A sunny day at the Basin races

Three cheers for the dragon boat teams!

The sun shone for most of the day, bringing the crowds out for the annual Dragon Boat races at the canal basin. Many turned out with chairs and picnics to secure the best vantage point for the action. But the races nearly didn’t happen at all! Just before midnight, we were notified that a large ash tree had fallen straight across the canal…. right in the middle of the race course. So at around 7 a.m., a number of our working party were despatched to try and saw through a rather hefty trunk and branches to clear a way. By 11 a.m., enough of the tree had been cleared to allow racing to start.

Eleven teams entered this year, all raising funds for Cancerwise. The event was ably organised by Rotary Priory.

The event concluded with two amazingly close races…. 1st Barnham Scouts, who entered two junior teams, raced off against each other…. and Thesis Asset Management (aka Boaty McBoatface) just pipped Searoc Dragons to the winning post in the adult event. Our own Canardlies put in a stellar performance, given that most of them had been tree felling at the crack of dawn. Congratulations to all of you.

Our thanks to Jen Stephens who submitted the second of the photos below.