The International Friendship Regatta at Calcutta Rowing Club (CRC) drew to a close in the serene waters of Rabindra Sarobar on Saturday with a signature event — the Pagal Regatta.
Spread over multiple days, teams from Calcutta Rowing Club, London Rowing Club, Molesey Rowing Club, Auckland Rowing Club, Southampton Rowing Club and Victoria Rowing Club competed in several categories according to age groups and rowing events like the Single Scull (single rower), the Double Scull (two rowers), Coxless Four (four rowers without a steerer), Coxed Four (four rowers with a steerer) and others.
There were three age categories, the Squad for under 35 years, the Masters for the 35 to 60 years of age and the Veterans who were above 60.
There were men's and women's events too.
While the rowing clubs formed their own teams, there were also masala races where members from different rowing clubs made up the teams and competed in the races.
The Pagal Regatta where people rowed blindfolded, or they rowed in reverse, or they had pillow fights and knocked off each other, was the final event.
Said Mike Baldwin, president of LRC: "This was unlike any other regatta I have ever been to. It was very friendly, there were crews from New Zealand, from London with whom we had very close matches."
Rowing in London gets a lot of participation both from rowers and the audience particularly when the university teams from Oxford and Cambridge have their regatta.
"People from all over the world watch the university teams on television and there are about 50,00 people on the banks watching the races live," said Baldwin.
The university regatta course is from Putney to Mortlake, about four-and-a-quarter mile which is also the course for LRC regattas, said Andrew Boyle, secretary of LRC.
While celebrating his club's 100-year reciprocal relationship with CRC, Baldwin said: "We used to have reciprocal relations with the rowing clubs of Singapore and Hongkong too. Together with CRC and LRC, these clubs were referred to as the Curry Pub and every year we used to have an international regatta."