Paul Garbutt began organising social gatherings in Stamford Bridge for motorcyclists in 2016. In late 2017, he was approached by a senior representative of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to see if he would create a motorcycle show in Bridlington Spa for October 2019: the annual scooter show was moving venue after October 2018. He accepted the opportunity which was, in essence, to create an out - of - season event, free for the public to attend, which would, hopefully, support the town's businesses and create bed nights which would otherwise be lost.
Following much research and meetings with ERYC officers, he designed and organised a pilot event to raise awareness of his fledgling event brand: Backfire. The Yorkshire coast beaches have a long history and association with motoring events, but until 2018 had been confined to the history books since the 1970's. What better way to raise awareness of a brand new motorcycle show than to use this unique location?
An opportunity arose in September 2018 to support the Bridlington Weekend of Motoring, previously held at Sewerby Hall on a Sunday: there was nothing booked for the Saturday which would encourage staying in Bridlington for the weekend. He named the event 'Race the Waves' because it was only possible to operate on the beach between the tides. Bridlington's South Beach offered the perfect opportunity to stage an amphitheater - style show with vehicles to raise awareness of the following year's motorcycle show.
An attendance estimated between 2.5k to 3k stood on the promenade overlooking the South Beach whilst the performance took place on a damp Saturday in September. Vehicle owners who supported the beach event came from most areas within the UK. Paul was supported on the beach by friends and associates to make the event possible: together they created the inaugural running of this unique event in the UK.
The success of the initial Race the Waves event attracted international interest for May 2019 when turning 'Race the Waves' into a two day event was agreed with the ERYC. The thinking behind this was to give the beach event another push to promote the Backfire profile, ahead of producing the motorcycle show in The Spa in the October. The Whitby Steampunk Weekend organiser was engaged to support the beach-race weekend by arranging a Steampunk Emporium within The Royal Hall of The Spa. This turned out to be a great move because an estimated 10k passed through The Spa over the weekend, without charge.
An attendance of 25k to 30k supported Race the Waves in May 2019 and the idea of organising a motorcycle show was shelved, knowing the amount of effort it had taken to achieve this level of interest for this unique event.
Covid struck and caused two years of postponements, but The Oily Tykes Society (an unincorporated association) was formed for the proper management of the business of large events, such as Race the Waves. All members are volunteers and offer their time freely.
In June 2022 they organised 4 days in and around Bridlington to encourage visitors to support this coastal community. It began with a lunch-time gathering of vehicles at the Burton Fleming Village Hall to raise funds to support their playgroup equipment. Following lunch, the vehicles were marshaled into the Bridlington Old Town High Street where a parade, including the Driffield Town Crier and Civic Dignitaries, entertained the town audience with vehicles performing a few drive - throughs before being parked: this allowed the occupants to engage with the visitors and promote the various hospitality outlets.
On the second day, they set up home on Church Green where to profile The Bayle Gate Museum and The Priory whilst performing technical inspections on the beach vehicles. The Bridlington locals received another free show and were able to engage once again with the vehicle owners. In the evening, a cruise to Sewerby Fields and North Marine Drive was organised, to the delight of the North Shore business owners and visitors.
The following two days were spent at the beach where attracted an estimated audience of 80k was in attendance: this was deemed by representatives of The Bridlington Leisure Association to be possibly the largest number of visitors Bridlington has seen for decades.
Two years of postponements hadn't dampened the interest in Race the Waves and the small team of volunteers performed an incredible task to the benefit of the Bridlington community.
Incredibly, none of the core team members of The Oily Tykes Society comes from an event management or motoring event background. Most are elderly and retired, but have an unbelievable ability to support the event model Paul creates. His background ranges from repairing Agricultural machinery to operating a motorcycle and garden machinery business.
Following much research and meetings with ERYC officers, he designed and organised a pilot event to raise awareness of his fledgling event brand: Backfire. The Yorkshire coast beaches have a long history and association with motoring events, but until 2018 had been confined to the history books since the 1970's. What better way to raise awareness of a brand new motorcycle show than to use this unique location?
An opportunity arose in September 2018 to support the Bridlington Weekend of Motoring, previously held at Sewerby Hall on a Sunday: there was nothing booked for the Saturday which would encourage staying in Bridlington for the weekend. He named the event 'Race the Waves' because it was only possible to operate on the beach between the tides. Bridlington's South Beach offered the perfect opportunity to stage an amphitheater - style show with vehicles to raise awareness of the following year's motorcycle show.
An attendance estimated between 2.5k to 3k stood on the promenade overlooking the South Beach whilst the performance took place on a damp Saturday in September. Vehicle owners who supported the beach event came from most areas within the UK. Paul was supported on the beach by friends and associates to make the event possible: together they created the inaugural running of this unique event in the UK.
The success of the initial Race the Waves event attracted international interest for May 2019 when turning 'Race the Waves' into a two day event was agreed with the ERYC. The thinking behind this was to give the beach event another push to promote the Backfire profile, ahead of producing the motorcycle show in The Spa in the October. The Whitby Steampunk Weekend organiser was engaged to support the beach-race weekend by arranging a Steampunk Emporium within The Royal Hall of The Spa. This turned out to be a great move because an estimated 10k passed through The Spa over the weekend, without charge.
An attendance of 25k to 30k supported Race the Waves in May 2019 and the idea of organising a motorcycle show was shelved, knowing the amount of effort it had taken to achieve this level of interest for this unique event.
Covid struck and caused two years of postponements, but The Oily Tykes Society (an unincorporated association) was formed for the proper management of the business of large events, such as Race the Waves. All members are volunteers and offer their time freely.
In June 2022 they organised 4 days in and around Bridlington to encourage visitors to support this coastal community. It began with a lunch-time gathering of vehicles at the Burton Fleming Village Hall to raise funds to support their playgroup equipment. Following lunch, the vehicles were marshaled into the Bridlington Old Town High Street where a parade, including the Driffield Town Crier and Civic Dignitaries, entertained the town audience with vehicles performing a few drive - throughs before being parked: this allowed the occupants to engage with the visitors and promote the various hospitality outlets.
On the second day, they set up home on Church Green where to profile The Bayle Gate Museum and The Priory whilst performing technical inspections on the beach vehicles. The Bridlington locals received another free show and were able to engage once again with the vehicle owners. In the evening, a cruise to Sewerby Fields and North Marine Drive was organised, to the delight of the North Shore business owners and visitors.
The following two days were spent at the beach where attracted an estimated audience of 80k was in attendance: this was deemed by representatives of The Bridlington Leisure Association to be possibly the largest number of visitors Bridlington has seen for decades.
Two years of postponements hadn't dampened the interest in Race the Waves and the small team of volunteers performed an incredible task to the benefit of the Bridlington community.
Incredibly, none of the core team members of The Oily Tykes Society comes from an event management or motoring event background. Most are elderly and retired, but have an unbelievable ability to support the event model Paul creates. His background ranges from repairing Agricultural machinery to operating a motorcycle and garden machinery business.