First Herne Bay raft race in decades shelved
06:01, 05 May 2019
A town’s first raft race in decades has been cancelled after just a handful of teams entered.
The family-friendly event was once a regular fixture in Herne Bay, drawing large crowds of spectators to Central Parade as teams and businesses raced each other in homemade boats.
Gerald McCarthy, from the BayPromoTeam, had hoped to organise the first one since the 1980s.
Despite having earmarked a date towards the end of July, he has decided to cancel the event.
“There’s been a lack of interest, to be frank,” he said.
“I think we had seven teams come forward when we were after 12 or 15 – we only had half the number we wanted to make it a spectacle.
“We were planning, once we reached the required number of entries, to submit it as an event to the council, but it sank.”
It was open to community groups, clubs and businesses to enter crews of up to six people after generating about £300 in sponsorship.
Part of that fee would have been used to pay for the event’s insurance and organising fees, with the remainder donated to charity.
“People have got businesses to run,” he continued.
“It would have been in the middle of summer so I suspect people would be away and it wouldn’t have been particularly easy to sort out for them.
“There was a lot of public interest, but, like the Carnival, interest in participating can be difficult to get. It’s a real shame.”
When it last took place, participants wore fancy dress and attempted to reach the finish line in rafts made from a variety of materials, including wooden pallets and metal barrels.
Mr McCarthy - who also organises the Zombie Crawl, Sci-fi by the Sea and the air show – says he will try to hold the event next year.
“I remember as a child it was a great thing to watch – it looked fun,” he said.
“We will look at it again next year and have another go. Perhaps we can make it easier to enter, reduce the number of crew members required and make entry cost less.
“But making it open to the public would be difficult and, potentially, dangerous.”
