Dragon Boat
Modern Dragon Boat racing is thought to have begun in Great Britain in the 1980s and quickly spread to North America.
In 1986 at the Expo 86 World’s Fair in Vancouver the first False Creek mens Dragon Boat race team was victorious in the demonstration race.
A Dragon Boat typically seats 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steering person. They are usually multi-colored craft with a dragon’s head and tail mounted on either ends.
Races last ca. 2 through to 10 minutes and go from 200 to 2000 meters in distance. This is one of North America’s fasted growing team sports, due to its popularity.
Now Vancouver has an annual Dragon Boat Festival, usually in June, produced by the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society. Regattas and festivals are now found province wide.
The False Creek Racing Canoe Club offers training opportunities, club activities and racing events – fun, fitness, and competition.
Many Dragon Boat teams are composed of interest groups, seniors, men, women, and youth, all of whom enjoy the friendship, exercise and teamwork. The yearly Festival provides a public spectacle for the many spectators and other paddling enthusiasts to marvel at.
The Dragon Boating teams streak through the waters of False Creek to the throbbing beat of the drums, providing a cultural experience to remember.
