Best ever Raft Race thrills thousands and boosts local economy
Organisers of Sunday’s RNLI Raft Race in association with Butlins and firework finale have hailed it the best yet with a bumper entry and record crowds visiting the town.
The event which celebrated its 30th Anniversary and is one of the largest events of its kind in the country was organised by the Minehead Lifeboat Crew for the people of Minehead and West Somerset. This year’s race attracted a record 67 rafting teams from all over the country who were undeterred by the gusty winds and challenging conditions.
With the emphasis of the event being a family day huge crowds descended on the sea front and harbour areas delivering a much needed boost to the local economy. Visitors were treated to live bands, disco, a street performer, market stalls, BBQ, face painter, bouncy castle and a state of the art Lifeboat simulator aiming to give the public an insight into the conditions RNLI volunteer crews face.
Patricks Gulpers from Leominster holders of the current course record were the fastest raft home with a time of just over 35 minutes while Amon Sully’s team won the fancy dress shield with their fantastic Helen’s Angels entry. In a real battle to the finish raft race stalwarts the 2 Valiant Soldier rafting teams, celebrating 20 years of entering the event won the pub challenge and Butlins cup respectively. The fastest female team home were the Tring rafters from Hertfordshire while the first mixed raft home was the Castaways from Hereford. Other local successes included West Somerset College who won the fun race and Minehead Hire picked up the Scuddy memorial for the last raft home unaided. Finally, the best dressed support boat was won by Paul Date on the Emma Louise.
As darkness fell tens of thousands of people were treated to a fantastic free fireworks display thanks to the generosity of the local business community.
The whole purpose of the day was to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Early indications are that the total amount of money raised will eclipse the £12,000 raised in 2008 for the charity.
The RNLI needs in excess of £378,000 per day to ensure its volunteer crews receive the best training and equipment to go to sea in often arduous and dangerous conditions. The charity receives no Government funding and relies on donations from such events as the raft race.
Race Director Derek Williams was full of praise for the teams taking on the challenge of the race “this was undoubtedly our biggest and best yet and all of the rafting teams really entered into the spirit of the day”
Mr Williams also paid tribute to the many companies and organisations supporting the event “such a day is only possible thanks to the generosity of our principle sponsor Butlins and the local business community who yet again dug deep buying advertising space in this year’s programme. Hopefully we were able to put something back into the town with the large crowds on the day. The Minehead and Watchet boat owners provided valuable rescue boat cover”
While providing safety boat cover during Sunday’s raft race the stations Atlantic 85 Lifeboat was requested to attend 2 separate incidents. The first involved assisting 2 seasick passengers aboard The Foxy Lady. Both were taken aboard the Lifeboat before being landed safely at Minehead Harbour. The second was to aid a small fishing vessel with engine problems. The Lifeboat under the command of volunteer helmsman Adam Bonar towed the boat back to the safety of Minehead Harbour.
