Dartmouth's regatta has continued its financial fight back which has now seen it bounce back from two shock years of loss- making extravaganzas which threatened the very future of the popular event.

Last year the massive event – which sees tens of thousand of visitors flood into the town for the river racing fun and high flying air shows – made a profit of £8,100. That is on top of the £11,300 profit made the year before.

The turnaround followed two years of major losses in 2010 and 2009 which between them saw the regatta bank balance haemorrhage more than £25,000 in losses.

Currently the regatta team has a healthy £84,917 of assets and cash in the bank, the organisation's annual meeting was told.

District councillor Hilary Bastone, who was brought in as a troubleshooting regatta chairman two years ago, has now stood down from the chair.

He put the financial turnaround down to better organisation and management.

'The regatta which has just gone ahead probably put on more events than were put on in 2010 when we made one of the losses. It is down to organisation and the determination and hard work by the whole regatta committee,' he said.

The two years of regatta losses came as a major shock to the regatta organisers who had never experienced losses of that magnitude in the history of the huge event.

Speaking at the annual meeting, Mr Bastone said: 'When I was invited to take on the chairmanship of the town's most prestigious event in the spring of 2011, it was against a background of mass resignations and two years of heavy financial losses amounting to £25,000 in total. This all threatened the future of our royal regatta.

'From that point of desperation the committee worked excessively hard to put matters right and to turn the finances around. That hard work stopped the rot and the losses were turned into a profit of over £11,000 in 2011.'

He pointed to the latest regatta profit of more than £8,000 and said: 'This will help to consolidate and secure the future of our royal regatta.'

He also said last year's profit would have been up with that of the year before if the regatta team had not had to write off some £4,000 in depreciation of the organisation's refurbished boats.

He told more than 40 committee members and members of the public that despite the weather the regatta events had been a series of success stories.

'The 168th Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta in 2012 provided all of the usual favourites and much more than the committee had been able to provide in 2011.

'While the weather was not kind, the committee was able to stage all the planned events, unlike 2011 when circumstances combined to prevent the displays by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

'The centrepiece of our royal regatta has always been the sailing, rowing and swimming and 2012 was no exception.'

He added; 'The sailing was an outstanding success with another large entry – the envy of many regattas along the South Coast.'

He said the visit by HMS St Albans had provided a Royal Navy guardship centrepiece in the river.

And he added: 'These days the Royal Air Force also play their part with outstanding displays by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

'But it was a former Red Arrow pilot, Dartmouth's very own Mark Cutmore, and his display team The Blades who stole the show in the air.'