Rocquaine rolls on
THE Rocquaine Regatta has never been cancelled since its inception in 1971, and this year was no exception.
Not even a global pandemic could hold organisers back from entertaining hundreds of islanders with local food, classic games, sandcastle competitions and so much more.
The day kicked off at 8.30am with a 1,000m swim from Portelet to Fort Grey, with 60 swimmers taking anywhere between five and 25 minutes to complete it.
After that was a rowing race and a rather exciting raft race.
The afternoon was jam-packed with classic games like the greasy pole, sack races, wife-carrying, pallet smashing, crab pot pulling, crab racing, tug of war and hurling the welly.
One of the vice-presidents of the committee, Brian Staples, said it was great to still be able to go ahead with the event, as the original July date that was proposed would not have given organisers enough time to get everything ready post-lockdown.
Rick Strappini has been involved in the Regatta since 1975.
‘We’ve never had to cancel a Regatta before. Some years we’ve had atrocious weather with not many people here, but we’ve never cancelled, and this year was no different.’
He explained that the event could not just be held on any Saturday in the year, as it needed to match up with the tides so all of the events which have become well-loved by islanders could still take place.
‘As it happens, the date in July was one of the wettest and coldest days of the summer, so we’ve been incredibly lucky to hold it this weekend, and it’s shaping up to be a fantastic day,’ he said.
Enjoying the fun, but bitter about their second place finish in the raft race was the Abredapart team.
Although they built their raft for speed, they crossed the line in second, but wore their rosettes proudly as they warmed up for the five-a-side football tournament.
Team spokesman Jim Cobb said the boys believed they had a good chance in the tournament and were regulars to the Regatta, usually finishing in the top three spots.
Evie Queripel, 7, was also trying her luck in the sandcastle competition.
Mum Pip said Evie always looks forward to the Regatta as there is so much to get stuck into.
‘She’s been looking forward to wearing her Rocquaine Regatta top all year so she can twin with her daddy,’ she said.
For Brad and Markey Reynolds, it was their first time experiencing the Regatta, but they were having fun trying out the greasy pole.
‘It’s really exciting, we just wanted to beat everyone we were up against,’ said 10-year-old Brad.
