About Us
Hervey Bay Dragons
Hervey Bay Dragon Boat Club Inc. is a recreational and competitive club of approximately 30 members. New members are always welcome and age is no barrier. We are lucky to have the pristine setting of Hervey Bay’s usually calm waters and the sheltered Great Sandy Straits Marina for training. We often encounter dolphins, turtles as well as an occasional whale in the distance and make sure there is always a
fun element to our sport.
We have two 20 seater and a 10 seater boat and each year compete in the Greater Wide Bay Series with Regattas at Torquay, The Town of 1770, Bundaberg and Cooloola (Tin Can Bay). These Regattas are very enjoyable with fierce but friendly rivalry and a great atmosphere of camaraderie which has been nurtured over the years. Individual members also have the opportunity to compete in other Regattas in composite crews including the State and National Championships.
We respect the beliefs and traditions of the ancient Chinese culture surrounding Dragon Boat racing by blessing a new boat and awakening it with the “Dotting the eye” ceremony. This is also carried out at the start of each racing season.
fun element to our sport.
We have two 20 seater and a 10 seater boat and each year compete in the Greater Wide Bay Series with Regattas at Torquay, The Town of 1770, Bundaberg and Cooloola (Tin Can Bay). These Regattas are very enjoyable with fierce but friendly rivalry and a great atmosphere of camaraderie which has been nurtured over the years. Individual members also have the opportunity to compete in other Regattas in composite crews including the State and National Championships.
We respect the beliefs and traditions of the ancient Chinese culture surrounding Dragon Boat racing by blessing a new boat and awakening it with the “Dotting the eye” ceremony. This is also carried out at the start of each racing season.
Cultural Aspects of Dragon Boating
Dragon Boat Festival celebrates the life and death of Qu Yuan who was a great Chinese poet who lived during the period of the Warring States – a time when China was divided into several kingdoms which were constantly at war with each other, seeking supremacy over the other.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar in the year 278BC, while in exile. Qu Yuan heard that the fall of the Kingdom of Chu, which the capital had fallen into the hands of the Qins. In the ultimate expression of love for his country, Qu Yuan, weighted down with a rock and threw himself into the Miluo River (Hunan Province) and drowned. Boats were launched by the local fishermen in a race to be first to recover Qu Yuan’s body. Dragon Boat racing was born. The furious splashing of paddles and the banging of drums used today which gives the crews there timing has the origin of the fishermen’s bid to scare off fish and other river creatures from defiling his body.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar in the year 278BC, while in exile. Qu Yuan heard that the fall of the Kingdom of Chu, which the capital had fallen into the hands of the Qins. In the ultimate expression of love for his country, Qu Yuan, weighted down with a rock and threw himself into the Miluo River (Hunan Province) and drowned. Boats were launched by the local fishermen in a race to be first to recover Qu Yuan’s body. Dragon Boat racing was born. The furious splashing of paddles and the banging of drums used today which gives the crews there timing has the origin of the fishermen’s bid to scare off fish and other river creatures from defiling his body.