Although Curl PEI did not manage to get any entries for its proposed Mixed Doubles provincial championship this season, this new variant on the sport of curling is being well-received at curling facilities around the Island. Curlers got a chance to experience Mixed Doubles in a bonspiel situation on Saturday at the Cornwall Curling Club. To keep the event to one day and give each of the 16 teams signed up a chance to play three games, each game was six ends, as opposed to the eight normally played in Mixed Doubles.
Photo: Bryan Sutherland watches as KImball Blanchard sweeps Gloria Clarke’s rock into the house
The curlers found that each game took about an hour and 10 minutes to play, and they reported the play to be “intense”, as they had to be involved in the game at all times, throwing, often sweeping their own thrown rock, and switching back and forth from delivering the rock to acting as skip. They said that they were amazed at how quickly the time flies, and also stated that they really enjoyed it, and would like to participate in another bonspiel before the season ends. Although curlers who use a delivery stick to deliver their rock (as opposed to the traditional delivery from a hack) are not permitted in the Canadian Mixed Doubles championships, they were allowed in this event, and seemed to have an advantage due to the similarity of Mixed Curling with the 2 person Stick Curling sport they play. In fact, the stick curling team of Kimball Blanchard and Gloria Clarke were the overall event winners.
Here’s an album of photos from the event: Click to view
Basic Mixed Doubles rules:
Teams are made up of two players; one male, one female.
Six rocks used per team per end (one placed, five thrown)
One rock per team is “positioned” on the ice sheet at the beginning of each end.
One player throws first and last stone per end, other player throws the three in between.
No stone in play, including the “positioned” stones and those in the house, can be moved to an
out-of-play position prior to the delivery of the fourth stone of an end