Taken
from The Hereford Times, Thursday May 31st, 2007
Five suffer hypothermia in raft
race
THE annual raft race on the River Wye went ahead as
planned at the weekend despite attempts by
conservationists, and bitter weather conditions, to put
a stop to things.
The three-day event, organised by Committee for
Herefordshire Amateur Rafters (CHAR), had not even begun
when the problems started.
CHAR's Trish Hales explained: "We were setting things up
for the race on the Friday when conservationists tried
to stop us, saying that there were endangered breeds
nearby and that the race could not continue. This turned
out not to be the case but it did set us back a bit."
The 70-mile race did get underway the next day but the
good weather of Saturday did not last, giving way to
Sunday's downpour which made life difficult for the
rafters.
Five people were treated for hypothermia and two rafts
had to pull out because of the poor river conditions.
On Monday the conditions did improve somewhat as 18 of
the 21 starting teams finished, including five out of
six new entries, an encouraging sign for the future of
the race.
|
The
winning team was Patricks, of Hope-Under-Dinmore,
near Leominster, who finished with a time of
eight hours, five minutes and 30 seconds. |
The winning raft
race crew |
Taken
from The Hereford Times, Thursday May 31st, 2005
Rafters raise charity cash
Rafters raise charity cash
THIS year's slimmed down version of the River Wye
Charity Raft Race was a success for both young and not
so young over the bank holiday weekend.
A 78-year-old woman completed the course and a
school-age crew won a special award.
Winners were the Ross-on-Wye based crew Chevron, with an
average age of 40, finishing the 60-mile course in an
impressive 7hrs 34mins.
Second place went to Patrick's Gulpers, average age 48,
from Marlbrook, near Leominster, who came in 17 minutes
later.
But the Golden Paddle prize for true rafting spirit and
endurance went to the crew of the Destroyer who,
discounting captain Steven Thomas, had an average age of
15.
Organiser Patricia Hales was very happy with the effort
from the young people.
"Youngsters don't do this kind of thing anymore," she
said.
"The Destroyer crew were an inspiration, they did very
well coming 16th and they really enjoyed themselves."
Completing the course in last place was the crew of the
reed raft, Kota Mama, who included a 78-year-old woman
in their ranks.
The weather was kind to the rafters and the 700-plus
campers for most of the weekend but gales struck on
Saturday, sending tents across fields and rafts across
the river.
The race was shortened from its traditional 100 miles to
60 miles in a bid to open it up to more people.
"The race was a success," said Patricia. "But we haven't
made any decision on the length of next year's race as
yet."
