If you’ve not had a chance to see one of these boat races in Lanzarote yet, have a look out for them, they are such good fun and draw a big crowd of spectators too!
A Jolatero is a small boat fashioned from an oil drum, it has wooden baton at either end and a long piece of string with a cork attached! The races are competed in age groups, and its generally boys that participate.
This event was part of the San Ginés 2009 fiesta celebrations held during August at Charco de San Ginés in Arrecife. I'm not sure I’d want to hand launch the firework rocket though to start the race!
The boat race course consists of two buoys and a wooden beam that the boats have to pass under, although it is a race, it is also one of skill as the boats have to be paddled with two squares of wood and the sailor also has a wooden stick, a bit like a chopstick that they carry in their mouth.
As they race towards the wooden posts, they have to exchange a paddle for the stick and reach up over their heads to put the stick through a ring on a brightly coloured ribbon and pull it free from the wooden beam. The boats have to carry on around the course, if they don’t manage to hook a ribbon they have to go around. So whilst its a race, the one with the most ribbons wins, the boats continue the circuit until the last ribbon is taken and then they count up to see who is the winner.
These boats are really unstable, if they reach too high or they lean to one side it will tip, which lets water in and then they sink! This is why the boats have a long string on, they are then hauled up from the bottom and emptied.
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