Strive for silence.
While dragon boat races are usually punctuated by the staccato rhythm of big drums mounted on each craft to help the paddlers keep in sync, it’s when those drums fall silent a team is totally on its game, says Brian Kenny, of the Dogwood Nothin’ Dragon masters dragon boating team.
Silence will be the golden goal of each of the 36 mixed and women’s teams expected to slide their 40-foot boats into the water at Rocky Point Park on Sunday for the inaugural Inlet Spring Regatta that also launches the competitive dragon boating season in the Lower Mainland.
Kenny said while the Coquitlam-based team hosted the dragon boating event that was part of the BC 55+ Games in 2016, Sunday’s regatta is their first crack at a full-scale competition that will be comprised of about 1,000 paddlers, steerers, drummers and support crew from teams as far away as Saltspring Island and Chilliwack. The event also coincides with the Dogwood team’s 20th anniversary and will include live entertainment from Chapter 11 and Tony Prophet, a beer garden feature a selection of craft beverages from nearby Brewers Row, several food trucks and an athletes village of more than 70 tents.
Kenny said it’s been a busy past six months organizing the regatta and getting Dogwood’s paddlers ready to compete. Especially since eight of the 20 paddlers that crew a dragon boat are new to the team. Getting everyone in tune with each other and paddling together takes a lot of practice.
“It looks simple,” Kenny said. “But trying to get 20 people to put the paddle in the water and take it out of the water at the same moment can take years.”
That’s where the drummer comes in. Perched precariously at the bow, not strapped in in any way, the drummer keeps a beat that helps keep the paddlers focussed and working together. Achieve that, and the drummer can relax and just enjoy the ride as the dragon boat rockets to the finish line of the 200 m course in Moody Inlet.
While most dragon boat races are 500 metres, Sunday’s races will be sprints that will take about a minute to complete, Kenny said. That’s because it’s early in the season and many teams are still working out the kinks with new paddlers.
“This will give them a chance to get a taste of competition,” Kenny said.
Most local teams will compete 10 times through the course of a season that runs until September, with the showcase event the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival at Vancouver’s False Creek, June 22 to 24. Some teams will also travel to international regattas in Hong Kong and San Francisco.
The Inlet Spring Regatta launches with an opening ceremony conducted by the Kwikwetlem First Nation at 8 a.m. and the first races shortly afterward. For more information, go to www.inletspringregatta.com.
