t-sips sponsors Royal Tho regatta for the third time

Regatta fans will be delighted to see ‘t-sips’ as the title sponsor for Royal-Thomian Regatta for a third consecutive time this October. The two schools will come head to head at the Beira Lake in what is already established as legendary rivalry.

The Royal-Thomian Regatta is the third biggest annual event that makes up the long-standing of rivalry between the two schools.

Begun in 1962 as the Royal-Thomian Boat Race it later evolved into the Royal-Thomian Regatta or the Regatta in 1966. Each year one of the schools hosts the anticipated event. This year it will be Royal College.

‘t-sips’ became the title sponsor for the regatta back in 2009 and has since sponsored the event for three consecutive years. ‘t-sips’ comes under Expolanka Teas, which is part of Expolanka Group, a diverse conglomerate with interests in import, export, manufacturing, education, travel, leisure, aviation, freight and BPO.

In a short span of 20 years, Expolanka Teas has grown to become one of the top 10 tea exporters in the country owing to its sustained superior quality.

Their teas reach all corners of the globe in over 30 countries, including Europe, Middle-East, USA and the Far-east. Middle-East is their biggest market with regional officers based in U.A.E., Syria and Turkey while ‘t-sips’ is fast becoming popular in the Sri Lankan market.

However, corporate success alone is insufficient for ‘t-sips’; in fact, giving back to the community is a large part of their corporate identity. In Early 2011, ‘t-sips’ hand in hand with Colours of Courage, held a Charity Tea Auction in aid of Cancer patients. The company managed to raise a whopping six million rupees with proceeds being utilized to upgrade existing facilities at the Maharagama Cancer Institute.

The sponsorship of the Regatta is just another way of giving back to the community by supporting the development of the rowing sport at school level. ‘t-sips’ not only sponsors the event but also the Royal team. ‘t-sips’ has further gifted a boat for the Royal team costing Rupees 1.7 million. ‘t-sips’ hopes to take the sponsorship to the next level by even sponsoring the sport at a national level, in the near future.

‘t-sips’ also sponsored FEARA 2010, an international regatta that saw the participation of several countries.

The Regatta usually takes place in the month of October, on the last Saturday of the month, at the Colombo Rowing Club. The races are carried out over a distance of 1000 yards and take place on the Beira Lake in Colombo. The current winner of the event is Royal College.