Mystery man was pretty wet for a Fly Guy

The Victoria Marina was a hive of activity on Friday evening for the Round Table harbour carnival. The organisers are confident that the annual fund-raising event will have exceeded its record of £13,000. Reporter Tom Bradshaw explored all it had to offer. The pictures are by Adrian Miller

The caped crusader had promised to take to the skies, but, like all others before him, he lost his battle with gravity and dropped into the water like a stone.

The Partnership Air Dare man-powered flight competition was, as usual, more of a comedy show than a serious attempt at flight.

For sheer entertainment, the Moo Team really knew how to play the crowd and deservedly went on to win the prize for most elegant and most spectacular costumes

Clad in Friesian-painted boiler suits, complete with Marigold glove udders, masks and capes, the duo danced for the crowd before somersaulting off the platform.

Behind the costumes were Tim Wilson and Chris Stonebridge.

'We would just like to say to the Fly Guy - we are going to fly past-your-eyes to pastures green,' said 25-year-old Mr Wilson.

Next up was 15-year-old Jamie Dumont taking part under the guise of Fun-Sized Fly Guy. In a similar caped costume, he leapt significantly further than his older and bigger namesake.

The most impressive attempt was made by flying competition stalwart Mike Still, taking part for the fifth time.

His entry, entitled 60 Years of Liberty, came complete with an elaborately crafted Lancaster Bomber trailing a long white banner.

He was awarded the most stylish craft prize.

The prize for greatest distance went to PKF trainee accountant Miles Birch.

The competition concluded with a comic effort by compere Bentley, in caped costume, under the name of the Pie Guy.THE team of bar maids from harbour-side pub the Ship & Crown made all the running in the women's dinghy race.

They won the final by a comfortable margin.

'Once again we have proved that we are the best pub in Town,' said Emma Yeaman.

She was helped to victory by Tommy Allez, Rachel Bowden, Sarah Touzeau, Laura Brogan and Leah Barnes.

'That was excellent fun and well worth getting wet in that cold water,' said Miss Barnes.

They were rewarded with a bottle of champagne, which was immediately cracked open and knocked back by the girls on the pontoon.

Women cheered while men watched in admiration as almost 100 scantily clad females got drenched in their efforts to paddle unseaworthy inflatables across the water.

The 100m course started on the furthest pontoon out on the Crown Pier side of the marina. Teams raced across to the opposite side, just next to the gate, before heading back.

Up against the Ship & Crown were The Partnership, the Corporation Babes, the Wave Runners, and the States of Guernsey Soggy Water Sprites.

The first leg was very closely fought, leading to a chaotic scramble at the turnaround.

The Ship & Crown cleared it first, giving them a clear run to victory.

Coming in second was The Partnership which had won its heat by more than 30 metres.

In the same race, Pricewaterhouse

Coopers lost half its team overboard. Tax senior Rachel Alford, manager Nicky Holmes and secretary Nicky Penny opted to swim the latter half of the race.

'It's very cold, but it was faster swimming then paddling,' said 24-year-old Miss Alford.

The racing was compered by Island FM's Mark Trenchard and James Bentley from the pontoon.

Mr Trenchard's colleagues, the Mercator Mechanics, who had been knocked out in the heats, made an unexpected return to the pontoon and threw him into the marina.

Barely given enough warning to put down his microphone, Mr Trenchard had no chance of escape as Laura Brouard, Zareen Laird, Katie Walters, Jodi Wheeler, Kerry Wilding and Emily Anderson zoomed in for the kill.

'Earlier in the day he was arrogant and dared us to push him in, so we didn't want to disappoint him,' said Miss Brouard.

Mr Bentley looked rather smugly at his co-host's misfortune before the girls turned on him and gave him a ducking too.THE fiercely competitive tug of war saw Elite Carpentry's two teams go head-to-head in the final.

But too gentlemanly to fight among colleagues, they agreed to be joint winners - much to the dismay of the crowd, which was to eager to see them getting wet.

So under great pressure from the spectators, they were forced to take the plunge before claiming their prize.

But celebration almost turned into disaster as many of the team struggled to swim. Lifeguard Andy Trenchard had his work cut out getting them back on land.

As always, the competition provided a great source of amusement as onlookers revelled in the participants' misfortune.

Some pulls were closely fought while others were very one-sided.

In round one, AFM put up a very good fight against the Post Office before their front man was finally forced off his feet into an undignified fall, catching his rear end on the wall before hitting the water. The rest of the team followed him in.

The Guernsey rugby team made very quick work of the Carey Olsen contingent, hauling them all into the sea in a matter of seconds.

But their moment of glory was shortlived as they were thrashed by Elite Carpentry Two in the next round.

Fellow Garenne Group companies Granite Le Pelley and R. G. Falla fought a very drawn-out contest, with neither team willing to give in.

Granite Le Pelley finally lost their front man to the sea. The rest of the team seemed reluctant to join him but were bullied into it by the crowd.

The event was compered by Island FM's Carolyn Le Maitre and Dave Bichard.