Raft Race 21 - 22/2/2004

Row, row, row your raft...

After our testing day, some urgent repairs needed to be made before the event. This involved a truck load of silicon being applied to the nose cones, then sealing with duct tape. Each raft was required to carry water, sunscreen, and lunch, so we installed possibly the biggest waterproof eski on the market. It was so big, that when our raft was being checked by the scrutineers, they asked if we had an outboard hidden in there.

The team powering the raft was Brett, Caitie, Chris, David, Tim and Zoe. They were first to get the raft into the water, waiting over an hour for the other teams to build their rafts. Many of the teams decided to lash theirs together, which one team proved isn't the smartest idea, when theirs disintegrated. Heathmont lead from the start by a small margin, but extended it to 45 minutes by the end of the race. They covered the distance in merely 5 hours, thanks to the high and fast flowing water level. The willows lining the banks were extremely dangerous, fortunately the raft only got tangled in there once, breaking off several thick branches in the process.

Motors were banned, but one team still turned up with one. They were officially not part of the event, as they weren't covered by the insurance. This didn't stop them from throwing eggs, flower, and drenching everyone with their brand spanking new petrol powered fire hose, which sucked straight out of the river. On a hot day it would have been refreshing, but with the temperature under 25 degrees and no sun, it wasn't much fun. To their credit, the flour stuck much better when their targets were soaking wet.

Finally a few thank you's:

• Bill Rutherford Rover Crew for giving us the barrels, and running the event.
• The State Emergency Service for patrolling the waters during the event.
• Heathmont Venturers for lending us the helmets.

More photos (including other teams) are available from Bill Rutherford's website.

Paddling in the air doesn't make you go faster	The fat bastards at the back need to lose some weight
Everyone hurting, but still smiling at the end