Hundreds gather for Hythe raft race (From Daily Echo)

Hundreds gather for Hythe raft race

10:09am Monday 24th August 2009 in

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HUNDREDS of fundraisers made a splash as maritime madness descended on Hampshire for some of the wettest and wackiest races ever seen.

The wetter the better seemed to be the war cry from those brave enough to board their relatively unseaworthy watercrafts at the Great Waterside Raft Race in Hythe.

The marina was swamped with some inventive and rather questionable raft designs as teams armed with water pistols and water bombs took to the water for some epic battles at the Daily Echo-backed event.

Crowds lapped up the sunshine while enjoying the thrills and spills taking place in front of them and taking great pleasure in the traditional frenzy of launching water missiles as they sailed past.

It proved to be a record-breaking event with more rafts than ever venturing into the water and an unprecedented dead heat in the junior race.

Not ones to miss out on the fun, the Daily Echo’s very own Press Gang team went head-to-head with rafts from National Air Traffic Control and Marchwood Community Church among others in the Formula One and Handicap race.

The Parnell Cup for overall effort went to the RNLI Wife Boat team who put in a storming performance to come home first in the handicap race.

All the money raised from the event will go to the RNLI.

■ Thanks to U-Drive for helping the Daily Echo team get their raft to the water safely.