Please note: This article is as of 2008!
By the editors of Dragon Boat World International with Jeff Campbell in the lead.
Dragons in the United States of America
The United States traces its modern roots back over 400 years to the arrival of European explorers, but in reality, America, as it has come to be known, has been home to paddlers for thousands of years. The Native Alaskans and Hawaiians as well as many of the Native American tribes in the continental USA have navigated their waterways for centuries by paddling. It’s not surprising that a country with a heritage of paddling embraces dragon boat racing.
One of the first cities formed in the USA – Boston, Massachusetts – also claims the longest continuous running dragon boat race in the US. They began racing dragon boats way back in 1980. For 38 years this race has brought dragons and paddling to the Charles River, a bastion of rowing. This two day event features a blend of club and corporate teams. Even many of the elite rowing schools like Harvard and MIT field dragon boat teams. Although Boston has not yet developed into a premier paddling power house, the race is popular and well attended, and boasts many cultural activities.
Dragon boating in the US has strong ties in the rowing community. Back in the early 1980’s, the Hong Kong Tourism Bureau invited rowing crews to Hong Kong to introduce them to dragon boating. It’s a natural connection and one that many of the top clubs continue to cultivate today. One of the first US communities to embrace dragon boating was Philadelphia who sent their first crew to Hong Kong in 1983 (CLICK HERE). Today, Philadelphia is one of several core dragon boating communities, but in the early years the USA took its direction from the center of the country.
Dragon boats first arrived in Iowa in 1985 and it didn’t take long for racing to begin. The boats were acquired by Mississippi River Adventures who used them in their annual MADRAC canoe float. The successes of this event led to the creation of the American Dragon Boat Association (ADBA) and the country’s first International Dragon Boat Race which was held at Navy Pier in Chicago in 1988. Early ADBA pioneers from places like Dubuque, Cedar Rapids and Fort Dodge are still active in the sport today.
The ADBA formed a Midwest regional circuit in 1989 with events in South Haven, Michigan; Red Wing, Minnesota; St. Charles, Illinois; and Dubuque, Iowa. Soon after, Burlington and Cedar Rapids,Iowa joined the sport of Dragon Boat Racing. The ADBA was the governing body of the sport of dragon boat racing until the formation of the United States Dragon Boat Federation (USDBF) in 1996. After relinquishing the governing role, the ADBA was free to pursue their mission, “Friendship Through Paddling,” and became both a regional affiliate of the USDBF and a commercial race provider. The ADBA is responsible for the creation of more dragon boat festivals in the USA than all other organizations combined!
On the West coast, Portland, Oregon began dragon boat racing when her sister city, Kaoshiung, Taiwan, donated two of their beautiful, ceremonial flag grabbing dragon boats in 1989. The community immediately fell in love with these super sized dragon boats. The ornate dragon head towers four feet above the water and the steering oar is centered to give this 3,500 pound beauty better maneuverability. Teams of 21 compete annually on the Willamette River at Portland’s Rose Festival. Rose Festival consistently draws over 100 teams and 100,000 spectators over two days of racing making this one of the USA’s longest running and best attended events.
Much of the credit for dragon boating in Portland goes to Dr. Richard Cole and his wife Heida and to Dr. Joel Shilling. Their vision and dedication turned Portland into yet another strong hold of dragon boat paddling. Dr. Shilling brought the Hong Kong Style boats to Portland in 1994 when he purchased a fleet of boats from long time dragon boat builder Vincent Lo of 6-16 in Canada. These boats quickly became the standard for dragon boating on the West Coast. In fact there was so little equipment available in the US at the time that Dr. Shilling rented his boats to festivals as far away as Baltimore Maryland. As a master wood worker he crafted his own dragon heads and steering oars, many of which are still in use today.
The addition of a fleet of dragon boats created a new dynamic for dragon boating on the West Coast — club teams. Club based teams were also forming in places like NY after race organizer Henry Wan ran the first Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York in 1991. It didn’t take long for Henry’s event to become the marquee event on the East Coast. A dragon boat race is a great excuse to visit NYC, not that the city is lacking for reasons to visit. The addition of prize money, at the time unheard of in dragon boat racing, ensured that the top US and Canadian crews were always in attendance. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, the group that started the dragon boating craze, sponsors the NY race as well as Boston and Miami. Without the support of sponsors like them dragon boating would not be the same today.
Unlike the boats in the west,NY imported traditional teak boats from Hong Kong. Although beautiful to look at, these boats were small for the larger sized Americans.The seats were cramped, and fully loaded they ran with only an inch or two of freeboard. It was always interesting to watch the men race at this event. The boat seemed to disappear into the water giving the illusion of 20 men magically paddling through the water with only a drummer and helm visible above their flashing paddles. When NY modernized their fleet to fiberglass boats a tradition of the sport faded, but the paddlers rejoiced.
Today in the USA there are two main types of paddlers. Club based paddlers practice frequently and travel to events all over the world. Festival based paddlers are recreational in nature, frequently part of a corporate or community team, that only race once a year at their local event. As the sport grows, more corporate and community teams are traveling,but it is the club paddlers, or “professionals” as they are sometimes called, that are the most passionate.
