Ducks make slow progress but Wick RNLI event raises a quacking good sum
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More than 600 plastic ducks were released into Wick River at the weekend in a fun event that raised more than £1800 for the lifeboat service.
It wasn't exactly the fastest-moving sporting spectacle, despite the efforts of lifeboat mechanic Johnny Grant to hurry things along.
But the hundreds of bright yellow contenders still made an impressive sight as they floated past at a leisurely pace in Sunday's family-friendly duck race.
A variety of stalls and games had been set up at the riverside boating shed, with RNLI mascot Stormy Stan making an appearance.
Coxswain Allan Lipp and other members of the lifeboat team launched the ducks from the parapet of the town bridge.
However, the finishing line had be adjusted as the ducks found their progress being impeded somewhat by a combination of tide and wind.
"They were doing their best to cancel each other out," Mr Lipp explained.
"The ducks just weren't going to make it upstream so we had to use the furthest upstream weir as the finish line."
The event raised a total of £1871 for lifeboat funds.
"It's a really good amount for what the day was," Mr Lipp said. "A big portion of that obviously comes from the ducks, at £2 a duck.
"The rest was raised on the day through the various stalls and activities that we had on the go.
"It's quite a small event but it's a substantial sum at the same time. I know there were a lot of other things on with the coronation weekend so it's an impressive amount."
To tie in with the royal theme of the weekend, the duck race featured a crown competition for children.
Four-year-old Leo Risbridger reigned supreme in the boys' section, while Ryan Budge and Cayde Harper were joint runners-up. Eight-year-old Thea Harper won the girls' section.
The annual RNLI Harbour Day – the charity's main local fundraising event – is scheduled for Saturday, June 24.
Last year's Harbour Day, the first since before the pandemic, attracted a crowd of up to 2000 to the quayside and raised £12,200 for the RNLI.
This year marks the 175th anniversary of a lifeboat service in Wick. The station was established in 1848 and was later taken over by the RNLI.
The RNLI has 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland and is funded mainly by donations. It receives no government funding.
