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RAFT RACE The Battle of Southease Bridge Rob Williams, a dry-lining contractor, is in <strong>Lewes</strong> Rugby Club’s raft race team, competing this year for the second time. He is also involved with organising the event through <strong>Lewes</strong> Round Table. What was last year’s race like? It was interesting. We decided it would be a great event to take our overseas players on, and they thought it was the best thing ever. We had a few beers on the way, had a great time. We came last and did a bit of swimming in the river... Did you get hit by any eggs? Loads, but it’s all part of the fun. Have you got any defence strategies for this time? No, not really, just to throw as much stuff back as possible. So you’ve got a supply of eggs... De�nitely, this year we’ve built a beer fridge and an egg/�our cupboard on the raft. When you arrive at Southease bridge, it gets a bit dangerous, doesn’t it? There’s 300 people waiting, and you drift round the corner, and then you see all these people, there’s just silence, silence and then carnage and all you can do is just drift into it... That’s quite fun; breaks up the journey anyway. Did you see any spectacular failures last year? I’ve been safety of�cer for the raft race for about eight years, and I’ve seen some pretty bad rafts. One was made out of ladders, which really wasn’t very good. They had a very strict, I don’t know what he was, a scoutmaster or something, ordering these WWW.VI VA LEWES .CO M RAFTING poor teenagers about, and it was the worst raft I’ve ever seen. It didn’t make it. How did you build your raft? We haven’t really started yet; we’ve done about one afternoon. Basically it’s two hulls. We’ve put a frame on it, and then we’re going to bond it with �breglass, and then spend two weeks tarting it up. Where did you get the materials? The hulls are from eBay, they cost ten quid, and the ply’s from my yard. I don’t suppose you’ve tested whether it �oats yet... No. That’s part of the fun for the day. It’s what we did last year. We got stuck in South Street. We were about an hour late and didn’t know whether it was going to �oat until the last minute. We’ve always got a bit of gaffer tape on hand. Have you got some fancy dress in mind? We’re not quite sure yet, but there’s a theme of children’s toys and we’ll be partaking, with some lurid coloured out�ts. Are there any teams that take it really seriously? All of them apart from us! They did the winners’ presentation before we �nished up last year... There’s about four teams that race properly every year, and then people like us who don’t take it too seriously. Interview by Steve Ramsey It might be too late to sign up (check on 01825 722225 or stuart@stuart-walker.co.uk), but you can always watch (and throw cake ingredients). The race starts on the Ouse by South Street at 1.30pm on Sunday 14th. 35
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