Dragon Boat Races This Weekend!
The 2008 Rainier Dragon Boat Festival is this Saturday, May 17, on the Thea Foss. 30 teams from all over the west coast will compete on the 500 meter-long course.
If you don’t know much about dragon boating, here’s how it works: 22 people get on a decorated boat (hint: it looks like a dragon) and race their heart out. 20 of them are paddlers, one is a drummer at the bow, and in the back someone mans the helm.
We thought this was cool:
One of the teams competing at the festival is Blind Ambition, a dragon boat team comprised of visually impaired athletes from Portland, Oregon. Blind Ambition is the first blind competitive dragon boat team to compete equally with other dragon boat teams in the country. They come from all walks of life. Some of them are teachers, doctors, councilors, housewives, students and massage therapists.
Races begin at 8:30 am. The best viewing site will be just south of the Museum of Glass.
For more information visit Washington Dragon Boats
Filed under: Events
3 comments
T Tim May 14, 2008
Thank you for recognizing this event. We are excited about it for several reasons.
A great majority of the teams are from Portland and so this event has economic impact numbers associated with it.
The club producing the event has a great reputation and is representing Tacoma in a way we can all be proud of.
We are proud to be part of the continued development of the waterway as a multi purpose destination.
See you on Saturday.
Tacoma Pierce County Sports Commission
www.tacomasports.org
J Jules May 15, 2008
Thank you so much for supporting the 2008 Rainier Dragon Boat Festival. We are looking forward to a great day on the water!
If you are interested in hearing more about the sport or would like to give it a try please contact us. It is a great way to meet new people and experience nature at it’s best.
Paddles Up!
Jules
President
Washington Dragon Boat Association
S Steve Wells May 15, 2008
By all means get out and support the dragon boat races. Then, as the day warms up, head further north along Ruston Way to the Davis Marine Park. At 10:00 there will be a race for rowers, outrigger paddlers, sea kayaks, and surf skis. This race is one of the Sound Rowers and Paddlers series and brings athletes from the entire Pacific Northwest to Tacoma. You can see more details about the race at www.soundrowers.org. The boats will head south towards the yellow bouy at the mouth of the Puyallup River. Then they head towards the chip barge buoy, go round it and return along Ruston Way to Davis Marine Park. That’s 7 miles of racing. Should take the racers between 40 minutes and an hour to do the course.