Raft Regatta 2000

The Wattlecamp 2000 raft regatta was run on November 18th 2000. This was the first of what we hope will be an annual event.

Guest judges , Dorothy Pratt, MLA member for Barambah, John Lee, Nanango Shire councillor, and Wayne Waltisbuhl, QFRA Caboolture, kept a close eye on proceedings

Raft races run were,

Club Hotel Cruise,

Coppard's Mensland Classic

Burnett Paints Handicap

Furniture Court

Ollie's Mower Center Race

Ryke Fuel Maiden

Bill Hull Car Center Magic Mile

Wattlecamp Challenge

Other events were,

Bob Jane T Marts Chase, a race for children. The Children had to run out and around an adult who was standing in the water.

BBC Hardware Tug-o-War, with pulls for children, women and men.


The first race was listed as the Club Hotel Cruise, to be run at 10:00 am.

A small field of entrants took to the water right on time at 11:15am. Time must have stood still for a while as the last race was able to be finished on time.

The judges exercised their authority from the first race, a spectacular event with a capacity field.

This race produced one of the closest finishes of the day.

Wattlecamp Misfits and The Jerry Raft were neck and neck on the last leg with The Jerry Raft just coming in ahead.

In a move which created a lot of controversy, the judges disqualified The Jerry Raft for not finishing with at least one crew member onboard with a paddle in hand.

The Jerry Raft immediately invoked rule number 10.

Appeals may be lodged with the judges before the commencement of the next race.

The Judges responded with rule number 11.

Judges decisions are final.

Rule 11 proved to be the most popular, being invoked on several occasions.

The childrens Tug-O-War was won by the Blue Tongues, the ladies was won by the Kookaburras, and the mens by the Tanderingie Lakes/Wattlecamp team.

The Egg and Spoon Race was won by the Wattlecamp Misfits.

The Sack race was won by a mixed Wattlecamp team, women and men.

Chriss Hall tooed Wattlecamp team, women and men.

Chriss Hall took out the coveted sexiest outfit award.

The standout crew on the day were the Wattlecamp Misfits. All sorts of strategies were tried to slow them down.

They were made to use smaller oars, this didn't work.

They were made to use a different raft, this didn't work.

They were given a handicap of 20 seconds, this almost didn't work, until Chris Hall resorted to tackling the rowers, allowing a combined Tanderingie Lakes/Wattlecamp team to sneak through to victory.

Misfits appealed this result, but the judges invoked rule 11 again.

Judges decisions are final.

The Wattlecamp Misfits took home the perpetual trophie, as the overall winners on the day.
They should have a hard time hanging on to it next year, as several of the other crews vowed to come back with an unbeatable team and raft.

Next years competition should be fierce and fun.

Some of this years fun can be seen on the album page.


The Wattlecamp Rural Fire Brigade would like to thank the following individuals and businesses for their help and support with this years regatta.

Dorothy Pratt member for Barambah.

John Lee Nanango Shire councilor.

Wayne Whaltisbuhl QFRA Caboolture.

Steve and Mikelle Harding, Kookaburra Rock

Anderson's Carpets Kingaroy

BBC Hardware Kingaroy

Bill Hull Car Ce's Carpets Kingaroy

BBC Hardware Kingaroy

Bill Hull Car Center Kingaroy

Bob Jane T Marts Kingaroy

Burnett Paints Kingaroy

Club Hotel Kingaroy

Coppard's Menswear Kingaroy

Furniture Court Kingaroy

Ken Mills Toyota Kingaroy

Ollie's Mower Center Kingaroy

Ryke Fuel Kingaroy

Work Stuff Kingaroy

WRFB is very grateful for the support offered by these businesses, and would encourage you to use their services whenever possible.

Anyone wanting to be involved in future Regattas can contact WRFB by clicking here

Return to Main Index