The iconic race is the marquee event at the wider North East Rivers Festival, but festival director Lynden Russell said that steadily falling numbers had forced a rethink of the day's format.

"This year's numbers were certainly down on last year and we're already looking at what can be done to turn that around," he said.

"It could be something like a milk cart challenge for juniors, where competitors build a raft on the side of the bank, if the water's low, and race from one side of the river to the other and back.

"There have been suggestions of combining races, but it's a lot safer if the races are spread out — we just need a couple more competitors, especially in the super multi-class.

"There could also be more river-based activities for entertainment, but on the river bank, so we'll look at doing a few things like that.

"We were still happy with the people who were there — it was a beautiful day and everyone there had a lot of fun and the day was incident free."

Mr Russell urged prospective contestants to start thinking now about designs and sourcing materials for next year's rafts, to allow enough time to construct and test them.

"It's a lot of fun and well worth the effort," he said.

"The more people you have in your raft, the more fun it is because you're together with all your mates having a good laugh as you go down the river."