A bumper crowd watched Pwllheli RNLI’s annual raft race on Sunday, 29 August as 11 participants set off on rafts of all shapes and sizes... some more buoyant than others.

The rafts set off to the island to collect their flags and then back to the harbour wall where they rescued a ‘maiden’ before heading back to the slipway.

For added excitement, volunteer crew on Pwllheli RNLI’s Shannon lifeboat sprayed passing rafts with the boat’s water pump.

And competitors were cooled down (and put off their paddling) by buckets of water kindly thrown over them by members of the Abersoch Coastguard Rescue Team.

This year’s winners of the RNLI raft race shield were Andy Hughes and Dei Jones from RNLI Pwllheli, as pictured right.

The day started with the children’s kayak race which saw six kayaks paddle across the inner harbour and back to the slipway.

Pwllheli RNLI volunteer fundraisers, who organised the event, raised money for the RNLI, the charity which saves lives at sea.