Organised by The Castletown Ale Drinkers Society Saturday 23rd July 2011

The Manx National Snake Races were upon us and having won first place for the past two years confidence was high to make it into a hat trick and take the shield home for a third year running. The same team was selected as the previous winning years bar one replacement, it was Vince, Tony, Maddy, Lisa W. and Ray and one newcomer…..me Martin.

The race consisted of 24 teams spread across four heats with only the top two out of each making it through to the final.

The Ramsey Rowers were in the second heat racing against Canada Life, Team Peach, Northern Young Farmers, Sinking Stars and Southern Nomads.

A flawless win by the Salty Dippers (Coastal Swimmers) in Heat 1 had the team concerned as to how safe our championship win was and even worse two of them were my neighbours and one worked with Lisa, they could not beat us!

First heat on and we lined up at the start, ready, set, go! 36 people floating in lorry inner tubes, tied together in groups of six thrashing around in Castletown harbour but only one of these groups was going to win, us. We crossed the finish line with time to spare and Vince screaming “keep going!” at us as the crowds watched on while we kept paddling toward the harbour entrance.

It wasn’t extra practice, we weren’t drunk on adrenalin and it wasn’t an intimidation tactic. Vince got the finish rope line and the zip line for the death slide mixed up! First heat won, slightly dryer and refreshed with a few beers we were getting ready for the start of the final race. Stood in front of the cameras for the CBBC programme ‘All Over the Place’ we were not phased, no time for such kiddy things, we needed to concentrate on the importance of winning a rubber ring race.

The grudge match was on, we were positioned on one side of the race line, the Salty Dippers on the other side. Ready, set, go!

The race began and we were straight out in front, the Salty Dippers however were only yards away we kept the power on but started to tire at the halfway and the Dippers were gaining, final pushes were being given by both teams as they neared the finish and our lead was being eaten away, as the last man of the winning snake crossed the line the immortal words of ‘keep going!’ were screamed, we had won and Vince was still confused as to which was the finish line.

The day ended with the Ramsey Rowers taking home the shield, their winnings of 24 cans of lager and 24 cans of bitter, a sun tan, sore arms and a warm feeling knowing they had an entire year to gloat to the coastal swimmers.

On the 16th of July Vince and James took part in the Castletown regatta. The event consisted of a 10 km time trial in the bay and an agility trial around Castletown harbour. This year we decided that we should compete for the best dressed crew….as pirates of course.

The Time trial is a 10km race where you try and complete the course in a time a close as possible to one that you estimate.

Before setting off for the time trial, our assessment of the weather was on the sporting side, however we decided to launch and see what the conditions were actually like. Disappointingly, conditions started to deteriorate with a heavy swell the a wind blowing force 5. We had to return to the harbour after about a kilometre of rowing.

The agility trial took place in the more sheltered harbour and consisted of a course that required you to turn your boat precisely and reverse for a section to touch a buoy before returning to your starting point.

After the rowing, we retired to a local drinking establishment until the evening meal that was kindly provided by Castletown Sailing Club.

The evening ensued with excellent curry and we were made to feel very welcome. We were awarded a certificate for winning the agility trial and a trophy for the best dressed crew. Surprisingly we were also awarded the time trial trophy, which was really by default as none of the motor vessels attempted the course in the inclement weather. It was a great day, we hope for better conditions next year.