Regatta goes ahead despite arson

The event suffered a setback when vandals set fire to one of the boats

More than 500 sea cadets are in Bristol for the South West Area Regatta despite an arson attack last weekend on one of their boats.

The cadets, of all ages, are competing for places in a national competition later in the year.

The events include power boat handling and manoeuvres such as mooring to a buoy, towing and man overboard.

They are also racing in "pulling boats" which means they use four-man rowing boats and oars rather than engines.

'A lot of tears'

Commander Jos Binns, of the south west's Sea Cadet Corps said: "This is hugely competitive. A lot of tears when people don't win."

Speaking about the boat destroyed in the recent arson attack, he said: "It was a blow as we were going to use it for the regatta today so we had to bring one in from another unit at short notice.

"Now the unit here in Bristol is one boat short and cadet training is going to be affected which is a great shame.

"These boats cost £12,000 a time so it's a huge blow."