28/05/12 Raft Race for Rupees
Forget the European Cup, never mind the Olympics, the most talked
about sporting event of 2012 took place on May 24th and will no
doubt be remembered by those that were privileged enough to witness it as quite
possibly the greatest race of all time. The first (and quite possibly last) GVI
Raft Race for Rupees.
It was the event that had simply everything. There was blood and
tears, hope and despair, elation and dismay. There were last minute alterations
and last minute entrants, there was cheating and skullduggery, and in the end
there was one team of winners, while the dreams of others lay scattered across
the Indian Ocean (all detached pieces of raft were collected after the race by
the GVI support boat).
The event kicked off earlier in the week when the teams were
announced and got together to design their rafts.
10 Tips on how to build a raft.
1.
Keep it simple
2.
Scavenge as much wood and
bamboo as you can
3.
Collect old disused mooring
buoys
4.
Increase your fizzy drink
consumption (you will need those bottles)
5.
Get your hands on a lot of
string
6.
Don’t forget to secure your oil
drum to your raft or you may part company
7.
Duct tape, masking tape and
electrical tape do not work as well when wet
8.
An outrigger does not
necessarily make your raft more stable
9.
The bigger the raft, the harder
it is to control
10. Test it before the day to make sure it floats
So it came to be that on Thursday morning the ‘Mermaids’ lined up
alongside the ‘Pirates’, the ‘Castaways’, the ‘Marine Park Massive’ and a team
of late entrants the Seychelles National Parks Authority (not a GVI team but
our in-country project partners) to take part in the Raft Race for Rupees.
By virtue of having raised the most pre-race funds the Pirates were
afforded a 30 second head start, an advantage they obligingly rid themselves of
as they were caught and passed by each of the four remaining teams.
It was immediately clear that the Seychelles National Parks
Authority (SNPA) meant business as they powered into a commanding lead. They had gone for a simple design complete
with gondola style pole and additional oars and the strategy seemed to be
working.
After a brief collision with the Castaways the Mermaids made a break
from the rest of the pack and set off in pursuit of the SNPA. They reached the
halfway mark of the mooring buoy a good five minutes behind the leaders but steadily
began to cut into their lead. Meanwhile the Marine Park Massive were
encountering difficulties as they struggled to remain on their raft.
As they approached the finishing line it was oar to oar between the
SNPA and the Mermaids, with neither team wanting to settle for second best. In
the end it came down to a running finish as both teams picked up their rafts
and sprinted for the beach. In what was a photo finish the SNPA took victory ahead
of the Mermaids in a time of 50 minutes.
Next up was the Castaways followed by the Marine Park Massive. And
finally the Pirates made it back, clinging on to what remained of their raft,
exhausted and relieved.
So a huge congratulations goes out to the Seychelles National Parks
Authority for their epic win. Commiserations to the rest of the teams who gave
it their all. It was a fantastic day and we managed to raise a significant
amount of money for the children’s home.
The highlight of the day surely had to be the look on the faces of a
couple of tourists and their Seychellois boat captain as they arrived in the
marine park only to be confronted by the sight of five rafts of mermaids,
pirates and the like paddling furiously towards them. Priceless!
For any of you who would like to make a
donation please visit our just giving page:
To find out more about the work that GVI
Seychelles does with the President’s Village Children’s Home visit:
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