Regatta to draw crowds
Saturday 9th May 2009, 9:05AM BST.
Thousands of competitors and spectators were expected today to light up this year’s Shrewsbury Regatta.
The annual event, which has been held for 150 years, kicked off in the town at 8.30am today with races on the River Severn starting every two minutes until 6.30pm.
Alison Thomas, regatta secretary, said organisers were hoping for good weather throughout the weekend to encourage as many people as possible to watch from the riverbank.
Today’s action was taking place over a 1,000-metre course while tomorrow is known as the Shrewsbury Sprint and is a 600-metre course.
Alison said about 1,500 competitors would take part in the event over the two days.
She said: “We have got 40 clubs this year and we hope thousands of people will come down to watch as well.
“We normally get about 4,000 spectators over the weekend if the weather stays fine. It is beautiful so far but it’s clouding over a little bit.
“Lots of people arrived last night and a lot of people camped overnight. We had a great curry in the boat club last night and I think the Pengwern curry is famous on a Friday night.”
Alison said this year’s regatta had attracted crews from as far afield as Norwich and Guildford.
Pengwern Boat Club provides refreshments for competitors and spectators alike.
Tomorrow’s action will begin at 9am.
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