The sister of two of the founders of the Non-Mariners Race said the end of the annual event was not a surprise.

Jill Raine said that the modern event “didn’t in any way resemble the beginning”.

She added: “It became something totally different.”

Ms Raine was a teenager at the time of the first Non-Mariners Race held nearly six decades ago.

The event was the brainchild of her older brothers Eric and Anthony Amos and a group of their friends.

Ms Raine said: “They were full of crazy ideas at the time.”

She said the idea behind the event was to poke fun at the disciplined world of yachting.

Ms Raine added: “They just wanted to do a spoof on it and that was to show a non-mariners race where everything was wrong.

“It was silly fun. There was no start and there was no finish.”

Non-vessels in the early days of the event included an antique bed, a refrigerator and a cello case. A chamber pot was presented as a race prize.

Ms Raine added: “It was taken away immediately because it was a non-prize.”

Non-Mariners was first held in Hamilton Harbour.

It later moved to St George’s and Ferry Reach before it settled on Mangrove Bay in 1972.

Sandys Boat Club confirmed the cancellation of the event in a statement this week.

A spokesman for the club said fewer entries, a change in the economics of the event, and a shortage of volunteers were behind the decision.

The raft-up parties in Mangrove Bay will go ahead.

Ms Raine said she did not think the event would be refloated.

She added: “I think it’s a finished idea, but 60 years is pretty good.”

Ms Raine said the world had changed since the event was first held.

She added: “In those days we entertained ourselves. Today we let the internet entertain us.

“In those days I think we were more creative in doing and using things.”