Sitting Up Top

All the crew members are essential. The drummer beats time for the whole crew. Sitting at the front of the boat they work as the front lead in keeping the pace. They sit in a difficult situation. The drum seat is high above the centre of gravity of the boat. It feels like every movement of the boat is exaggerated and about to throw you off. And, as you are sitting you cannot balance with your feet - you have to go with the flow and be steady as well as beat the drum. It is a difficult and exacting task.

The most significant issue in dragon boating is weight. The Western crews rarely win world championships because the lighter Eastern crews have a weight advantage and the boat is higher out of the water. This means the water resistance is lower and the boats less likely to swamp in the waves.

Interesting point, the Eastern crews often race at sea. As you can see there is very little freeboard (The height of a ship's side between the waterline and the deck). So as the race continues the boat gets swamped with waves. So to lighten the boats the crew gradually jump overboard one at a time to give the boat sufficient freeboard to stay afloat. Winning crews have been known to finish a race with less than half the crew left. The others swim back to the finish. It could be a race off-shore of several miles - a long swim!

Although made of carbon fibre and kevlar the boats are of a traditional design. The position of the drummer and the standing steersman at the back is defined by the lack of seating space and the need to see and be seen and the practicalities of steering with an oar. Race rules are very specific on the construction and design of the boats and there is no room for variation.

Other photos today...
http://365project.org/netkonnexion/365/2011-12-11
http://365project.org/netkonnexion/anotherone/2011-12-11

[Kerri]

Great capture

[Brian Baptie]

I'd be great at that job!!

[Terry]

I have seen these , what discipline it takes

[Cheyenne Rebecca ツ]

How cool! That looks like fun!

[christiq]

i used to paddle! so fun! then i hurt my shoulder and became the drummer. did you participate in the race?

[Netkonnexion]

@christiq - No, I used to run a watersports centre nearly 20 years ago and I did quite a bit of dragon boating then. In this case I was there to photograph the event.

[Mike Warren]

Cool shot. Looks like a very dedicated crew.

[Howard N]

Do the drummers have to sit so high? Seems as if they are not very aerodynamic!!!

[Rick Schies]

Interesting view

[Sue Wilde]

This is terrific

[Beth]

Great action shot. I had no idea that there needed to be a drummer to help the rowers keep time. How interesting.

[Sophia Ziburtovicz]

Great action shot. Do you drum?

[Netkonnexion]

@kerristephens @bdb3471 @sarasdadandmom @cheyrebecca @christiq @mwarren365 @hown @digitalrn @swilde @vernabeth @sophiaz - Thanks for visiting. I have put some more information in the caption box after questions.

[Netkonnexion]

@sophiaz - See the information above, however, for my part I am far too heavy to sit in drummers position.

[Dione Giorgio]

Beautiful shot. Love the information, amazing!

[Cassandra Hoffmann]

awesome shot :)

[Alison Hewitt Bailey]

Cool! Your caption makes for very interesting reading as well.

[Michelle]

Fantastic focus

[Shanne]

great shot and interesting information

[Matt Clendon]

Very interesting information and new to me. I enjoyed reading about it all.

[Anneli Salo]

I would not dare to sit on that boat. But it is nice to look at.