KOCHI: The Southern Naval Command on Saturday organised the Kochi Area Pulling Regatta in the Ernakulam channel. In a keenly contested event, the combined team from Anti-Submarine Warfare School and Diving School won the overall regatta trophy.
The team from Signal School and First Training Squadron secured the runners-up position. Races were conducted in the traditional pulling ‘whalers’ in four categories which included junior sailors, senior sailors, officers and best whaler. The boats had to cover a distance of 1 km in the Ernakulam channel, starting from the Venduruthy bridge.
Six teams, formed from all major units of the SNC based at Kochi, participated in the regatta. Command Medical Officer Surgeon Rear Admiral Dinesh Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion.The boats used in the regatta are 27-foot-long ‘whalers’ – a type of sea boat – each manned by a crew of five rowers and one coxswain.