Golf buggy hire for regattas

What matters for regattas and sailing events

• 1

  An event strung along a bank

  Because a regatta is linear, the transport works like a shuttle along the bank rather than a pool serving a compact site. Officials move between the start and the finish, race committee members travel to their positions, results and equipment go up and down the course, and hospitality guests are ferried from a car park to an enclosure that may be a long way along the bank. Planning the buggy around fixed points on the line, with a clear route between them, suits the geography better than treating it as a general site vehicle. The boat park is the other focus. Crews rig and de-rig, boats and equipment are moved to and from the water, and trailers and trolleys come and go. A utility buggy earns its place there, shifting the heavy awkward kit that otherwise gets carried by hand along the bank.

• 2

  The ground near the water

  This is where honest advice matters. A made-up towpath or a firm gravel bank is fine for a buggy. The soft margin where the grass meets the river, a muddy slipway, a tidal foreshore, are not, and a buggy that gets stuck near the water is a worse problem than one stuck in a field, because of where it is and what is below the surface. We plan the route to stay on firm going, well back from soft margins, and we would rather route the vehicle the long way round on solid ground than take a short cut across a bank that will not hold it. Tell us honestly what the ground is like along your course: where the firm path runs, where it turns soft, and whether any of the route is tidal. On a tidal foreshore the state of the tide dictates where a vehicle can be and when, and that has to be planned into the day, not discovered as the water comes in.

• 3

  Width, weather and the exposed bank

  Towpaths and riverside paths are often narrow, sometimes with a drop to the water on one side, so a lighter, more manageable passenger buggy usually suits them better than a large people-mover, and a low speed with a careful driver is the rule where the path is tight or the edge is close. Where the route is genuinely narrow or the drop is real, we will say so and plan accordingly rather than force a vehicle down a path it does not belong on. Waterside events are exposed to weather, and rain does two things: it makes soft ground softer and it makes a narrow path slicker. A wet regatta needs the route reviewed, not just the vehicle. Most regattas are a day or a weekend, with rigging and de-rigging either side that is often the busiest time for the boat-park buggy, so hire for the full period and give us the course layout and the ground so we can plan a waterside hire properly.

• Blenheim PalaceOxfordshireBuggy hire at this venue
• GoodwoodWest SussexBuggy hire at this venue
• Stonor ParkOxfordshireBuggy hire at this venue

See all venues we cover

Common questions

What do buggies do at a regatta?

They move officials, equipment and hospitality along a course that is strung out over a long distance, and they service the boat park where crews rig and de-rig. Because the event follows the water, the buggy works as a shuttle along the bank rather than a general site vehicle.

Can a buggy go right down to the water?

Only on firm going. The soft margin where grass meets the river, muddy slipways and tidal foreshores are not places for a wheeled vehicle, and getting stuck there is a serious problem. We plan the route to stay on solid ground, well back from soft edges, even if it means going the long way round.

Our course runs along a tidal foreshore, does that matter?

A great deal. The tide dictates where a vehicle can safely be and when, so it has to be planned into the day. Tell us the course is tidal and the timings, and we will plan the buggy's movements around the water rather than being caught out by it.

The towpath is quite narrow, is that a problem?

It can be, so a lighter, manageable buggy at low speed usually suits a narrow path better than a large vehicle, and a drop to the water calls for a careful driver. Where a path is genuinely too tight or the edge too close, we will say so and plan around it rather than force a vehicle down it.