About our sport
When you look around the nation of Australia, one thing becomes apparent, dragon boaters are innovators and organisers. A few enterprising paddlers who love the sport with a passion have started many of the dragon boat federations around the country.
These are the people, who through persistence and determination have organised a collective of dragon boat clubs into an organised state body. Let’s face it, sometimes just organising 20 paddlers is hard enough, let alone a handful of clubs.
Dragon boating is not a ‘new’ sport…people have participating in this sport for over 2000. It has a long illustrious history.
The growth and interest in modern dragon boating owes a great deal to Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA). The HKTA headed the charge into the sport when it arranged the first Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival International races in 1976.
Australians entered the dragon boat arena in 1980. The Western Australia Surf Life Saving Association was invited by the Penang Tourist Development Corporation invited them to the Penang Festival. From there a flurry of invitations went sent to teams around the country including Western Australia and New South Wales who participated in to the unofficial world championships on Hong Kong Harbour.
Four years later, Sydney hosted the inaugural Sydney Dragon Boat Festival at Farm Cove and in 1985, the first state dragon boat body formed in Western Australia.
The international governing body, the International Dragon Boat Federation was formalised in 1991 and has been responsible for assisting countries to establish at the club level, develop and implement rules and regulations, and managing the growth of the sport worldwide.
Races are held around the world from Canada to Asia to New Zealand. One of the most exciting events for Australia was winning the right to host the World Dragon Boat Championships in Sydney in 2007. What made this event even better was winning a swag of medals.
There is over 50 million people worldwide who regularly hop in a dragon boat; it is a sport for all ages and crosses all cultural divides bringing people together around the globe.
What is dragon boating?
A dragon boat is a long (approx 12 metres) and narrow human powered boat used in the team paddling sport.
For racing events, dragon boats are always rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard.
The crew
The standard crew 22, comprising 20 paddlers in pairs facing toward the bow of the boat, one drummer or caller at the bow facing toward the paddlers and one steerer or sweep at the rear of the boat
The drummer and drumming
The drummer or a caller leads the crew throughout a race with the rhythmic beating of a drum to indicate the timing and frequency of paddling strokes (that is, the cadence, picking up the pace, slowing the rate, etc.)
The caller may issue commands to the crew voice calls, and generally exhorts the crew to perform at their peak. A caller/drummer is mandatory during racing events, but if he or she is not present during training, it is typical for the steerer to direct the crew.
The paddlers
The paddlers sit facing forwards, and use a specific type of paddle. The leading pair of paddlers, called "pacers," "strokers," or "timers," set the pace for the team.
It is critical that all paddlers are synchronized. Each paddler should synchronize with the paddler diagonally in front of them. This ensures that the paddling pace is balanced and all energy is spent on moving the boat forward. The direction of the dragon boat is set by the helm, not the paddlers. The lead paddlers are responsible for synchronizing themselves.
There are several components to a dragon boat stroke:
• The "catch" at the front of the 60-degree negative angle allows the paddler to bury their blade deep in the water.
• The "pull" stage generates the power to move the boat, most often by using the strong muscles of the back to propel the boat beyond the paddle.
• The "release" or "return" is the final stage of the stroke. To release, the outside arm should slightly bend and the blade should release to the top of the stroke. It is important for the blade to return as vertically as possible, with the top hand staying outside the boat. Each of these components of the stroke is equally important and must be done in synchronization with the paddle across and in front. If done correctly, all paddles will be in time with the lead strokes.
If paddlers are not synchronized, each successive pair of blades hits the water a fraction of a second behind the blades in front of them. To an onshore observer, this effect resembles the movement of a many-legged caterpillar or centipede; thus, a coach may discipline a team for "cater pillaring." During a race, it is difficult to stay in sync as the sounds of other drums make it confusing or unreliable to time off the drumbeat.
Experienced paddlers will feel the response of the boat and its surge or resistance through the water via the blades of their paddles, and will adjust their reach, and the catch of their blade tips, in accordance with the power required to match the acceleration of the hull through the water at any given moment.
The sweep
The sweep, known also as the coxswain, helm, steersman, steersperson, steerer, or tiller, controls the dragon boat with a steering oar similar in function to a tiller, which is mounted at the rear of the boat.
The steerer may work with the drummer to call out commands during a race. The responses of the oar are opposite to the direction they take - if the steerer pulls the oar right, or into the boat, the boat will turn left, and if they push out, or left, the boat turns right.
During a race, an experienced steerer will be able to steer the dragon boat effectively according to the wind, the wake of other boats, and other factors to achieve optimum speed.
The steerer must constantly be aware of the boat's surroundings. The steerer has the power to override the caller at any time during the race (or the coach during practice) if the safety of the crew is threatened in any way.
(Acknowledgments to Wikipedia)