The aim of Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat & Outrigger Canoe Club Inc. is to promote, encourage and assist the participation of our valued members to achieve their individual goals of competition, fitness and fun.
Our Dragon Boat and Sprint OC's home is on Lake Kawana, Sunshine Coast Queensland, perfect for flat water competitions and home to many of the season's regattas.
The club has become increasingly competitive in recent years being commited to our training, technique, fitness and of course respecting the culture of dragon boat racing and outrigging. We have built a strong reputation within our community, medaling in local and state regattas and have many members competing at national and international level.
About Dragon Boat Racing
Dragon boat racing originated in China more than 2000 years ago. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, a Chinese poet-philosopher named Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Mei Lo River to protest the corrupt regime of a Chou emperor.
Hundreds of local fishermen raced out in their boats but failed to save him. They beat the water with their paddles and threw rice dumplings wrapped in silk into the river to stop his body from being devoured by fish.
This became an annual dragon boat celebration to produce rain to secure a good harvest.
In the modern sport of Dragon Boat Racing today, it is not only one of the oldest sports in the world, it is also one of the largest team sports in the world. It can be found in more than 30 countries with festivals combining athleticism with ancient traditions, and an estimated 50 million people taking part in dragon boating competitions annually.
A typical dragon boat consists of 22 people onboard; a drummer beating time, 20 paddlers seated two abreast and a steersperson (sweep) guiding the boat. The paddlers work together, stroking in time, moving toward the finish line, while the steersperson keeps the boat on a straight course.
An international standard dragon boat race is 500 metres and takes the top crews just under 2 minutes. Other standard races can be as short as 200m and as long as 2000m with one historic race in China being 78km down the Yangtzee River.
When competing at regattas, boats start from a standing position; the combination of strength, power, technique and near perfect timing is necessary to get your boat across the finish line first, as many races are fought out in the last few meters and placing’s differ by split seconds.
The sport of dragon boating is truly one of the most exciting team sports that anyone can participate in and has the added benefits of working a whole range of muscles and develops strength, core, endurance and of course friendship.
About Outrigging
The use of outrigger canoes can be traced as far back as 30,000 years ago, they facilitated the migration of ancient cultures. The vessels were used to travel to Hawaii in about 200 A.D - they continued to use the canoes for fishing and transport as the harsh terrain of the land made it easier to navigate by sea.
In modern sport outrigger canoeing, ships are classified according to the configuration and number of the hulls and the number of paddlers, including the OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4 and OC6 (with the respective number of paddlers using a single-hull outrigger canoe), and the DC12 or OC12 (with twelve paddlers using a double-hull outrigger canoe, two six-person canoes rigged together like a catamaran). Outriggers without a rudder are referred to as V1, V2, etc. (where V refers to vaʻa). Traditionally the vessels are blessed before their initial launch.
Lengths of races are many and varied and competitions are held at many levels - from local club competitions to international competitions such as Moloka'i Hoe, which is a race between the islands of Molokai and Oahu, Hawaii the distance being approx. 69 km. Racing takes on three forms; iron marathons, change-over marathons and sprints. These are raced by six person canoes (OC6), two person canoes (OC2) and solo canoes (OC1). Sprints are held over 500 - 3000 metres and are usually held on flat water courses. Iron marathons vary in distances between 5 and 30 kilometres. Change-over marathons generally, but not all ways, exceed 30 kilometres, and are held on open water courses.
As with Dragon Boat Racing, Outrigging is also a sport which combines strength, power, technique and timing in order to get your craft across the finish line first.
At Sunshine Coast Dragon Boat & Outrigger Canoe Club Inc. friendships, health, fitness, an affinity with an aquatic environment and a cultural education will be fostered - come and try the sport and make new friends.
(Acknowledgements to Wikipedia, Steven Becker author, AOCRA)