Nautically minded insurers were given a rude awakening as the Insurance Times Regatta came to a close last Friday - and it wasn't from disgruntled brokers.

The Regatta ended with more explosive action than anyone had bargained for when a WW2 bomb was discovered by nearby builders.

Previously the excitement had been limited to the sailing competition, but as dawn broke on Friday, port authorities in Portsmouth were forced to evacuate the 22 boats used in the Regatta.

Brokers and underwriters alike were spotted wandering the harbour looking worse for wear, trying to comprehend what was happening. Some were barely clothed.

Euclidian Group chairman James Truscott said: "Most of the boats were evacuated very quickly - many of us were still asleep."

M Consulting managing director Steve Manton said: "No one was panicking because the alcohol probably deadened the nerve endings."

Indeed a well-known chairman's nerve endings were probably numb after being told that he had spent a large part of the Regatta party breakdancing by the harbourside...

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