Dragon boat race
hits seventh year

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

What does one do with 75 feet worth of mythological creatures?

Have a cultural festival.

It began as a search to find a use for two gift dragon boats from Honolulu's sister city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It has turned into a two-day event involving some 53 teams, including the defending world champion, more than 1,000 participants and a perpetuation of a 2,000-year-old Chinese tradition.

The seventh annual AT&T Hawaii Dragon Boat Festival celebrates one of the three major Chinese holidays, traditionally scheduled for the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Dragon Boat Festival began as an occasion for driving off evil spirits and disease, but it has turned into an international family fair.

"In Hawaii, the concept for dragon boat racing was turned into a festival that would involve the local paddling community, military and corporations," said George Irion, AT&T Hawaii's Director for Consumer Communications Services. "We wanted to turn it more into a family event that includes music, food and entertainment. I'm very happy with how it's grown. It's gotten bigger and better every year in terms of community support.

"There really is something for everyone in the family."

The original dragon boat family has grown from two to three members, each measuring about 37 1/2-feet and weighing about a ton. The boats used in Honolulu are shorter than the traditional Hong Kong-style boat of 44 feet but the colorful, fierce-looking dragon heads on the bow and stern are the same.

The course is 500 meters long in the swimming channel fronting Ala Moana Beach Park with three lanes. The crew includes a flag catcher that grabs the flag on the finish-line buoy, a steersperson, 16 paddlers and a drummer that helps the paddlers time strokes.

Irion won't be competing this year due to a commitment on the Big Island. But he has enjoyed paddling in the past. "I love being on the water," he said. "You get your competitive juices going. And it's such a team event.

"What I enjoyed was giving our company an excuse to get together tied around the spirit of competition.

"It's a unique and different sport. It's hard to get the boat going. Teamwork is so important. There's a different skill to it, a different type of stroke. The paddle is so unwieldy and timing is so important."

The Hawaii Stevedores have won this event the past two years but expect a tough challenge from the world champion Nokia team from Canada.

AT&T Hawaii Dragon Boat Festival When: Racing is 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday. Festival is 10 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. both days. Where: Ala Moana Beach Park. Who: More than 50 26-member teams competing on a 500-meter course.