The Colchester DVLC’s Mersea Island is a rally that many look forward to and this year was no exception, all of the 2000 tickets available sold out quickly meaning that many were left disappointed.

The team have limited the amount of tickets available for those using four wheels to ensure plenty of tickets are available for scooter riders and to try to ensure it remains a scooter rally and doesn’t start morphing into a festival. The one thing for certain is all 2000 attending were up for a party as Mersea never disappoints.

There is something for everyone and plenty to discover if you’re prepared to wander and explore. One thing that always helps the positive atmosphere on a rally is the weather and thankfully Niamh and the team had ordered another sunny weekend for us all to enjoy. They’d also been busy organising three rooms of music, 6 live bands, a silent disco, a variety of catering vans, dealers stalls, a dyno, BSSO display, a custom show and a whole host of fun and games to keep us all entertained.
Darkside tent at Mersea Island, silent disco with multi coloured headphones.
I managed to get the afternoon off on the Friday so I had a slightly more leisurely ride down than the usual blast to arrive before dark. So I was able to meet up with the usual suspects before catching up with the Darkside DJs and crew outside their cabins and grabbing one of their excellent new t-shirts and stickers. Many were left disappointed as the t-shirts quickly sold out, however for the first time they have decided to do a reprint, so if you missed out check out the Darkside FB page for details of how to order one.
The venue is perfect for the rally, with plenty of space for camping with shower and toilet blocks, canteen, bars, etc and has greatly improved over the 29 years that we have been visiting there. If there’s one thing scooterists do well it’s drink, so the main bar area gets really busy with queues formed in typical Brit stylee, however the bar staff deal with the thirsty scooterists quickly, with a smile on their faces.

As I mentioned there really is something for everyone when it comes to entertainment, the canteen doubling up as the Reggae & ska room, the main hall offering traditional scooterist sounds until the sun comes up and of course the legendary Darkside tent and silent disco playing dance, indie and more progressive music, mixed by the talented collective of DJs. T

Live music

Then we have the live bands in the marquee, the Mersea team always like to discover something a bit different if they can, there were three bands on Friday night; The Molotovs a young three piece who had the marquee heaving, The Go Go Cult and Red Hot Riot and three more bands on Saturday night; Stank Finger, The Estimators and Imperial Leisure. All of the bands went down well, however for me the stars of the weekend were Imperial Leisure. The energy they had was infectious and they soon got the crowd bouncing. The lead singer, despite wearing a knee support, jumped off the stage into the middle of the crowd to get the moshing really going and then made regular trips into the crowd to pour champagne down the throats of any willing volunteers. It was another of the “I was there” bands that we have become accustomed to experiencing at Mersea.

The need for speed

After a heavy and late night on the Friday with the Silent Disco keeping me wobbling until 3am, the main room was still going strong so a further wobble until the sun started to appear meant it was time for bed. Saturday unsurprisingly was a slow start, but after a hearty breakfast in the canteen I managed to catch up with Jon Gilbert of JG Scooters to watch some of the dyno fun, it proved popular with the BHP hungry scooterists with a constant flow of volunteers wanting to see what their pride and joy can produce. Lloyd Watts superb S1 SST 265 achieved the most powerful Lambretta and best run of the weekend at 41.9 bhp, best Vespa was Chad’s at 27.8 bhp and Andy Haig’s Dragster picked up best Auto at 33 bhp.

Whilst mentioning quick scooters Dave Bristow and his Team – Hornet Racing had set up a stall to promote the BSSO scooter racing which drew a crowd, with the opportunity to watch John the Greek’s many onboard exploits being screened and to get up close to real race proven scooters and riders.
Custom show rallery below
The custom show at Mersea is always a high standard and this year the Marquee was packed with some gorgeous machines, again something for everyone. The custom show results are below and there’s plenty of photos in the Rallery to show what words can’t.
Custom show results

Best of Show – Breaking Rocks
Best Vespa – Ken Miles
Best Lambretta – Warbird
Punters Choice – Watney’s Barrel Lambretta Combo
Best Ridden – Dunf’s Vespa 92L2
Custom Lambretta – Breaking Rocks
Custom Vespa – Hammer Horror
Original Lambretta – Servetta Lynx
Original Vespa – Vespa Douglas 92L2
Best Auto – Vespa GTS
Custom Mural – Peaceful Hooligan
Best Brightwork – Bonzo
Best Chopper – Crime Lambretta
Best Vintage – No. 68 Lambretta D150
Street Racer – Retro Tattoo
Best Engineered – Small Frame, Big Heart RG250
Best Cutdown – Oldskool
Most Iconic – Top Banana

Booga’s campsite rallery can be found below – warning – may contain images some readers will find revolting!

Fun & games

A wander around the many varied stalls and the fun and games then got underway. They always attract a big crowd which also plays their part in the fun with heckling and banter.

We wandered off to find some Wi-Fi in the pub next door so we could watch the public reveal of the all new Casa Performance Twin being live streamed from Scooter Center’s open day (isn’t modern technology brilliant!). What a beauty and a beast, I can’t wait to see the project evolve. I’m already queuing for a test ride.
Scooterist Internet Radio

Back on site in the afternoon and one of the highlights of last years Mersea was being repeated, Jay Watson and the Scooterist Internet Radio team were back entertaining the crowd gathered in the courtyard and the whole place was rocking. What made this year even more special was seeing the camaraderie and generosity of the scooter family. A group of scooterists had asked if they could hold a bucket collection for a charity supporting a friend’s daughter, Jessica’s Journey. Jay and the team decided to help by auctioning off a few items; the last rally patch, Darkside t-shirt, etc as well as Jay donning a Millwall shirt (he looked really comfortable in it!). It was heart warming and emotional seeing the scooter family dig deep and raise just short of £3000 in such a short time. I know those involved would like to pass on their thanks to all who donated.

Flick through the images below in Shaun’s Mersea rallery
After a decent meal in the canteen it was time to get the dancing shoes, aka wobbling flip flops, on and join the masses moving between the live bands and various music rooms, after a spell in the Main room with Dave Lloyd and Dave Porter DJing I settled in for the night with the Darkside.

Another fantastic Mersea Island rally, huge thanks to Niamh and the Colchester DVLC team for putting on another cracker. If my maths are correct then next year is the 30th Anniversary of the rally so I’m sure it will be celebrated in style next September. Get your tickets early!

Ride safe

Words and photos: Shaun
Additional images: Booga

The remains of a tent at Mersea Island Scooter Rally after a phone charger exploded

Warning!

This is the remains of a tent and the occupants belongings after a phone power bank exploded inside it whilst charging a mobile. Thankfully the tent wasn’t in the middle of the camping area and this happened during the daytime. Luckily nobody was injured. An unfortunate accident. Beware of cheap battery packs!

Caption competition – win a SLUK T-shirt!

During the Saturday daytime shenanigans, Shaun captured this priceless image of Rushden Lambretta Club’s Charlie enjoying the live music. In most walks of life this kind of behaviour would get you put on a special register but in the scootering world it’s fairly normal harmless fun.

The look on the bloke’s face is brilliant!

Comment on this post (the comments section at the bottom of the page) and we’ll pick a winner on Monday 26th of September. The funniest caption wins. Our winner will get to choose a free SLUK T-shirt.

** Only comments posted directly on this page will be included so don’t just post on Facebook shares please **

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