Dragon boats draw crowds to False Creek
Thousands of dragon boaters and onlookers gathered in False Creek on Sunday to compete in the Concord Pacific Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival, watch races, indulge in food truck fare and enjoy the sunshine.
Unfortunately, racers were challenged by at least one boater who refused to move his vessel from a spot that interfered with one of the race lanes, said executive director Anne Phelps. On Sunday, the vessel, piled with garbage and decked out with tarps, spewed sparks and black smoke from the starboard side as dragon boaters passed by. “It’s a wreck, it’s dirty, portholes are missing, it doesn’t look seaworthy,” said Phelps.
Dragon Boat B.C. and the Canadian Dragon Boat Festival Society have lobbied the government unsuccessfully to ban pleasure craft in False Creek east of the Cambie Bridge after a boat veered into a race lane during last year’s competition.
The waterway is under federal jurisdiction, so local provincial and municipal governments have limited authority. “Unlike a lot of cities where you can pre-book a place to anchor according to a GPS coordinate, Vancouver does not offer that,” said Phelps. “They just put their boat where they want.”
Organizers approach moored boats in advance, explain the event, ask if they would mind moving and offer tickets for refreshments. “They are all really nice, but every once in a while you get someone who doesn’t want to move or can’t move,” said Phelps. “We were almost unable to put in one of our race courses because he was tangling up our lines.”
The situation is frustrating, said Phelps, and requires political will beyond the municipal government. “It’s getting worse every year. On occasion the police would ask them to move or help them move, but they can’t do that anymore. There are risk issues and liability issues.”
The fast-growing sport just keeps getting more popular, said spokeswoman Anita Webster. The event is a major tourist attraction, bringing in $1.6 million annually, and is the largest festival of its kind outside of Hong Kong. This year’s festival featured teams from Macau, Shanghai and the Czech Republic.
David Ng, who led a recreational team of 12- to18-year-olds to an unexpected gold in the D division, said that although his team wasn’t expecting to win gold, he told them to not accept being in the bottom. “Winning any medal is nice, but in the end it’s about giving them a lifelong recreation, a chance to learn to work together and co-operate and give something their all.”