This year competition was a bit watered down because most of the top teams were not in attendance as they were in Penang, Malaysia for the 2008 6th World Club Crew Championships and as a result some of the teams that were not usually belong in the A Division category was subsequently ranked as such in this regatta.

The 2008 Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta also presents special races such as the Women’s Division, Men’s Division, Out of Town Race and many more to name it few. Each team really performed to their best to win the race. But some teams were not very happy about their performance. They were not prepared and focused due to some unpleasant circumstances like one paddler may end up not paddling and some paddlers did not hear the referee gives the signal to go.

The referee in this kind of race gives a very little time between the time when he says paddle up! (meaning that you need to get your paddle ready to race) from the time he says Go! And when some of the paddlers were not ready, the team start will be affected and subsequently will not perform as well as they should be.
Weeks before the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta, participating teams were pushing themselves to do well during their practice to ensure their victory. Some of the coaches were moving around his paddlers around the boat to know when the paddlers do well in front as well as the back of the boat. This strategy makes the paddlers to become versatile and more valuable. The coach could not only switch the paddlers from front to back rather he can also interchange it form left to right sides of the boat.

In the second race, calling your boat Finish is a little bit risky. The cox or the coach should know his team very well. If they call finish too early, their boat can tire out and subsequently will have nothing left to finish the race. The third and fourth race in the Montreal Dragon Boat Regatta was interesting as they were the Financial Cup as well as the Out of Town Race. The distances in each race in this competition is 500 meter but not on Financial Cup and Out of Town Cup which is only 250 meters distance. There are specific strategies used for each type of race. For the 250 meters race, it is very much sprinting the entire time as the distance is short because there really isn’t enough time for transition. However, in 500 meter race you can really feel the difference between the Start, the Transition and the Finish.

In this competition, you really need to be ready mentally and physically during the race and your goal is to race and beat your opponents regardless on the external forces that you can’t control.

SIT UP
Part of what is important here is that all paddlers in the boat are sitting up in the same position with their paddles held in the same position. This gives a comment start point for all team members in the boat. When the next command is given all paddlers are making the same coordinated movements. This gives the team a faster response time, organised with no confusing movements and almost as important you look good as a team, when you look good you feel good, this is empowering.

Common sit up positions are paddles in the relaxed position, parallel over the water pointed at 90 degrees to the side of the boat. Most teams sit with their paddles pointing forward to the front of the boat at about a 45 degree angle. The water side hand resting on the paddle shaft which is on the gunnel rail. This puts the paddle closer to the paddles up position reducing response time and simplifying the movement from sit up to paddles up.

REACH
Extend your body further up on your reach towards the water.

PADDLES UP
Paddles above the water ready to take a stroke. Commonly used for starting the movement of the boat.

TAKE IT AWAY or GO
Command to start paddling. Paddle in sync with the person in front of you and also look up the boat at the stroker (1st paddlers at the front of the boat) to keep timing.

LET IT RUN
Paddling stops and boat coasts to a stop on its own.

HOLD THE BOAT
Bringing the boat to a full stop with the use of the paddles. Most commonly the whole crew would dig their paddles into the water until the boat stops. Keep holding till the steersperson says let it run/ride.

READY or ATTENTION
Race command in a start situation for paddles to be placed in position for the first stroke (submerged or out of water).

BACK PADDLE
Paddle backwards to back up the boat from the dock. Always look forward and time the paddle in front of you.

TIMING
Timing is very important, when you hear this it means someone is off and everyone must refocus on the Timing Box / or call of the Cox.

SERIES
A combination of strokes during a race, often a set of 10 or 20 strokes that are quicker and more forceful.

COXSWAIN (koksn)
Steers person of the boat who stands at the back of the boat holding a long oar, often incorrectly referred to a Cox man. For short, most people call them the “Cox”.

DRY START
This is when everyone starts the race with their paddles out of the
water at around 45 degrees

WET START
Paddle is in the water with outside arm straight just before the start.

There you have it, a common standard list of commands used in Dragonboating. So next time when you’re in the boat, pay more attention to these commands as they are crucial to your success in Dragonboating.