this year was a bit of an anomaly given the storms.”

She added that she was grateful that the sun was out today after some early forecasts for wet weather.

“I think I was having some heart palpitations, but here we are,” Ms Emmerson said. “I think we got just the perfect spot right between for some gorgeous weather.”

One team of young people entered the competition to raise awareness about the island’s seahorse population and efforts to protect them with a sand sculpture of a seahorse giving birth.

Lilian Collette said: “In Bermuda seahorses are endangered so the Warwick Academy Seahorse Project is trying to help spot them and see if we can help them in any way.”

Sophie McClure added: “This is to help get people to notice and see that we are here so they can support if they want and help.”

Nearby, Special Olympics Bermuda worked on their own plot, with the athletes crafting a birthday cake out of sand.

Karen Woollery, national director, said: “We like to get the athletes involved in social activities.

“We had a very ambitious plan originally, but we had to scale back because we have a smaller team than we usually do. It has been a very busy summer.

“The main thing is that they are having fun and they are included in the activities going on in the community.”