More than 30 boats compete in the 28th Lađa Marathon

The 28th Lađa marathon, an amateur boating competition featuring traditional boats from the Neretva region, was held on the Neretva River on Saturday afternoon. More than thirty boats participated in the 22.5 kilometer race.

For locals the race is a source of pride and for the winners bragging rights for the next twelve months. Kristijan Popović from the Slivno Municipality Boatmen's Association: "This is the pride and joy of the Neretva region. This is indescribable."

Many boats use the race as training to gain experience and fine tune their rowing for the future. Ivan Marušić from the Domagoj's Pirates boat from Vid: "We gathered a young group of rowers, trained as much as we could, more so to form the foundations of a team and a good base for next year."

Each boat consists of ten persons per boat, with the starting point in Metković and the finish line at the Adriatic Sea port of Ploče. The small, quick and agile boats were the main transportation vessel in the Neretva Delta over the centuries. The Lađa boat is first mentioned as a war boat of Duke Domagoj's pirates who were fighting against Venetians. In order to honor the vessels, which had been forgotten for a long time, the race is organized every August.

The ten kilometer women’s Lađa marathon, was held on Thursday, from Metković to Opuzen. Seventeen boats participated in the race, including one boat representing the Croatian Cultural and Arts Society from Sombor in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in neighboring Serbia. Leading the boat was Ana Mandić: "The idea behind our participation in the race is to connect with our roots, because based on records, our ancestors came to Vojvodina from the Buna and Neretva regions. So for us this is a combination of the past, the present and the future."

Source: HRT