Truly heroic attempts to take on the tide in the early years of Hell and High Water

Cartoonist and illustrator Mike Jupp acted as the circus ringleader for the feast of fun on offer, which greatly benefited from some blue skies. Speaking on the day, Mike, who created his puzzle I Love Boats for the jigsaw challenge, said: “It’s going really well, I just came up with the idea for it but a lot of thanks go to Sue Holmes at the town council, who has made sure it’s a safe and achievable event, along with Town Force, who are helping run it. I think a lot of my jigsaw pieces will be blowing off towards Norway with all this wind. But it’s great fun watching the ‘victims’ take part as the sea comes up around them. I thought the event would be a good way of bringing more people to Bognor and to celebrate the place and the fact it’s the sunniest in the country.”

Bognor mayor Sandra Daniels presented the Jig-It Canute Challenge winners Lyn Halcomb and Clair Fitzwilliam with certificates. The triumphant team from Selsey had successfully defended their title from the previous, inaugural year. Mrs Daniels said at the time: “The event is a fun day out for families but people taking part have to be a little bit bonkers. It’s a good thing there were quite a few people who were willing to give the challenges a go.”

There was a performance from the Wonder Girls dance troupe and Adam Cunard, of Bognor Town Council, who was compère for the day, said the whole event exceeded everyone’s expectations. He said: “They have done really well to manage it on a shoestring budget. We’ve seen some of the horses in the steeplechase fall over and the boat challenge has seen some capsizes too, which is all good fun.”

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