Hundreds of surfers congregated on Brighton seafront this weekend for the city's annual celebration of all things aquatic. They were joined by crowds of thousands for the colourful Paddle Round The Pier watersports festival. Andy Chiles reports.

High winds and choppy seas could not dampen the spirits of the thousands of watersports fans who flocked to Brighton seafront.

Surfers, kayakers, paddleboarders and interested passers-by made their way to the seventh annual Paddle Round The Pier festival at Hove Lawns, which was the biggest and most successful event yet.

The festival, which raises money for the RNLI, Chestnut Tree House Hospice and SurfAid, had a two-day schedule of races and fun events around the derelict West Pier on Saturday and Sunday, but many had to be cancelled because of the weather conditions; with winds gusting at up to 44mph.

The main event, a mass paddle of surfboards, kayak, dinghys and weird and wonderful floating vessels, was due to take place on Sunday afternoon but was called off on safety grounds and has been rearranged for Saturday, July 19, at 5.30pm. Instead the participants took the opportunity to enjoy the entertainment at a series of band stages and arenas and stroll around a tented village of stalls selling boardsports goods.

People tested novel equipment including "brush boarding" on a foam wave and indoboarding on a balance pivot.

A line-up of local bands including Doll and the Kicks, Seeker and the Railing Stains played for the crowd and many visitors took advantage of a chance to learn how to play the ukulele before making an attempt to form a record-sized group playing the guitars.

The festival site had been extended along Hove Lawns to accommodate for a larger number of stalls than in previous years, including an exhibition of beach buggy cars, a diving tank and a martial arts display.

One of the most colourful parts of the festival had to be abandoned because of the weather. The "paddle something unusual" race would have featured teams onboard wacky homemade rafts.

Its cancellation meant spectators were deprived of the chance to watch teams including the Average Joes and their floating Dodgeball court.

Some of the races did successfully get under way, including a one and a half hour marathon stand-up paddleboard contest between Shoreham and the West Pier.

Festival director Dave Samuel said the weather had been unfortunate, but the weekend had still raised £20,000 for the charities. He said around 10,000 people had visited the event on the Saturday alone.

He said: "It's a shame but obviously safety has to come first. We can't take a risk with people's well-being. The good thing is that the weather has created a lot of waves so quite a few people went surfing anyway."