Residents on Estonia’s two biggest islands took their age old rivalry to a whole new level over the weekend by staging their first tug-of-war using a 10km long rope across the part of the Baltic sea which separates them.
For centuries, the islanders of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, off Estonia’s west coast, have revelled in poking fun at each other.
But on Saturday night, they decided to finally let bygones be bygones and pull the islands closer together - at least symbolically.
Over 500 people grabbed the rope at Hiiumaa’s Soru marina, while over 600 competitors pulled its other end at the Soela marina on Saaremaa, an AFP photographer saw.
It took just 10 minutes for the rope to break, forcing referees from the “neutral” smaller island of Vormsi to declare a tie.
This prompted both Hiiumaa and Saaremaa islanders to declare victory.
Helja Kaptein, who helped to pull from the Hiiumaa side, told AFP: “You can never really trust these Saaremaa people.
Tanel Lips, the Organisers on Hiiumaa, which at just under 1,000sq km is the smaller of the two islands and home to around 8,000 people, said the idea for the mammoth tug-of-war emerged last year, mainly to promote both islands as tourist destinations.
Lips told AFP that the 10km long rope was ordered from neighbouring Latvia and held in place thanks to a string of buoys between the two islands.
“Hiiumaa people always pull together when really needed, so we won in any case,” he told AFP.
Villi Pihl, who organised the event on the larger Saaremaa - triple the size of Hiiumaa - said that it was also meant to focus attention on safety at sea in a humorous way.
“Hiiumaa people have just one thing better than us - they have better neighbours,” Pihl joked.
Helja Kaptein said the event triggered several wild ideas for future competitions, including an attempt to bail-out the strait between the two islands using buckets.
However, after a late night of revelry on both islands, the consensus appears to be to simply order a stronger rope for the next tug-of-war.