- Kontxako Bandera
The Kontxako Bandera or "Flag of the Kontxa" is the oldest and most famous estropada race along the Bay of Biscay, held annualy in the
Kontxa , the main bay ofDonostia . It takes place on the first two weekends in September and regularly draws crowds of more than 100,000 people and around 20 rowing teams.In Spanish it is called "Bandera de La Concha", in Galician "Bandeira da Cuncha" and "Drapeau de La Concha" in French.
Background
"Estropadak" is a very popular form of rowing competition common all along the coast of the Northern coast of the
Iberian Peninsula .A crew is made up of thirteen oarsmen and the
cox , who faces them at thestern . The boats are called "traineru" ("trainera" in Spanish, "trainière" in French) and are derived from 19th century fishing boats.This is the most important competition in the Bay of Biscay and takes place the first two Sundays in September, with the best teams from all along the Northern coast competing against each other. It was first held in 1879 and has been held most years since with the main exception of the war years.
The teams must row three nautical miles to a buoy, turn around and return to the starting line. So instead of the normal four lengths, teams only do two lengths in this race.
The final always consists of two races between the eight finalists. To qualify, all teams bar one must take part in a race against the clock on the first weekend, the seven best of which go forward to the finals the following weekend. The eighth team is always from the host town and does not have to qualify. In the finals, the eight teams race in two groups of four across the same distance again.
For example, in the 2007 race there were 21 teams taking part:
Of these, the top seven went into to the final which Orio won with a time of 19:16.68.
tatistics
*The most successful teams in the "Kontxako Bandera" are
Orio (31 flags), Pasai San Pedro (15 flags),Donostia (14 flags) and Pasai Donibane andHondarribia (10 flags each).
*The fastest times were achieved byCastro Urdiales (18:59.94 in 2006) andEl Astillero (19:05.02 in 2006 and 19:09.10 in 2005)Winning teams
Listed here after their town with the name of the team given in brackets:
1879-1900
#1879
Donostia
#1880 Pasai San Pedro
#1881Hondarribia
#1882 -
#1883Donostia
#1884 -
#1885 -
#1886 -
#1887Donostia
#1888 -
#1889Donostia
#1890Donostia
#1891Donostia
#1892Donostia
#1893 -
#1894Donostia
#1895Getaria
#1896Getaria
#1897Donostia
#1898Ondarroa
#1899 Pasai San Pedro
#1900Getaria 1901-2000
#1901
Orio
#1902 -
#1903Getaria
#1904 -
#1905 -
#1906 Pasai San Pedro
#1907 -
#1908 -
#1909Orio
#1910Orio
#1911Getaria
#1912 -
#1913 -
#1914 -
#1915Donostia
#1916Orio
#1917 Pasai San Pedro
#1918Donostia
#1919Orio
#1920Donostia
#1921Pasaia (La Unión)
#1922Donostia
#1923Orio
#1924 Pasai Donibane
#1925Orio
#1926Ondarroa
#1927 Pasai San Pedro
#1928 Pasai San Pedro
#1929 Pasai San Pedro
#1930 Pasai San Pedro
#1931 Pasai San Pedro
#1932 Pasai San Pedro
#1933Orio
#1934Orio
#1935 Pasai San Pedro
#1936 -
#1937 -
#1938 -
#1939Orio
#1940Orio
#1941Hondarribia
#1942Orio
#1943Hondarribia
#1944Orio
#1945Pedreña
#1946Pedreña
#1947Hondarribia
#1948Hondarribia
#1949Pedreña
#1950Donostia
#1951Orio
#1952Orio
#1953Orio
#1954Sestao (Iberia)
#1955Orio
#1956 Pasai Donibane
#1957Aginaga
#1958Orio
#1959Sestao (Iberia)
#1960Aginaga
#1961 Pasai Donibane
#1962 Pasai Donibane
#1963 Pasai Donibane
#1964Orio
#1965Hondarribia
#1966Hondarribia
#1967Hondarribia
#1968Hondarribia
#1969 Lasarte
#1970Orio
#1971Orio
#1972Orio
#1973 Lasarte
#1974Orio
#1975Orio
#1976Pedreña
#1977Santurtzi
#1978Sestao (Kaiku)
#1979Santurtzi
#1980Sestao (Kaiku)
#1981Sestao (Kaiku)
#1982Sestao (Kaiku)
#1983Orio
#1984Zumaia
#1985Santurtzi
#1986 Pasai Donibane
#1987Zumaia
#1988 Pasai Donibane
#1989 Pasai San Pedro
#1990 Pasai Donibane (Koxtape)
#1991 Pasai San Pedro
#1992Orio
#1993 Pasai San Pedro
#1994 Pasai San Pedro
#1995 Pasai Donibane (Donibaneko)
#1996Orio
#1997Orio
#1998Orio
#1999 Pasai Donibane (Koxtape)
#2000Orio 2001-date
#2001
Castro Urdiales
#2002Castro Urdiales
#2003El Astillero (El Astillero)
#2004El Astillero (El Astillero)
#2005Hondarribia
#2006Castro Urdiales
#2007Orio (Orio Arraun Elkartea)References
* [http://www.donostiasansebastian.com/regatas/indexv.html Kontxako Bandera] (in Basque and Spanish)
* [http://www.ligaact.com/ Liga de Traineras] (in Basque, Spanish and Galician)External links
* [http://www.euskalnet.net/inetxe/kontxako.htm Estropadak] (in Basque)
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