Sv Duje Regatta

As part of the celebrations of Sveti Duje in Split on 7th of May, the Sveti Duje rowing regatta for eights is held. Historical documents indicate that a rowing race took place between Hvar, Makarska, Split and five other towns on Sveti Duje day way back in 1825. In 2000 the Sveti Duje regatta was re-established as an international event featuring Croatian and foreign universities and attracting the best known names in university rowing, the Oxford and Cambridge Blue Boats.  A Legends race, that takes place in front of the Riva, Split’s famous waterfront promenade, was added to the regatta in 2005 and features crews representing the legends of Oxford, Cambridge and Split.

The university racing took place on Saturday 8 May at the 1000m long racing course in Spinut, and was a successful event despite the heavy rain. Croatian teams from Split, Rijeka, Dubrovnik, and Zagreb competed with international crews from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Koper, Budapest, Belgrade, Oxford and Cambridge.  Split won on the day, followed closely by Oxford and Rijeka. 

On Sunday tthe racing took place over a short 220m course, with the first crew to win 2 races being crowned champions. The racing was very tight, and after each team managed to win one of the first three races, a ‘winner-takes-all’ fourth race saw the Split Legends achieve overall honours.