What is a Dragon Boat?

A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft. They were traditionally made in the Pearl River Delta region of China’s southern Guangdong Province out of teak wood (mostly imported from Pontianak, Indonesia) to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used to build the traditional watercraft. It is one of a family of traditional paddled long boats found throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands and also Puerto Rico. Currently, boats are being made for competitive purposes out of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials.

The fibre-glass boats are approximately 12 metres long and decorated with a dragons head and tail. Each boat holds up to 20 paddlers sitting side-by-side. There is a sweep who steers the boat and the paddlers are kept in time by drummer who beats a drum.

Normal race distances are 250m (short race) and 500m (standard race), although there are some events with races of 1km and more.