ORGANISERS have voted this year's Waterside Raft Race the best ever after sunshine brought crowds flocking to Hythe waterfront.

While nearby Southampton suffered from outbursts of heavy rain, Hythe remained cloud-free until after the event.

As a result it was hoped the race had raised at least £1,000 for the RNLI.

Winners were local ambulancemen in the Shaky Sue, which covered the 1,400-metre course in 16 minutes.

They were closely followed by The Hobbits while a ladies' team, the Jolly Tarts, took third place in 23 minutes. However, they were by no means the slowest - the last team came home in 58 minutes.

"We had a wonderful day and the best-ever raft race because of the weather which brought out the sun,'' said organiser Chris Ashworth, who has been involved in the event for the last nine years.

An RNLI lifeboat from Calshot was on hand, as well as many other boats and the Marine Association boat, the Alison MacGregor.

The annual raft race, now in its tenth year, is a firm favourite with Waterside residents. This year's course began at the Lord Nelson and ended at Hythe Marina public slipway.

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