Cathsar-Sarmal Boat Race

English: Chiswick Eyot on the River Thames. Ca...
English: Chiswick Eyot on the River Thames. Category:Images of the River Thames (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A set of annual rowing races between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed on the River Thames in London, England has become famous the world over and known as the Boat Race. It draws people from all over the world and brings an impressive amount of money to the local economy.

The city of Cathsar, inspired by this decided to set up their own boat race with their neighbouring town of Sarmal. Known as the Cathsar-Sarmal Boat Race, it starts in Cathsar under the Serpent Bridge, which is the main bridge in the city, flows down the river, taking many twists and turns and finishing under the Western Gate in Sarmal. This route is about 6 miles long. It was originally held on the first weekend of February, but was moved to the first Friday of June instead.

The winner is presented with the traditional trophy and a party is then held in the winners city, with the losers offering to pay the bill for the party, although by tradition, this offer is refused. The amount of money made from sponsorships and income from merchandise is normally enough to offset the costs and give the cities a profit large enough to continue the race each year.

To take part in the CSBR, you only need to be a “recognised citizen of either of the competition locations”. This has been interpreted as having lived in one of the two cities for at least a year before hand.

Hooks & Rumours

  • Organisers are wanting to run a second event which goes against the river current, making it harder and more grueling.
  • Some are asking that the race be moved back to the original time of the year, but competitors are protesting this.
  • To allow more teams to take part in the race, the requirements about being a “recognised citizen” is being relaxed. This will open the race to more competitors. Some are demanding that a new race been setup instead of allowing non-citizens to partake in this one.
  • After the last race, the Sarmal team is being investigated when they won by unheard of almost 50 lengths, when previous wins by both sides had typically only be between 10 and 20 lengths.
  • One year, after Cathsar won, Sarmal made the traditional offer to pay , but for some reason Cathsar didn’t refuse the offer. This has led to a straining of relations with the two cities teams. An investigation is finally being started into why this occurred.
  • The organisers had heavily hinted that the next years race will not be occurring. This has not happened before in the history of the race and rumours are circulating that the oversight committee has been blackmailed or threaten to stop the race.
  • The coach for the Sarmal team has gone missing and the Cathsar side is being blamed. A day later the Cathsar side coach goes missing and Sarmal is being blamed for this perceived act of retaliation.

Inspired by : Boat Race
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_Race

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