Yesterday was the dragonboat races for my team, Paddle By Numbers. Our first race was under ideal conditions and we did the 500m in 2:32.71. The conditions were less favourable for the second race and we did 2:33.17. With our best time, we placed 122 out of 170. Not as well as we’d have liked, but still not bad all things considered.

There were new boats this year made out of fibreglass rather than wood. They were a lot faster, but also a lot less stable. One tipped at a practice Thursday evening and another tipped during a race. There was also a boat that lost its steersperson during the race. In the five years I’ve been doing this, I can’t recall a boat tipping nor a steersperson going overboard. (I’m sure the latter has happened, but I’m not aware of it.) This is probably a result of the new boats, so maybe they’ll modify the design next year and build up the keel a bit to make them a little more stable.

The weather held out until our second race. About 15 minutes after we finished, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour and everyone was soaked to the bone. But the weather cleared up after half an hour and I assume they continued racing. 🙂