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An
estimated 125 rafts took part in this year's event.
From classical Greek temples to Viking ships, the home made crafts
came in all shapes, sizes and colours.
Each
raft was crewed by up to ten people, many of whom got very wet from
falling in, having water thrown at them by other teams, friendly
splashing and, of course, sinking.
The
course is a ten mile stretch of the river Severn, from Buildwas
Power Station, near Ironbridge, to Bridgnorth's Severn Park.
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Dean
Booth from the Formula One team. See our picture
gallery from the event
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Matthew
Green and Dean Booth were part of a crew of six, their Formula One
car style craft won them third place in the Regatta's "Best
Dressed Raft" competition.
They
crossed the finishing line after six hours of rowing:
"Our
raft is a replica Williams / BMW car - we weren't racing, we were
too busy looking good." said Dean.
Matthew
looked exhausted:
"You
don't just sail along, we realised two of our raft's barrels had
completely filled with water...
it's the most physically demanding thing I've ever done, but a good
experience." he said.
"We
wanted to cheer, but it was more of a whimper when we crossed the
finishing line. We're just relieved to have finished,"
added Dean.
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The
clown car was one of the wackier entries. Click
here to see our picture gallery from the event
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The
regatta is organised by the Bridgnorth Lions Club, it's their main
fundraising event.
Rafts
are sponsored, often by local businesses, and Severn Park plays
host to a funfair and stalls.
Since
the first Regatta in 1979, the annual event has raised nearly £1.5m
for charity.
Alan
Golden, Club secretary, estimated that this year's Regatta had drawn
5,000 spectators:
"We're
hoping to have raised £54,000 for charity, that or more,"
he said.
"It's
undoubtably been a very successful day!"
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