A quacking good time was had by all at the annual Abersoch RNLI Duck Race.

Abersoch RNLI Chair, Phill Brown, released some 600 ducks into the river whilst the crowds, young and old, cheered on from the many vantage points around the village.

With a rather strong easterly wind blowing it was touch and go as to whether the 600 small yellow competitors would end up going in the wrong direction but as the sun shone and the wind eased a little, they made good speed in the right direction down the river.

The volunteer crew were lined up along the finish line in the river ready to congratulate the lucky winner. Duck 139 crossed the line first closely followed by Duck 431 in second place. Third and fourth were Ducks 36 and 21 respectively.

As the rest of the ducks made their way to the finish the straddlers were swiftly gathered up by the volunteer crew and once all the competitors had been safely scooped up the crew escorted them all back to the shore where the crowds clapped and cheered.

Abersoch RNLI Fundraising Chair, volunteer Sue McCann, said ‘It was great to see so many people out in support of the return of the Duck Race and our thanks go to the many local traders who supported the event’. She added, ‘So many of our fund-raising events had to be cancelled over the last two years so we really appreciated all the support’.

Thanks go to SCYC, The Vaynol, St Tuds, Abersoch Hydro, Abersoch Boatyard and Love Abersoch for cash prize donations and also to the local businesses who kindly sold the ducks along with Abersoch Trade & Tourism Association for all their hard work in making the event happen and of course to the Abersoch RNLI volunteer crew and fundraisers.

Notes to editors

· Abersoch Lifeboat Station has been operating for just over 150 years. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to: https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/abersoch-lifeboat-station

· The current B Class Atlantic 85 Lifeboat the ‘Peter & Ann Setten’ launches to a variety of both commercial and leisure craft callouts.

· Photo credit: Abersoch RNLI

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