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Ahoy there, shipmates! Freemasons could be be rolling up their trousers this afternoon (Sunday) for a quick paddle at five Kent beaches.
They will be launching model boats at high tide to see how far they travel. Entry has cost £10 per boat which is raising money for charity.
The boats will be launched at 5pm to coincide with high tides. Each boat had to be assembled, painted and given a name.
Registration officers for the Great East Kent Boat Race will take photographs of the wooden models and send the images to a GPS website to record the start of each vessel.
Competitors will be able to log the progress of their boats using camera drones which will be flying over the shorelines. The winner whose boat sails the furthest by Wednesday (May 5) will receive £100. There are runners-up prizes of £75 and £50.
Among those taking part is Richard Murr, an enthusiastic sailor from Queenborough. He said: "I am quietly confident having undertaken some secret modifications to my two craft."
Proceeds will go towards the East Kent Province 2025 Festival in aid of the Masonic Charitable Fund.
The venues are: St Margaret’s Bay, Dover; Nayland Rock shelter, main beach Margate; main beach Herne Bay; the seafront at Hythe and The Leas, Minster, Sheppey, near the Playa.