THE sun smiled and so did the faces of hundreds of people at the 132nd Burseldon Regatta.

Mucking about on boats in the river has rarely been so much fun.

Punters in the beer garden of the Jolly Sailor on the edge of the River Hamble watched a succession of boats race across the water.

The morning saw serious racing with the beautiful "old gaffer" yacht competing for the Alwyn Foulkes Memorial Trophy.

In the afternoon the fun really got going with more than 30 light-hearted races on a variety of crafts.

Spectators even got to enjoy a demonstration of the ancient art of sculling - a form of rowing using only one oar at the stern of the boat.

The shores were packed as the floating egg and spoon race got under way - involving a woman balancing in a boat as a man rowed her along the river.

Races kicked off in front of a pontoon bearing a huge painting of Buckingham Palace - the Regatta was themed on the Golden Jubilee.

Later it exploded into a spectacular pirate display aping the Queen's Golden Jubilee Fireworks.

Attendance was slightly down due to the Bank Holiday but organisers were pleased it was able to go ahead after problems with insurance.

The regatta is in its 132nd year and outgoing management committee president Bert Betts has been in charge for 32 of them.

He said: "The Regatta is designed to give the general public and in particular people on the river a good family day out and if people go away happy we achieved our goal and I haven't seen anyone unhappy yet."

The good-natured event closed with a dramatic procession of candle-bearing youngsters being towed down the river in boats as fireworks filled the sky behind them.