Other information:

In the 19^thcentury, dredgermen had the right to lay up their oysters on the foreshore to let them clean themselves. Following a fisheries act, Truro Corporation (latterly Carrick D.C.) set out to regulate the industry and, towards the end of that century, leased some foreshore and charged the dredgermen using it with trespass.

This provoked the local dredgermen to club together, hire a King’s Counsel, and take the Council to the High Court

On 5^thNovember 1902, judgement was made and the right to lay oysters free of charge on the foreshore of the Fal was re-established.  That right is still in place today, and the date has become the traditional ‘holiday’ when no dredging takes place.  In the mid-80s, the oyster disease, Bonamia, stopped dredging and also stopped racing for a few years.

The trophies can only be won by boats owning a current dredging license, but in order to swell the numbers, non-licensed classes were introduced.  Despite fewer entries in recent years, the race has only been cancelled twice due to bad weather.  Even then, the social side of the day proved just as popular.