Nauticalia

This year’s Nauticalia Raft Race saw an all-time record of 45 rafts, with around 200 crew taking to the water.

Following the Shepperton Village Fair’s theme of ‘Musicals', all the teams put in a huge amount of work to design rafts and costumes that reflect cultures from dozens of countries – with spectacular results!

The Nauticalia Raft Race, organised by Desborough Sailing Club and sponsored by Nauticalia, is an annual highlight of the Shepperton Village Fair and probably the UK’s biggest raft race. Prizes are awarded at the whim of the judges, and reflect the work that goes into the decoration and costumes as well as just speed. This year’s winners were:

Fastest Under-16 Raft – U9 - Blues Brothers
Best Under 16 Raft – U4 - Bugsy Malone
Fastest Raft – F4 - Dik Gregory
Best Business Entry – F29 - Spamalot
Best Costumes – F11 - Sound of Music
Best Raft – F12 - Cats
Most Imaginative Design – F10 - Kiss - The Musical
Challenge of the Churches – F21 - Dreamcoat
Judges’ Special Award – F14 - Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Battle of the Islands – F8 - Cats

The course runs across a mile-long stretch of the River Thames at Shepperton, from the Nauticalia slipway on Ferry Lane, to the finish line at Manor Park. The time taken for each team to complete the course is shown below. If you would like to register to enter next year’s race, please send us an e-mail.

U1   We will Rock You                             27.00
U2   Lion King                                        53.00
U3   Pink Ladies                                     38.30
U4   Bugsy Malone                                  34.30
U5   Pink Ladies                                     46.00
U6   The Lion King                                  37.00
U7   Jungle Book                                    46.00
U8   Grease                                           33.00
U9   Blues Brothers                                 22.00
U10 Glee                                              35.00
U11 Grease                                           34.00

F1   Wizard of Oz                                    28.00
F2   Pink Ladies                                      31.00
F3   T-Birds - Grease                               31.00
F4   Dik Gregory                                      22.00
F6   Lion King                                         44.30
F7   Paint Your Wagon                             32.00
F8   Cats                                               37.00
F9   Cats                                               41.30

F10  Kiss - The Musical                             28.00
F11  The Sound of Music                           28.30
F12  Cats                                               48.00
F13  Weybridge Vandals                            33.00
F14  Priscilla Queen of the Desert                47.00
F15  Speedy                                            29.00
F16  Les Miserables                                   40.00
F17
F18  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang                      45.00
F19  The Wall                                           43.00
F20  The Wizard of Oz                               42.30
F21  Joseph/Technicolour Dreamcoat            43.00
F22  Yellow Submarine                               36.00
F23  South Pacific                                     
F24  South Pacific                                     34.00
F25  Grease                                              23.00
F26  Weirdos of Oz                                    37.30
F27  Willy Wonka                                       
F29  Spamalot                                          38.30
F30  Little Shop of Horrors                          23.00
F31  Les Miserables                                   34.00
F32  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang                      37.00
F33  Sister Act                                         45.00
F34  Charlie & The Chocolate Factory           22.30