Bungee rowing
A fun and unique event to Dartmouth and one for anyone to enter regardless of their rowing ability. Although good upper body strength would be a bonus. Basically, teams of four rowers in Regatta Whalers are attached to the Town Pontoon by an elastic bungee cord. The winning boat is the one whose crew can row as far as possible against the bungee. This is a hilarious event to both compete in and spectate. Entries are taken on the day and teams are men, ladies and mixed. Crews can even be made up on the water’s edge.
Waiters and Waitresses Race
With a plethora of restaurants, cafés and pubs in the town this is a traditional locally contested race. Waiters and waitresses from across the town compete to not just be the fastest but the best - combining speed, style and balance to get the most liquid in their glass, on their tray, over the finish line. Thus demonstrating how quickly and accurately they can serve drinks in a busy bar.
Competitors’ glasses are carefully measured at the Crab and Bucket finish line on South Embankment and the winner presented with a prize. Entrance is open to all, including visitors but beware, competition can be fierce!
Tug o’ War
The Tug o’ War has been traditionally held on the morning of Regatta Saturday and has been known to carry on for two hours or more. Most of the pubs in town and others from across the area, enter at least one team in this hotly contested event to the finish.
Children’s Crabbing Competition
The sight of hundreds of young crabbers lined up at The Embankment is one of the most beautiful images of Regatta. With lines and bacon scraps at the ready they compete to fill their buckets with the most crabs and be declared the winner.
Trolley racing
The ‘International Trolley Grand Prix’ is one of the most hotly contested events at Regatta. Congregating at the Boatfloat bridge, teams hurtle through the streets with their trolleys. Due to the crazy speed of some of these carts the event has now been split into two races – juniors and seniors. Teams consist of two persons and entries are taken on the day.
Pavement Artists’ Competition
In a more relaxed tempo children take to the pavements around the Boatfloat and decorate them with chalks for the Pavement Artists’ Competition. Themes around Regatta – on land, air and water – are expertly drawn and coloured in. So long as the rain stays away the competitors’ artwork is a pictorial reminder of the fun for many days after.
Barrel Roll
A barrel of beer is rolled in a straight line for around 100 yards, from the Boatfloat bridge to the Crab and Bucket by each team. Sounds simple but it can only be moved by hand and not lifted off the ground and can be very unwieldy in amateur hands. The winner is the one who gets to the finish line first. Some teams can take quite some time and go around in a few circles!
Crews of visiting Royal Naval ships can often be persuaded to come ashore and join in this one. All that field gun training comes in handy and makes them a force to be reckoned with. Teams can be men, ladies or mixed.
Kon-Tiki Raft Race
There’s talk of this event making a return, not least because Regatta Chairman Ed Botterill expressed this desire in an interview with By The Dart earlier this year.
This one stopped five years ago, presumably on the grounds of health and safety. But with support and a few tweaks it’s hoped it can get back on the programme soon.
As it’s name implies it’s a home-made raft race in the style of the famous Kon-Tiki 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. Against all odds Thor and his men were successful, so hopefully this will make a successful return to Regatta too.
Spot the Oddity
And finally, in the most obviously odd competition of all, throughout Regatta many shops display an ‘oddity’ in their window. This is an object that really doesn’t fit into their display or have a place in their business.
Entering this competition is a great way of having a good look around the town. Grab an entry form and take your time, as marks are awarded for accuracy of descriptions. Winners and runners-up are those with the most objects found and the best descriptions of the objects.
