The race kicked-off at around 3:30pm, after the tide had begun to come in, and there were two heats of four rafts, with the winner and runner-up in each heat going through to the final.
Teams included The Crab Boys, The Pirates, The Tartan Army, The Golden Girls, The Gigha Cowboys, 118-999, and Tommy Sheridan's Sociable Party. (Apologies to anyone I've missed out.)
It was a close-run thing, with several incidents of rule-bending including at one point a sustained 'push' from one of the safety boats, but in the end it the race was won by Tommy Sheridan's Sociable Party, deposing the reigning champions 118-999.
The weather was stunningly sunny and hot - the bars and food stalls conducted a roaring trade, and the face painting was very popular with the smaller spectators.
I took lots of photos, many of which you can see in the Tarbert Raft Race section in the menu.
So well done to Tommy Sheridan's Sociable Party. How about a raft from Carradale next year?
![[Tarbert Raft Race 2006]](../clips/raftrace.jpg)