Dragonboat Blog | The Dragonboating Resource

dragonboat talk for dragonboaters.

From the time of early China up to this present day, in remembrance of Qu Yuan, dragon boat races are still performed. Every fifth day of the fifth lunar month which is the anniversary of his death, people eat zong zi, and do several other activities.

There are a lot of things to see in Dragon Boat races and the most thrilling part of the festival is the crowd of people that are there to witness and participate in the event. Generally, Dragon Boats are brilliantly painted and decorated with some shades of Chinese old ancient tradition. It varies from 40 to 100 feet in length, including their heads which shaped-like a hearty dragons, while the firm end has a flaking tail. It has the capability to handle 80 powered rowers including drummer and a flag-catcher. Before the start of the festival, a dragon goes through a certain ritual called “brought to life”. This is done by painting the eyes in a sanctified ceremony. Races have no definite numbers of boats that wants to participate and compete, with the winner being the first team to grab a flag at the end of the course. Once a year, dragon races are held all over China, Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries around the globe.

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Regata 2000 is a manufacturer of Dragon Boats located in Hungary. Many of their customers have said that their boats are “stiff and durable”. Basically they use Fibre glass and plywood to construct the boat and the frame can be made out of pine wood or mahagoni depending on the strength and stiffness you require. Overall the boat weighs between 250kg to 300kg and the boat can be purchased for around 4,800 EURO (includes the head, the tail the drummer’s seat and the steering paddle). For more quantities Regatta 2000 says they can offer a better price.

Lastly to mention, on a special request Regatta 2000 has said they can use kevlar and carbon fibre to lighten the boat at an additional cost. Why spend more when the minimum weight is 250kg?

Gemini Dragon Boats are manufactured by a Polish company called Gemini Composites. Their experience is in manufacturing boats such as Yachts, motor boats and Dragon Boats out of composite materials. As you will see the Dragon Boats they manufacture are made out of a composite plastic materials and everything is moulded together, even the seats!

Their main advantage is “toughness”, where there are no screws or fixing points at the seats or on the hull. One problem I see is if any parts get damaged, e.g. seats or the hull or the side of the boat, then basically it means that one will have to send it back to the manufacturer for repairs. It would be easier to ask the manufacturer to send parts rather than shipping a whole boat back! Gemini also says that it’s lower maintenance, because there are no “wooden” parts involved, yes and no. One, if wood is protected properly it will last for years and it’s easier and cheaper to replace. Two, wooden seats will be more comfortable to sit on compared to plastic moulded material as there is potentially more chances that plastic will expand under heat.

Well, I’ll let you all decide whether or not this is a good Dragon Boat to use!