Region's boats get ready for Jubilee Pageant on the Thames

On Sunday, the Anglia region will be well and truly represented at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames, which some commentators are describing as the biggest ever event in London. A thousand ships and boats will form a huge flotilla that will sail the seven miles from Putney Bridge to Tower Bridge. Pride of place goes to MTB102 which is based at Lowestoft. At 14.18 she'll get the signal and will be the first boat to move as this remarkable gathering gets under way.

"In a civilian sense, this is the biggest day in 102's history, ' said skipper Richard Basey, who's also chairman of the MTB102 Trust.

The Trust rescued MTB102 from the scrap heap. It has a distinguished history, carrying Eisenhower and Churchill when they were inspecting boats and ships preparing for the Normandy landings during the 2nd World War. Two years ago, she was at the head of the flotilla that sailed from Dover to France to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation.

The Pageant features vessels of all shapes and sizes. One of the smallest will be the kayak paddled by Lawrence Chapman and Ross Richardson from the Lowestoft Explorer Scouts. Their reason for wanting to take part in this historic Royal event clearly struck a chord with the organisers.

Applications were massively oversubscribed. The team from the Cool Runnings dragon boat club at St Neots was delighted to get a place in the man-powered category - one of ten different sections of boat that will parade before the Queen.

It'll also be a proud day for the crew of the Caister lifeboat in Norfolk, one of the few independent lifeboats in the country. With a top speed of 37 knots, it's one of the fastest boats in the parade, but on Sunday they'll be travelling at a very leisurely four to six knots n hour.

It's estimated that up to two million people will line the riverbank for what is the largest gathering of vessels on the Thames for more than 350 years.