IT was the most romantic moment in the 200 years of the Shaldon Regatta – a competitor proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of a dinghy race.

Ashley Manning-Brown, 35, asked Lauren Casey, 31, to marry him, and went down on one knee to present her with a ring as they were competing in the Otter Class sailing.

Shocked, but 'over the moon', she gasped 'Yes', and the happy couple finished the race, and came ashore to the applause and cheers of the crowd on the beach as the news was announced over the tannoy.

'I had been thinking about it for some time, but nobody knew I was going to propose apart from my sister and the regatta announcer,' said Ashley.

'I had given the duty boat the ring, and asked them to bring it over to us while we were sailing.

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