​Crew from Komin wins 22nd Neretva Boat Marathon

A crew from Komin, called The Pirates, on Saturday won the 22nd Neretva Boat Marathon, a 22.5 kilometre race on the Neretva River starting in Metkovic and ending in the coastal town of Ploce.

Stablina, another crew from Komin, a community in the area of Ploce, finished the race second while a crew called Crni Put, from Metkovic, was third.

Competing in the race were 28 crews, each consisting of a coxswain and 10 rowers.

The race, featuring indigenous local vessels used for transport along the Neretva River, was watched from a special boat by several government ministers and other political figures.
The purpose of the annual boat marathon, organised by the association "Udruga Ladjara Neretve", is to preserve the local tradition.
 
Before the start of the race, Defence Minister Damir Krsticevic, who attended the event as the envoy of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, said that he was glad the marathon featured for the first time a Croatian Navy crew.
 
"The Boat Marathon has become a tourism brand," he said.
 
Apart from local crews, teams of Croatian expatriates from Australia and participants from Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia have in recent years joined the race, which draws thousands of spectators every year. (Hina/FaH)

News