THOUSANDS of islanders descended on Town last night for the annual Harbour Carnival. Flying men, jousting canoeists and dinghy racing women entertained them as the warm weather meant a packed seafront, Crown and Albert Piers.

Carnival chairman Bryan Turney said the momentum had been kept year on year, helping create a great atmosphere.

‘I think there’s about 6,000 here,’ he said.

‘The weather has been fantastic. It’s the first fine day in Guernsey for a big event this year and it’s brought out the crowds, who have really behaved themselves.

The first contests of the evening were the truck pull and a new event, canoe jousting.

In the tightly-fought competition, which saw Island FM triumph over arch-rivals BBC Guernsey, the Sail or Surf team ended up winners.

The dinghy racing began with a slight technical hitch as the air horn marking the start of the first heat sounded more like a deflated balloon.

But it proved again to be the surf shop’s night, as its team took the coveted crown in the ever-popular event.

In the tug-of-war final, lawyers were pitted against posties, Carey Olsen defeating Guernsey Post, who had already beaten two fancied teams from R. G. Falla.

The grand finale was the man-powered flight. Competitors included the Wrong Brothers, Channel Islands Air Search and Island FM’s Gollop Airways.

‘We thought John Gollop should have his own airline,’ said the pilot, presenter James Bentley. ‘It’s either going to kill me or injure me a little bit.’

After seeing that he survived, Deputy Gollop suggested using it to fly to Brecqhou.

‘It might be more comfortable than Aurigny,’ he said.

The Air Search team built an impressive model made of insulating foam which based on their search plane, but failed to seal victory.

Mr Turney was delighted with all the entries but said more were always welcome.