Club Teams
Over the years clubs have come and gone, often reforming under new names, but a few have withstood the test of time. The Philadelphia Men, now the Philadelphia Dragon Boat
Association, have the distinction of being the oldest and most distinguished dragon boat club in the USA. Their paddlers formed the core of the IDBF World Premier Champion team in Sydney.
On the East Coast,one of the first club teams was the Wall Street Lions who formed in 1990. The Wall Street Lions were originally all members of New York City’s Wall Street Lions Club. As the membership grew they soon realized that their connection was more to the sport and less to the Lions Club so they changed their name to Wall Street Dragons. Powerhouse clubs like Metro Area Dragons (MAD) and Dah Chong Hong (DCH) were making the biggest splash. The NY rivalry that developed in the early 1990’s still goes on today. Some think that if the New York men were to put aside intra-club competition to form one team, they could give the world champion Philadelphia men a real run.
In the West, one of the nation’s largest and most successful clubs is Wasabi Paddling Club from Portland which formed in 1991 (CLICK HERE). In 1992, the first all lesbian team, Amazon Dragons, was formed in Portland making this group of dedicated women one of the longest active clubs. The umbrella group for many of the Portland teams is Dragon Sports USA which was founded in 1994. The list of firsts for Portland continued in 1996 when Pink Phoenix became the first Breast Cancer Survivor team in the USA.
Commercialization
The early 21st Century saw the rise of the commercial aspect of the sport. Early innovators like Shilling had the equipment and know how to run races, but with full time day jobs were mostly hobbyists. The people who were running most dragon boat organizations were doing so out of love for the sport because there was little money to be earned with so few races. Although very altruistic, the pay your own way model is expensive and can result in the burn out of those willing to give their time and energy to grow the sport.
The first commercialization was in equipment. It didn’t take long for paddle manufacturers to realize that there was a potential in dragon boating that far outweighs canoe and kayak,but they approached cautiously. It was the popularity of the carbon fiber paddle that brought out the US makers. Champion canoe paddler and paddle maker Bob Zaveral launched his ZRE dragon boat paddle and long time SF Bay area paddler Arin Chang created Burnwater.
Jeff Campbell, a long time member of the USDBF, launched his company USA Dragon Boating, LLC in 2005 to help provide high quality products and services to the paddlers and festivals in the USA. USA Dragon Boating and the online retail arm, DoubleFifth.com, partners with manufacturers and provides a way for them maximize their reach without having to deal with individuals and teams. More importantly Campbell draws on his 15 years of dragon boating experience to provide service to new and existing festivals helping to drive growth of the sport. (Editors Note: Jeff has closed his business in 2020)
Others are drawing on their experience to help promote growth as well. Long time Wall Street Dragons paddlers Chung Wing Louie and Patrick Chin bought boats and formed their company US Dragon Boats. Event organizers Wendy Witsoe and Penny Behling did their homework and formed Dynamic Events, starting initially in Tennessee but now branching out nation wide. Mike Kerkmann sold Great White North, a major Canadian Dragon Boat race provider, in 2007, but rumor has it he is moving to Florida so you can continue to expect great things from him either as a part of GWN or if he forms a new company. A good example of Kerkmann’s work is Tampa, Florida which will be hosting the 2011 World Championships.
The benefit of commercialization in the USA is the accelerated growth of the sport. Equipment is readily available and the expertise these groups can offer allows a festival to form in as little as a few months. Although some people may not appreciate the commercial approach, it’s a way of life in the USA and we are fortunate that people who are truly passionate about the sport are leading the way.
Dragon Boating Today
The availability of equipment has caused an explosion of dragon boat races and festivals in the USA. Organizers who used to be fiercely protective of their boats are now realizing that renting their equipment allows for a faster return on their investment and creates more opportunities to develop teams that may ultimately attend their event. Club teams are finding that they can save money by owning boats and in some cases are using their boats to provide income through rental and selling team building sessions to local businesses and smaller clubs.
The development of dragon boating in places like Florida, Texas and Arizona has extended the sport by many months. In the USA, races used to occur from May until October. Today racing in Florida begins in March and the last races of the year are in November. The only thing keeping the sport from year round racing is the difficulty of getting teams to race over the holidays. Florida, the fourth largest state in the USA, is one of the fastest growing areas for the sport. Even places like Disney World are getting into the sport with their first race scheduled for October of this year.
The nice winters in the South are great for year round team training, but even further north teams are able to practice all year. It takes a special breed of paddler to head out when its 38 degrees and raining. In many locations it is only when the water freezes that they stop using the boats. Rather than give up training many of the top paddlers in the USA head indoors to continue training. Pool sessions and more one-on-one attention from the coaches help paddlers hone their skills until they can return to the water.
The USA may have lagged behind Canada and Europe in the early developing years of the sport, but US paddlers are now wide awake and ready to take their place amongst the paddlers of so many other great nations. From sea to shining sea, dragon boating is becoming a part of the great melting pot of traditions and cultures that makes up these great United States.
Above Group are the Tampa Blade Runners and the Tampa HSBC Blade Runner, whoes mixed team just returns from a race in below photo.
Visit the website of the United States Dragon Boat Federation
