The Port Navas Regatta was first held in August 1914, in the same week that war was declared. The war inevitably brought a break, and it was not until 1921 that the Regatta got going again.

The Regatta Committee of 1921

Back row: Mr Sydney Hodges, Mr Harcourt Williams, Mr William Jorey,
Mr Harry Wilkes, Mr Herbert Monk, Mr Sydney Hodges Jnr.
Front Row: Mr Howard Rendle, Capt Charles Rendle, Mr ‘Tiny’ Warren,
Mr Edwin Reynolds, Mr Seagar. Starters: Mr Hill, Mr Graham Rogers.

In the early years the Regatta was very much for local people, and the boys and men employed on the water and at the Oyster Farm played a big part in the competitions. There were about twenty-six men working at the oyster farm and about sixteen fifteen-foot oyster boats, which the men could use. These were heavy boats to race but they went at terrific speed, rowed by three men; two on single oars - one in the bow and one in the stern - and a pair in the centre. The men used to play tricks on each other, hiding the gear in the bottom of an opponents boat, tying a bag of straw underneath to slow it down, or covering the oars and tholepins with grease, so that they’d go all over the place. If they lost a race the men were planning for almost twelve months to win the next.

Between the wars the Regatta was conducted at a very leisurely pace. At Quay Gate an arch was built on a framework covered with branches and floral decoration and carrying the banner which is still used at the Regatta. On the way to the quay they had stalls, and sports were held in the evening. They also had a duck race; ducks were put in the water with their wings clipped so they couldn’t fly, and the boys would dive in to catch them. If you caught a duck you kept it.

Steam pleasure boats brought people from Falmouth and they would anchor to watch the races. The band would be afloat on one of the biggest oyster boats moored off the quay and after every race they used to play “Hoorah for Pinky, Pinky’s won the prize”. A professional comedian from Chacewater, dressed as Charlie Chaplin, and known as Chacewater Charlie, would fool about on the boats and finally fall in. He was paid 7/6d for the day.

The local people had big families - the Williams, Warren, Rendle, Hodges, and Collins families - some of these with twelve or more young children, and there was great competition from good hefty rowers. These races were taken seriously, rowing and running and also swimming and sailing. From a mark on the quay small sailing boats would sail up the creek and into the Helford to a mark at Groyne Point and back to finish at the quay. That meant they were out for about an hour and the other races would be going on meanwhile. There was also an annual Sunbeam race, sailing from Falmouth to finish at Port Navas. Nowadays the number of moorings in the river precludes this type of competition.

There were lapses in the years before and during the second war, and it was often difficult to get a committee together. The Regatta was re-started properly in the sixties by a determined group of local people including Maurice Tonkin and the Rendle brothers. Walter Warren became Chairman in the mid-sixties and used to lead the band marching from Inow down to the Quay. Howard Rendle was Commodore until his death in 1983.