Truly heroic attempts to take on the tide, for fun

Nostalgia

Nearly 1,000 years ago, King Canute sat on the shores of Bosham trying in vain to keep the tides at bay. Scarcely could he have imagined he would have proved the inspiration for a wacky 21st-century jigsaw challenge, which drew an audience of around 700 to Bognor Regis on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

Six intrepid teams of two battled it out on the shoreline with little more than an hour before the waves enveloped them and their tables as they tackled a fiendish 1,000 piece puzzle.

The Hell and High Water event had plenty more surprises in store, including a steeplechase on the beach and a quirky boat race, which saw all of its competitors capsize in choppy seas.

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.”

Coming a cropper in the inaugural steeplechase event in 2009

Seaside antics from Zaz the clown for Hell and High Water in 2009

High jinks over the jumps in 2009 and above, scenes from 2010