Defending Champions Orio Carry a Three-Second Lead Into the Final Sunday of the Bandera de La Concha Rowing Regatta
Orio lead Donostiarra by three seconds and Arraun Lagunak lead the women's race by nine before Sunday's decisive day in San Sebastián.
The Bandera de La Concha is a regatta for traineras, the fixed-seat wooden rowing boats of the Basque coast, with a coxswain steering each crew. The boats evolved from fishing boats whose crews raced each other back to port. Eight crews race in each of the men's and women's competitions in the bay of La Concha in San Sebastián, and the winner is decided on combined time over two Sundays. The men row three nautical miles and the women 1.5 nautical miles.
The first day of the 131st men's edition was held on 6 September. Orio, the 2025 champions, won in 19min 51sec and lead by three seconds from Donostiarra, the host city's crew, after a finish in which the two boats were almost level. Zierbena are third, 11 seconds down, followed by Bermeo at 21 seconds, Hondarribia at 32, Lekittarra at 43, Getaria at 49 and Ondarroa at 1min 02sec.
In the women's race, Arraun Lagunak, the San Sebastián crew who won the title in each of the last three years from 2023 to 2025, went fastest and met their billing as favourites. Tolosaldea are second, nine seconds behind, with San Juan and Astillero both 10 seconds back.
The regatta dates back to 1879, when fishing crews first competed, and a women's competition was added in 2008.
The second and decisive day is on Sunday 13 September, with the women's race scheduled for 11:00 and the men's for 12:00 local time.