Flashback to 1999: Boating fun in the sun at the River Severn regatta charity event
More than 150 home-made boats took to the River Severn for an annual charity fundraising extravaganza which saw many competitors more often in the water than in their rafts.
The Bridgnorth Lions Club annual charity raft regatta, celebrating its 20th anniversary, went smoothly, unlike the River Severn which was choppy in the Jackfield Rapids as the wind swept down the Ironbridge Gorge.
Competitors in fancy dress, or team uniforms, queued for up to two hours to launch their DIY rafts from a site at Ironbridge Power Station.
On the day, organisers said they expected to raise more than £40,000 for local, national and international charities through the event.
They commented that the event was bigger and better than ever with 85 large rafts, holding eight to 10 people, and 55 smaller rafts on the river.
Teams had entered from across Shropshire, Staffordshire and the Black Country as well as further afield, with many firms entering more than one team for the event.
A crew of workers from Travel West Midlands' Walsall garage tried a different form of transport.
They took to the Severn in a vessel of their own creation called Ye Black Pig.
Two teams of six from the Cookley Sebright Endowed First School were among those who entered the race, with all the children at the school sponsoring the teams.
