A visitor built a sandcastle on Horseshoe Bay on the eve of his 41st wedding anniversary.

Darrell O’Connor from Delaware was visiting with his wife for the first time since their honeymoon in 1984 to participate in the annual Bermuda Sandcastle Competition today [SUNDAY].

Mr O’Connor sculpted a castle behind a plaque made of sand that read Could I Have This Dance.

He explained: “Could I Have This Dance was the song they played for our first dance at our wedding — everything else I made up as I went along, but I knew what I wanted on the front.”

Mr O’Connor, one of three semi-professional sandcastle builders who visited the island for the contest, said he really enjoyed the experience and that Bermuda’s sand “carves real nice”.

There were close to 40 entrants this year, the highest number of participants in four years.

Pete Faverio, another semi-professional from Delaware, claimed the Best of the Beach award in previous competitions and sculpted two smaller castles this year.

He said: “The idea just came out of my head, I’m a castle guy, so I did two castles with waterfalls coming out and a little shark in the water, every castle is different, that’s what’s neat about it.”

Tony Cusicanqui, another overseas competitor, came second in the adult category last year and sculpted a lion and a mouse today.

Mr Cusicanqui, from Long Island, New York, said: “Bermuda has a lion on its flag and the whole story of Bermuda and UK is exactly like the lion and the mouse, the big guy helps the little guy.”

Some of the other 30 entries in this year’s competition ranged from turtles and octopus to a traditional Bermuda roof to the fictional character Wild Robot, sculpted by Natalia, Richard, Antonia and Marlena Walker, who all participated in their first competition.

Natalia Walker said: “We messed up at the very beginning and we had to restart after almost an hour, but it’s been fun. Our daughters did a lot of carrying water and sand for us.”

Hannah Emmerson, event organiser, said: “I think we had some of the highest calibre of builds that we’ve seen in a long time. There are a lot of returning people who have done this two, three, four years in a row, we have some visitors that are blowing people away.”

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