Click photo to enlarge
Celebrating their win in the inaugural dragon boat
festival, Dunedin City Council team members Mike Kendrick
and Eric Deleeuw dive into the Dunedin Steamer Basin. Photo
be Jane Dawber.
"I think we ate too many sausages," said Naomi Ma, after
her Pacific Islands dragon boat team won the prize for most
spectacular capsize at the inaugural Emperor's Dragon Boat
festival yesterday.
Six teams took part in the festival on Otago Harbour at
Steamer Basin yesterday, but the contest was cut short before
the last round and final races, due to rising swells.
Miss Ma, a human nutrition student, said her team of 22
Pacific Islanders competing for the University of Otago
enjoyed their first dragon boat festival, especially as the
boat began taking on water: "We all just started laughing."
Festival spokesman, Cathryn Edwards, of Otago Museum, said
despite the cancellation of the last round and final, the
crowd of more than 1000 people enjoyed three rounds.
"The teams are inexperienced, so at 1.30pm with the swells
getting up we decided to cancel the racing and go straight to
the awards."
The festival, held to promote the museum's Emperor's Dragons
exhibition, may be turned into an annual Waitangi Day event,
she said.
"I think people really enjoyed themselves."
Aoraki Dragon Boat chairwoman Meri Gibson, of Christchurch,
said while the conditions were some of the roughest she had
experienced, "it was a great festival".
The Christchurch-based club, which supplied the dragon boats,
would leave one in Dunedin so the sport could become
established in the city.
"It is a great location, good atmosphere; it has the
potential to hold an international event here," she said.
Ms Gibson, a breast cancer survivor, said she took up the
sport to aid her recovery and it had been "invaluable".
Results: DCC Dragons 1, OSCA (Otago Southland Chinese
Association) 2, Otago Museum Exhibitionists 3.
