The first North Wales Dragon Boat Festival is set to make an Olympic sized splash on Saturday, June 9, in Rhyl. Up to 400 competitors from across North Wales are expected to compete in what is hoped will become a major annual event, to see which team will ultimately be crowned North Wales Dragon Boat Champions 2012.
With the sport originating over 2,000 years ago in China but only coming to the UK in 1992, dragon boating has now become a major favourite with many companies, both as a corporate ‘team building’ events activity and also a charity fund raising competition.
Dragon boats are 40-foot long Chinese canoes with a large dragon’s head at the front, a dragon’s tail at the rear and capable of holding up to eighteen people at a time. Sixteen of these are the paddlers whose job it is to propel the boat forward, whilst the seventeenth person is the team’s drummer, who sits astride a giant drum at the front of the boat and loudly beats out the stroke to help the crew to paddle together. To ensure the boats move safely on the water, the eighteenth person in the boat is a qualified Dragon Boat Events Ltd. Helm, whose job it is to stand at the back of the boat and steer. The aim of each team is to get down the course as fast as possible in order to be one of the teams to qualify to race in the Grand Final.
Prior to their first race, each team will get a full health and safety brief, along with instruction into the art of dragon boat racing before being allowed into the boats. Rather than just have the one race, each team will compete in three timed qualifying races and after each race, the times will be displayed on the Race Control’s leader board for teams to compare. Through each of the qualifying races, teams will also receive ongoing instruction and training from the instructor on the boat.
It’s all about teamwork, and dragon boating is ideal for both corporate and charity crews alike! The skill is surprisingly easy to pick up and by the second race, even novice teams will be putting in impressive times. By the third race, sometimes just fractions of a second will separate the teams as they cross the line and all the teams need from their three races is one really fast time in order to make the final. Once all the teams have had their three races all the times will be computed and each team’s single fastest time will be used for qualification into the Grand Final.
For the Grand Final, all the qualifiers will line up ready to paddle in one last race and for the first and only time in the day, all the dragon boats will now race together! With their three races now completed, even novice teams paddling for the first time will be able to match the speed and experience of those who have been before, so all teams will have everything to play for!
Words cannot adequately convey the fun, excitement and atmosphere of a dragon boating day. You have paddles splashing, drums beating and often more than a thousand people excitedly cheering and screaming from the side as the dragon boats race past, the teams straining together as one in an almost super-human effort to get to the line first!
Racing is due to start at 1pm and continue throughout the day until the final, which is planned for around 5:30pm. The day will culminate with an award ceremony where winner’s trophies will be presented to the Captains of the top three teams and specially cast, ‘Olympic style’ gold, silver and bronze dragon boat medals presented to each member of the top three winning crews.
Organised in conjunction with Denbighshire Leisure Services and Dragon Boat Events Ltd, the event will be held on the Marine Lake in Rhyl. It does not matter if your team is from the office, a club, a pub or factory. The opportunity to be part of the UK’s fastest growing water sports whilst supporting charity is a day you definitely won’t want to miss.
Money is raised by each team member getting sponsored and every team is expected to raise a minimum £1,000 for their nominated charity. Although this event will be the first North Wales Dragon Boat Festival, the event is being run along the same lines as the Chester Dragon Boat Festival (also organised by Dragon Boat Events Ltd.), which has already helped many worthy Welsh causes such as Hope House Hospice, Tŷ Gobaith Hospice near Conwy, Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham and St David’s Hospice near Bangor.
This is with out doubt one of those ‘must try’ sports that is just far too much fun to simply watch and places are now available for teams to enter. Entry forms can be downloaded from the home page of the www.nwdbf.co.uk website or direct from one of the charity WebPages listed under the ‘charities’ tab.
More information about the day can be found on the website www.nwdbf.co.uk, or by contacting the organisers on 01745 571684.
