This year, more than 30 rafts battled it out for the title of world champion, but only four teams could be crowned as winners. 

The hotly anticipated opens category saw some fierce competition, however, Kris Bartlett, John Smit, Scott Hooper, and David Smit were victorious for the second year running. 

Despite their strong victory, David Smit said the team had let themselves go a bit since last year.

“We did it in an hour and five minutes or something like that, but we did it in just 58 minutes last year,” Mr Smit said.

“We rehashed the same raft from last year and we’ve pretty much perfected it now – so we’ll be here again next year.” 

Perhaps the only race that garnered more attention than the fiercely contested opens category was the defence force race. 

This year, teams from the army, the navy, and the air force battled it out after weeks of pre-game banter. 

However, despite the navy’s natural advantage, the air force emerged victorious for 2018, soaring across the finish line well before their sailor counterparts. 

Aircraftman Lachlan Rush said the defence rivalry got more and more heated every year. 

“The army had won every year, but now we don’t even know where they are – it’s good we came first this time,” AC Rush said. 

“Our raft was based on a Mirage from a ‘77 squadron, it’s bit of an ancient aircraft – so that’s a bit of a tribute for us.” 

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