Thousands gathered on the banks of the Chaliyar at Feroke here on Saturday afternoon braving rain to witness the Beypore boat race, organised as part of Onam celebrations.
Though the rain obscured normal viewing, there was no dampening the spirits of the viewers who cheered the teams with shouts and whistles. Some even did not hesitate to jump into the river to rescue men in one of the boats that capsized towards the end of the race.
Earlier, Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas flagged off the race, which is also part of the department’s Kerala Champions Boat League. Ten ‘Churulan’ country boats, all from Kasaragod took part in the competition.
Three rounds with a minimum of three boats in each heat were held. The final round was between Palichon Boat Club, Sree Vayalkara Vengad Boat Club, and AKG Podithuruthi River Thunder that won the heats. The Palichon River Ninjas Boat Club from Achanthuruthi bagged the trophy by defeating the AKG Podithiruthi Club by the difference of just 0.20 seconds in the finals.
One of the boats that took part in the losers final overturned after it crossed the finishing line. However, all arrangements were made by the authorities at the venue in view of such incidents and with the timely intervention of the Coast Guard and the local fishermen, all the 25 boatmen were rescued immediately.
The competition was held in Chaliyar between the newly renovated Feroke Old Bridge and the new bridge around half a kilometre away. The flow of people from even nearby Malappuram district to Feroke had created quite a traffic congestion on the National Highway during the afternoon.
