Portrush Raft Race 2024 has raised £14,000 for Portrush RNLI in the 200th year of the charity which saves lives at sea.

Earlier in the year, it looked as though the Raft Race was going to be cancelled but the Committee at Portrush Yacht Club and some volunteers got together to organise the event at short notice.

The committee headed up by Karl Simmonds (General Manager of PYC) and Beni McAllister (Portrush Lifeboat Operations Manager) met and agreed that this iconic event had to go ahead.

The event has been such a feature of the Portrush season for over 30 years and has attracted spectators and competitors from all over Northern Ireland, and farther afield.

FROM LEFT: John Martin - Chair of Portrush & Portstewart RNLI Fundraising Committee, Kirsten Bews - RNLI Regional Community Manager, Beni McAllister - Lifeboat Operations Manager Portrush RNLI, Karl Simmonds - General Manager Portrush Yacht Club, Paul Thompson Commodore Portrush Yacht Club and Bob Milton - RNLI Portrush & Portstewart Fundraising Committee Member. CREDIT PORTRUSH YACHT CLUB

placeholder image — FROM LEFT: John Martin - Chair of Portrush & Portstewart RNLI Fundraising Committee, Kirsten Bews - RNLI Regional Community Manager, Beni McAllister - Lifeboat Operations Manager Portrush RNLI, Karl Simmonds - General Manager Portrush Yacht Club, Paul Thompson Commodore Portrush Yacht Club and Bob Milton - RNLI Portrush & Portstewart Fundraising Committee Member. CREDIT PORTRUSH YACHT CLUB

The Yacht Club have supported Portrush RNLI for many years so was a natural partnership. PYC volunteers Jim Blee, Carl Kennedy and Jonathan Anderson completed the small committee organising this year's event.

Because of the short time frame, it was agreed for this year to concentrate on the Junior Raft Race, the Main Raft and the West Bay Swim.

Karl Simmonds General Manager of PYC said: “We all agreed to reduce the entry fee this year to make the event affordable and fun and this has certainly paid off.

“After all our expenses have been paid, we are delighted to hand over £14,000 to our local station in the 200th year of the RNLI.

"We at PYC have a close relationship with the crew and team at Portrush RNLI and are pleased that we could step in to save this fabulous event.

"I’d like to thank the Committee of PYC for their support and the crew and fundraising team of Portrush RNLI for their help and support. We are also delighted to announce that we will be supporting RAFT RACE 2025 and the planning has already begun.”

Beni McAllister, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Portrush RNLI added: "As a charity we depend on events like this to raise much needed funds for the station and we are delighted that our neighbours at Portrush Yacht Club stepped in to save this most important event in or calendar. We are thrilled that they have agreed to take on the event organisation for 2025.”