Preparations for hosting the fifth annual President’s Trophy Boat Race on the Asramam Creek of the Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam are in the final stage. The race will be held in the evening on November 1. The boat race was skipped last year in view of the elections to local bodies.
Forty-eight boats from various categories, including 16 in the snakeboat category, will be competing in the races. All the boats will arrive in Kollam by evening on Monday.
To ensure accuracy in deciding the results, the starting and finishing points have been linked with a BSNL hotline.
Apart from that, the race is also being covered by CCTV and Ham Radio. As much as 40 per cent of the declared bonus amounts for the boats competing in the race was distributed on Sunday by handing over cheques to the respective team captains.
The jerseys for the rowers will be distributed on Monday. As many as 2,600 jerseys in 16 colours will be distributed.
All officials will be wearing uniforms. The main pavilion with a capacity to seat 2,000 persons is getting ready at the finishing point. There will be a separate pavilion for foreign tourists.
Memorial trophy
Apart from the President’s trophy to be presented to the winner in the snakeboat category, trophies in memory of Lance Naik B. Sudheesh who was killed in an avalanche at Siachen in February this year will also be presented to the winning teams in the snakeboat category. The trophies have been donated by the relatives of Sudheesh.
The first prize winning team in the women’s category will be presented the Usha Ravi Memorial Trophy donated by industrialist Raveendranathan Nair. A cultural procession to herald the event will commence from the Anandawalleshwaram maidan in the evening on Monday.
It will pass through Chinnakada, Guest House, and Asramam Link Road before culminating at the venue of the finishing point. At a function to be held afterwards, a special cover of the boat race brought out by India Post will be released.
