Last Year

Last year’s regatta was the usual round of hard work, laughter, long days, injuries, high jinx, traumas & tantrums… and that was just the Second Coxswain!  We were sitting at the end of the beer tent on Saturday afternoon wondering why we weren’t flying around with our pantaloons on fire!  Maybe we’re finally learning how to run a Regatta!  We had our usual capsize display which involved not only the capsize boat but also some kayaks and dinghies.  

Sue & I ventured out past the lock gates for the first time in 6 years and actually saw some of the yacht racing.  It didn’t last long though as we brought some of our crew back to dry land, then returning back to the race fleet we then escorted Nimrod back after he’d introduced himself to a fellow racer side on!  Then on the way back out from that the pagers went off.  I don’t think Freddie realises just how fast his little work boat goes but you should have seen the bruises Sue ended up with after being thrown about on the way back in!  She nearly ended up being a medivac herself!

Over the past years of running the Regattas we gathered a fair amount of stuff.  So we decided to set up a stall to see what we could get rid of.  Caroline & Keith managed to flog everything. We tried to get them to sell the 2nd Coxswain… hmm, no takers!

The beer tent was the main focal point… hmm, funny that!  The new bar was built by some of the crew and looked absolutely brilliant.  The fun fair provided much hilarity – a pile of us made several visits to the bumper cars to improve our vehicle handling skills but I think we failed miserably but we had such a laugh. 

The injuries list started slowly but gathered pace over the weekend.  I think everyone was on it at some point.  Plenty of bruises, cuts, grazes, sore shoulders, bashes, bumps, burns, broken toes, and of course, Nimrod!

The bands in the evening were really good again - mixture of tried and tested favourites and some new bands that went down well.  In fact I think I nearly knocked myself out dancing… personally, I blame the orange juice!

So here’s to this year’s Regatta…!

Dan Guy
Mechanic & Deputy 2nd Coxswain