Salcombe Regatta is in full swing this week, with various exciting events taking place across the town. 

The event started on Saturday July 29 and will run until Saturday August 5, with fun activities taking place throughout the week. 

At the start of the week, there were some exciting races, with the Bang and Go Back Race and the fun run. 

Other activities included parachuting teddies, an Island street party and pavement drawing.

Tuesday was a busy day, with a greasy pole competition, which saw children battle it out and the loser fall in the water; crab catching competitions and a mud run, and in the middle of the day, visiting youngsters also took part in an ice cream competition, which had everyone laughing. 

Fancy dress competitions were very popular, as was the children's party and raft racing, which six members of the RNLI crew took part in, coming second with their ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ style raft equipped with inflatable swords, a parrot and a crocodile. Salcombe Rugby Club claimed 1st place.

Live music is also taking place for the regatta, with performances from Chris Proctor and Vicky, and a jazz band and fireworks on Thursday. 

Karaoke is taking place on Wednesday, and the finale to the exciting week is due to take place on Saturday, where there will be a prize giving service.

The Chairman of the regatta, Debs Hainey, has been in the role for seven years and on the regatta committee for 17 years. 

She said: “Its my job to oversee everything really. We have a team of volunteers that help us and put everything together.”

She emphasised that the regatta is a community effort, which sees local businesses and people rally together to ensure the event can go ahead: “We couldn’t do it without the help of the local shops and businesses that support us. We’ve got lots of help from public services as well, like the fire crew and the RNLI, (and) the police service support us throughout the week.”

This year has been difficult, because the weather has been so unpredictable, and many of the events are water based, or take place outside: “We’ve obviously been hampered by the weather. We have had to move one of our major events which is the estuary swim, which happens every year. Due to safety reasons we are moving it from Wednesday morning to Thursday, because we feel its unsafe to swim on Wednesday but its looking better for Thursday.... we’ve notified everybody, and rearranged all our safety procedures.”

Running such a big event does have its difficulties, and there is a requirement for flexibility.

For example, the crab catching was “logistically difficult this year” due to the usual location being underdevelopment.

But in spite of some changes to the programme, and some uncertain weather conditions, spirits are still high. Everyone seems to be having fun and enjoying themselves, so apart from the weather not playing ball, we’re having a good time.”

There will be a road closure on Thursday night on Fore street from 6pm-12am for the event.