By the Dart INTERvIEW
ED BoTTERILL
Ed Botterill is the new man at the helm of the Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta and planning to steer it smoothly through the next three years. He was elected as regatta chairman in January, taking
over from Jonathan Hawkins. ed joined the committee in 2012 and was vice-chairman last year. He said: ‘I consider myself very lucky to be honoured with such a position. I’ve got a great committee who together work very well. ‘My favourite aspect of regatta is the spirit of the
event. everybody pulls together to have the best time they can, from those who’ve trained for months to those who haven’t trained for five minutes for the bungee rowing. I love the bungee row- ing, the racing, the darts competition and everything in between.’ ed first worked with the regatta in 2011,
hanging up the bunting through the town. He said: ‘I still love this preparation job.
CHAIRMAN oF DARTMoUTH RoYAL REgATTA
by Steph Woolvin
couldn’t do regatta without them and always have a thank you party for them in september. ‘It’s a huge strength of the regatta that we have lots of the same people doing the same terrific job every year.’ one of the major issues facing ed and the committee
this year, in the wake of last year’s awful shoreham air show disaster, is how to manage this year’s air display and people’s expectations. Initial findings and interim guidance from the Civil
We spend a joyous evening putting up the bunting. It’s an established routine, perfect and the same every year and includes a bag of chips en route and a pint to finish. I’m looking forward to helping again this year.’ ed said the regatta’s standing committee is around 30 members, some of whom are focused on specific events, including rowing and yacht racing, the fete, the enter- tainment programme and the shopping village. ‘they’re all people who do their specific thing really
well,’ he added. ‘they’re the jigsaw pieces of regatta, which couldn’t run without them. ‘We also have honorary stewards who are the great, the good, the historic, the utterly dependable and reliable backbone of regatta, some of whom have been doing the same job at regatta for many years. ‘And then we have lots of people we lovingly refer to
as our ‘August helpers’, the ones who help sell tickets and shake tins. When we need them they are there. We
‘Not having the focus on the air displays gives us more focus on the town and to do different things.
Aviation Authority have been published and it confirms a restricted area will remain beneath air displays, where movement and access must remain controlled. so this year the Red Arrows will perform two fly pasts but no display over the river. the typhoon, which operates under different criteria, will per- form a full display. ed said: ‘the place we find ourselves
this year has got to be viewed through the lens of shoreham. All air displays are being looked at closely by the CAA – everything is under a real magnifying glass. ‘If we can demonstrate good behaviour with a couple of fly pasts and a full typhoon
display that then stands us in good stead for a full Red Arrows display next year, even if that means clearing the river to do it. And I would encourage yachtsmen and those afloat to watch the displays from the embank- ment. But for this year I’m utterly content with a fly past and typhoon display.’ ed said he wants to stress that, although the air
displays pull in crowds, the regatta is about much more than what is happening in the skies above the town. ‘the regatta is not just about air displays, as amazing
as flight director, Jason Aylett, has made them over the years. It’s about rowing, sailing, road races and darts competitions, in fact all of it,’ he added. ‘Not having the focus on the air displays gives us more
focus on the town and to do different things. For ex- ample, this year we have a gig regatta on the saturday,
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