You've heard of drag racing...even drag racing on water...but have you seen the effort needed to move fully loaded dragon boats from Zero to Race Pace? The Starter lines up from three to five boats by instructing Drummers to move their boats forward or back one or two strokes until their bows are aligned. At that point, he or she will tell individual Drummers to "hold", followed by "We have alignment," or something similar, an announcement immediately followed by the sound of the starting horn. Depending upon wind, tides and experience, the alignment process can take from a few seconds to thirty or more.
"Starter has the race!" Nanaimo, British Columbia's Nusa'lon Dragons waiting for the starting horn at the 2013 Victoria (B.C.) Dragon Boat Festival. Paddles solidly buried in the water, waiting for the drum...(Canon Canon EOS REBEL T1i1/2000s ƒ/5.6 ISO800 300mm - all Ken McVay photos)
and they're OFF! Determination writ large as the Strokers work with the Drummer to move 4000 pounds from a dead stop to race pace in a matter of seconds...(Canon Canon EOS REBEL T1i 1/2000s ƒ/5.6 ISO1000 400mm)
Raw power and superbly trained athletes show what it takes to get the job done. (Canon Canon EOS REBEL T1i 1/2000s ƒ/5.6 ISO800 400mm)
Nusa'lon's paddlers show near-perfect form as they accelerate down the course. (Canon Canon EOS REBEL T1i 1/1600s ƒ/5.6 ISO800 275mm) Ponder this: These athletes execute a full stroke in under one second (the exact rate is determined by the Drummer, and varies during the 500 meter race)...now imagine the conditioning required to generate a minimum of sixty to eighty strokes a minute for two minutes or more.
i hope i can see race lively
Dragon boats are racing all around the world...if you seek, you will find!