Post by Dave on Oct 9, 2016 13:40:12 GMT
River Dart Raft Race 9th October 2016
The river Dart raft race was such a popular event and in its heyday had over two hundred home made craft take to the water. But for some reason this yearly event came to an end around 2002 but was brought back to life in 2012.
The 2012 event might have only had nineteen craft take to the water but the event was deemed a success and has seen the numbers increase to forty rafts last year. I believe this year’s entry was up to forty six rafts but at least two sunk when they were put in the water at the start at Buckfastleigh.
In hindsight I think it would have been better to have gone to the start of the race and not near the end of it by the weir at the Totnes end. In total I spent nearly four hours by the weir and still did not see all the rafts that took place in this year’s event.
Part of the problem was the lack of water in some parts of the river which slowed up so many of the teams and caused huge gaps in the field. It did not matter too much as it was such a lovely morning in such a beautiful spot, we are so lucky living here having so many wonderful places to spend some quality leisure time at.
