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Kontxako Bandera

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Kontxako Bandera

The Kontxako Bandera (Basque) or Bandera de la Concha (in Spanish, meaning "Flag of the Kontxa") is one of the oldest and most famous estropada race along the Bay of Biscay, held annually in the Kontxa, the main bay of San Sebastián, Spain. 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. It was first held in 1879 and has been held most years since with the main exception of the war years.

Contents

In Galician it's called 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 the stern. 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, within the framework of the Basque Week, with the best teams from all along the Northern coast competing against each other.

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.

Statistics

  • The most successful teams in the Kontxako Bandera are Orio (31 flags), Pasai San Pedro (15 flags), San Sebastián (14 flags) and Pasai Donibane and Hondarribia (10 flags each).
  • The fastest times were achieved by Castro Urdiales (18:59.94 in 2006) and El 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

    1. 1879 San Sebastián
    2. 1880 Pasai San Pedro
    3. 1881 Hondarribia
    4. 1882 -
    5. 1883 San Sebastián
    6. 1884 -
    7. 1885 -
    8. 1886 -
    9. 1887 San Sebastián
    10. 1888 -
    11. 1889 San Sebastián
    12. 1890 San Sebastián
    13. 1891 San Sebastián
    14. 1892 San Sebastián
    15. 1893 -
    16. 1894 San Sebastián
    17. 1895 Getaria
    18. 1896 Getaria
    19. 1897 San Sebastián
    20. 1898 Ondarroa
    21. 1899 Pasai San Pedro
    22. 1900 Getaria

    1901-1950

    1. 1901 Orio
    2. 1902 -
    3. 1903 Getaria
    4. 1904 -
    5. 1905 -
    6. 1906 Pasai San Pedro
    7. 1907 -
    8. 1908 -
    9. 1909 Orio
    10. 1910 Orio
    11. 1911 Getaria
    12. 1912 -
    13. 1913 -
    14. 1914 -
    15. 1915 San Sebastián
    16. 1916 Orio
    17. 1917 Pasai San Pedro
    18. 1918 San Sebastián
    19. 1919 Orio
    20. 1920 San Sebastián
    21. 1921 Pasaia (La Unión)
    22. 1922 San Sebastián
    23. 1923 Orio
    24. 1924 Pasai Donibane
    25. 1925 Orio
    26. 1926 Ondarroa
    27. 1927 Pasai San Pedro
    28. 1928 Pasai San Pedro
    29. 1929 Pasai San Pedro
    30. 1930 Pasai San Pedro
    31. 1931 Pasai San Pedro
    32. 1932 Pasai San Pedro
    33. 1933 Orio
    34. 1934 Orio
    35. 1935 Pasai San Pedro
    36. 1936 -
    37. 1937 -
    38. 1938 -
    39. 1939 Orio
    40. 1940 Orio
    41. 1941 Hondarribia
    42. 1942 Orio
    43. 1943 Hondarribia
    44. 1944 Orio
    45. 1945 Pedreña
    46. 1946 Pedreña
    47. 1947 Hondarribia
    48. 1948 Hondarribia
    49. 1949 Pedreña
    50. 1950 San Sebastián

    1951-2000

    1. 1951 Orio
    2. 1952 Orio
    3. 1953 Orio
    4. 1954 Sestao (Iberia)
    5. 1955 Orio
    6. 1956 Pasai Donibane
    7. 1957 Aginaga
    8. 1958 Orio
    9. 1959 Sestao (Iberia)
    10. 1960 Aginaga
    11. 1961 Pasai Donibane
    12. 1962 Pasai Donibane
    13. 1963 Pasai Donibane
    14. 1964 Orio
    15. 1965 Hondarribia
    16. 1966 Hondarribia
    17. 1967 Hondarribia
    18. 1968 Hondarribia
    19. 1969 Lasarte
    20. 1970 Orio
    21. 1971 Orio
    22. 1972 Orio
    23. 1973 Lasarte
    24. 1974 Orio
    25. 1975 Orio
    26. 1976 Pedreña
    27. 1977 Santurtzi
    28. 1978 Sestao (Kaiku)
    29. 1979 Santurtzi
    30. 1980 Sestao (Kaiku)
    31. 1981 Sestao (Kaiku)
    32. 1982 Sestao (Kaiku)
    33. 1983 Orio
    34. 1984 Zumaia
    35. 1985 Santurtzi
    36. 1986 Pasai Donibane
    37. 1987 Zumaia
    38. 1988 Pasai Donibane
    39. 1989 Pasai San Pedro
    40. 1990 Pasai Donibane(Koxtape)
    41. 1991 Pasai San Pedro
    42. 1992 Orio
    43. 1993 Pasai San Pedro
    44. 1994 Pasai San Pedro
    45. 1995 Pasai Donibane(Donibaneko)
    46. 1996 Orio
    47. 1997 Orio
    48. 1998 Orio
    49. 1999 Pasai Donibane(Koxtape)
    50. 2000 Orio

    2001-date

    1. 2001 Castro Urdiales
    2. 2002 Castro Urdiales
    3. 2003 El Astillero (El Astillero)
    4. 2004 El Astillero (El Astillero)
    5. 2005 Hondarribia
    6. 2006 Castro Urdiales
    7. 2007 Orio (Orio Arraun Elkartea)
    8. 2008 Castro Urdiales
    9. 2009 Sestao (Kaiku)
    10. 2010 Bermeo (Urdaibai)
    11. 2011 Bermeo (Urdaibai)
    12. 2012 Sestao (Kaiku)
    13. 2013 Hondarribia
    14. 2014 Bermeo (Urdaibai)
    15. 2015 Bermeo (Urdaibai)
    16. 2016 Bermeo (Urdaibai)

    References

    Kontxako Bandera Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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