2012 is the Chinese year of the Dragon and Flamin’ Dragons Port Macquarie competed on Darling Harbour as part of the 2012 Chinese New Year celebrations.
Flamin’ Dragon members paddled on Saturday in Grand Masters, Masters Mixed, Masters Women and Premier Mixed teams against teams from Queensland, South Australia, Sydney, Regional New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
Racing was fast and furious on Saturday over a 240m course which started under the Pyrmont Bridge and finished abruptly at the concrete spectator area of Darling Harbour in front of thousands of family, friends and cheering spectators.
While the dragon boats raced over the short course, Chinese New Year (CNY) activities entertained crews on shore with dancing dragons, drumming and performers dressed in traditional Chinese costume handing out fortune cookies and symbolic chocolate gold coins.
The team had some paddlers who were new to the CNY experience, Di Davidson, June South, Andrew Blundell, Julie Tipper, Vicki Rutherford, John St. Baker and Jenny Murray and I am sure that they were blown away by the colour and spectacle that racing on Darling Harbour provides.
The dotting of the dragon eye ceremony was a show stopper event and for the first time Flamin’ Dragon paddlers were privileged to be on the water as part of the ceremony, the boats were blessed and the mock feeding of the dragon took place.
Paddlers from Port enjoyed the strong competition from Sydney and other regional teams and a big thank you goes to Sandra Eadie and Kris for all their hard work in compiling teams, encouraging paddlers in each and every race category and also to our faithful band of supporters and apprentice photographers who were there to congratulate us after every race.
Sunday paddling is also a highlight of the CNY celebrations and Dragons Abreast Australia (DAA) run races over the same short course for Breast Cancer Survivors. Trish Moss, Kathleen Burgess, Sandy Woolhouse, Jan Hunter, Nona Byrnes, Wendy Smith and Sharon Pullan joined forces with paddlers from Camden Haven to form a composite team. The team also included paddlers from Mt Warning and South Australia and a drummer from the US called TK.
DAA is the national group for Dragons Abreast which encompasses breast cancer survivor dragon boat clubs from all over Australia. DAA races take the form of two heats and then a major and minor final, the highlight of the competition though is the flowers on the water ceremony where the twelve dragon boats are rafted together and the drummers on each boat join hands and breast cancer survivors take time out to remember those who lost their battle. Pink petals are sprinkled on the water by all competitors and a paddle tap procession around Darling Harbour completes a very emotional experience.
Six teams compete in each final and although Port/Camden Haven composite team did not make the major final, they showed their true grit by winning the minor final over DAA Sydney, Redcliff, Central Coast, Illawarra and Penrith with all survivors receiving a medal of participation.
Many thanks to Bev Noble from Haven Dragons for organising training sessions and giving the Port DAA ladies a chance to compete on Darling Harbour, also to coach Kath Branscombe who gave up her time and energy to train and encourage the team all the way. Well done everyone and what a fantastic experience it is to paddle on the most beautiful harbour in the world.
