Facebook users drum up season of boat races

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Even as the soccer spirits hit a feverish pitch, the sleepy hamlets of five districts in central Kerala are gearing up to welcome the season of boat races which gets off to an energetic start with the Champakulam Moolam boat race on July 3.

This time, nearly 1,000 boat race enthusiasts have come on facebook, to create a buildup to the Moolam boat race, the Nehru Trophy Boat race and the numerous other boat races in the state.

History, facts about clubs, and trials and comments related to different boat races appear on the facebook page ‘Boat races Kerala,’ and what currently rules is the animated discussions on the Champakulam boat race.

The names of the snake boats and the clubs participating and their heats and tracks are available on the home page which is sure to kick up the spirits of boat race enthusiasts across the world.

The snakes boats that will light up this year’s Moolam boat race are the Cheruthana, Attupuram, Karuvatta, Sree Ganesh, Sree Vinayakan, Pulinkunnu, Alappad, Illikulam and Champakulam. VBC Kumarakom, Kollam Town Boat Club and Kavalam Town Boat Club are the top rowing clubs.

Already it’s predicted by enthusiasts on the FB page that there will be a tough race in heats one and two of the Moolam race. “Discussions have already got animated.

On Thursday, the renovated Cheruthana Chundan was taken to water and I have uploaded the video of the same to the FB page,” said Vinod Iris Karichal who manages the ‘Boat Races Kerala’ group.

Vinod Iris is a professional photographer and owns a website www.karichalchundan.com [2], which is named after the greatest snake boat Karichal which won Nehru Trophy for a record number of 14 times.

The VIP members in Boat Races Kerala group include Anto Antony MP, Youth Congress leader M Liji and Mavelikkara MLA R. Rajesh.