The very first dragon boat race of Lake Balaton, the 1st Balatonföldvár Dragon Boat Races will be held this Saturday. You can join the event at the port of Balatonföldvár between 11 AM and 3 PM.
Apropos of the race, we visited the dragon boat racers in Földvár and participated in one of their training sessions: we paddled and got soaked together.
We have learnt to our own expense that dragon boating is not your typical Balaton sport. In spite of this, the Balatonföldvár Watersports and Sailing Association organizes training for 6 days a week under the guidance of a strict but professional coach.
The association purchased the boats recently, with the help of EU funds. Their current fleet consists of 2 pieces of 20-person, 250-kg, 13.5-metre-long dragon boats, ornamented with a dragon head in front and a dragon tail in the back.
The gist of dragon boating is that the 20 paddlers should propel the boat forward in time. The drummer sits in the bow, facing the paddlers, and dictates a rhythm to which the team paddles in unison. If the team members fail to follow the drummer and the person right in front of them, the boat might easily tip over. The steerer is at the back of the boat.
Why is this boat non-typical of Lake Balaton, you might ask. The answer was unveiled to us even before getting in to the boat, when we arrived to the wave-beaten pier. Dragon boats do not tolerate waves well, and Lake Balaton does have waves that might seem ridiculous for surfers, but can still turn a dragon boat upside-down. building.And this happens. Regularly. It seems, however that our merry team members do not mind that at all - it just helps with team-building.
According to the official rules, the distance of a race can be 250, 500, 1000 or 2000 metres. There are usually only men in the open category, but they have separate categories for all-women and mixed teams. The teams of the latter must include at least 8 to 12 female paddlers. The crew consists of 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steerer.
Dragon boating originates from ancient China and looks back on a past of over 2000 years. In China, the dragon boat festival is held on every fifth day of the fifth lunar month, in memory of the Chinese statesman Qu Yuan. The rhythm of the drums, the hundreds of boats and the thousands of people attending give a special feel to these festivities.
