Southampton-based Trant Engineering surge ahead on the firm’s made-from-scratch plywood vessel in the Thames Water Raft Race 2014, setting a course record of 15 minutes and 10 seconds and raising £5,000 for WaterAid. The international charity transforms lives in third world countries by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation.
This was the moment when Southampton-based Trant Engineering surged ahead in the Thames Water Raft Race to set a new course record and raise £5,000 for international charity WaterAid.
The company was among 25 themed rafts taking part in the annual fundraiser, having first built the craft from scratch out of plywood over three weekends.
Their paddling prowess and streamlined catamaran resulted in a resounding course victory, beating the defending champions and, at 15 minutes and 10 seconds, smashing the course record by a hefty 95 seconds.
In total, the Reading event raised more than £28,000 for WaterAid, the international charity which transforms lives in third world countries by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation.
Richard Johnston, rafter and project engineer at Trant Engineering, which employs 700 people in the UK and internationally, said: “We had a prize-winning debut last year and this year’s objective was to win the race and beat our target of raising £3,000 for WaterAid.
“We beat that target by £2,000, which was fantastic news for a great charity close to our hearts because of our water engineering disciplines.
“The race was not without incident, with two raft collisions early on, but as we came to pass back under Caversham Bridge, with other rafts in hot pursuit, the call came to kick. We increased our stroke and pushed harder than ever for the last stretch to the finish.”
He added: “Our thanks go to our many sponsors, including ASAP UK, Dowling and Cosh, Forward Securities, Hambaker Adams, Hayes GFS, M&N, R&M Electrical, Rapier Employment, Scott Bader and Wiltshire Country Club.”
Raft crew: Lisa Cunliffe, M&E department administrator, Darragh Egan, graduate project engineer, Dave Goffe, graduate project engineer, Richard Johnston, graduate project engineer, Magdalena Stefaniak, training administrator, and Tom Ross, project manager.
Assisting with the build: Simon Whaley, contracts manager, Steve Gray, contracts manager, and Gordon McLellan, quantity surveyor.
Donations are still coming in from the race, which took place on July 24.
