A dragonboat is a canoe-like boat around 12,5 meters long and 1 meter wide. On the boat there are seats for 22 people: 20 paddlers (on each side 10), a steering man and a drummer. The purpose is for a team to paddle as fast as they can to reach a certain distance, that´s usually 200 up to 800 meters. On special occasions there are races run with distances from 3 to 10 kilometers.

Photo: Dragon Boat Club of Boston

Near the end of the ´80s dragonboat racing was introduced as a sport in Europe and America. In 1990 during the SAIL ´90 event in Amsterdam, dragonboat racing was first shown in the Netherlands. Nowadays the sport is practised not only in China, Hongkong, Indonesia and America but also in many other countries (for instance: Africa, Germany, France, England, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands).

Up till now each year there are competition events organised in the Netherlands, where 11 teams participate to compete for the Dutch Championships title. Beside the Championships there are also dragonboat tournaments throughout the year, where also company and other teams join to compete with each other. Competitive teams not only participate in national tournaments, but also internationally as in Europe, Asia and America.

It´s not surprising why the dragonboat sport is winning in popularity in the Netherlands. The excitement of the race, the drumming sounds, the wonderfully decorated boats, cheering supporters and the festivities on shore makes a dragonboatrace a great spectacle to experience each time.