"I would have thought that the reporter who wrote this article would have done at least a tiny amount of research! They may have been teams of rowers, but they certainly weren't rowing in the bell boats, they were paddling them. Rowers use oars which are set in rowlocks (sometimes spelt rollocks - the pivot point used to transfer the power to the water) and face the direction they have come from. These people were facing their direction on travel, and were using paddles which are not placed in a rowlock to paddle along. Canoes, bell boats, dragon boats, and kayaks all use paddles (kayaks using a double ended paddle) and rowing boats and skulling boats use oars.

At least people had fun and money was raised for a good cause!"