A very Spooky Middle Island Cup for the Dragon Boaters this year!
DRAGON BOAT CONTACTS dragonboat@rhkyc.org.hk
W O RD S: J O ROY D S - J O NES | IM AGES: G R A CE L EUN G | L ESLIE H O BB S
Rowing
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fter a number of delays this year due to Covid-19 the second ever Middle Island Cup was finally able to take place on 31 October. In ‘normal’ years the Dragon Boat competitive season is generally over by June/July but despite this there was a great turnout for the event with teams competing across Women, Open and Mixed Small Dragon Boats as well as Mixed Standard Dragon Boats. It was an added bonus that it happened to coincide with Halloween so it was a great excuse for some fancy dress costumes. On the water we had Vikings, Pacman, Super Mario, Undertakers and the Spanish Dragons suitably dressed in Dia de Muertos costumes. Unlike the inaugural Middle Island cup which took place last year around Middle Island itself, due to the time of year with the Monsoon Winds making the back of Middle Island rather choppy the decision was made for safety reasons to alter race course and hold it in the channel between Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay. The new course though shorter at 1000m offered new challenges as it involved two 180 degrees turns which is quite a feat for a dragon boat. There is a reason why Dragon Boat races generally tend to be in a straight line! As a result of
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| DECEMBER 2020 AHOY!
the course layout this meant there was more pressure than normal on the Steers. Take the corner too wide and you lose precious seconds, try and take it too sharply and the whole crew can end up in the water. This happened to one unfortunate crew and credit to them they managed to get back into the boat and complete the race. Another additional aspect to the race which made it interesting and different from most Dragon boat races is the start and finish. Two boats line up in the middle of the course facing opposite directions; one boat going round the Buoy nearer the Club to start, whilst the other team go around the buoy further away. As a result there were sections of the race
CONTACTS Rowing Manager rowingmanager@rhkyc.org.hk Coastal Rowing coastalrowing@rhkyc.org.hk Shatin Men’s Racing shatinrowingmen@rhkyc.org. hk Shatin Women’s Racing shatinrowingladies@rhkyc.org.hk
