Cape Town and the V&A Waterfront will be hosting
one of the world’s most vibrant and colourful sporting events – The Club
Crew Dragon Boat Racing World Championships.
Over 1 700 professional and amateur paddlers, from
13 countries across the globe including China, Hong Kong, Switzerland,
Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the USA, Italy and
Russia, will be competing for top spot in this year’s championships.
With a history steeped in tradition over 2 000
years old, modern day Dragon Boat Racing owes its existence to the
organisers of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival which took place in
1976. It is estimated that there are currently over 50 million people
participating annually in Dragon Boat competitions world-wide.
2004 will mark the first time that a Dragon Boat
World Championship is held in Africa, with Cape Town beating six other
countries from four different continents including the United Kingdom and
Canada, in bidding for the event.
“In South Africa, this particular water sport has
garnered a loyal following with well over 1 000 club members nationally,”
adds Osse. “The country was introduced to this unusual team sport in 1992
when two authentic, ceremonial wooden dragon boats were presented to Cape
Town by Ilan County, our Taiwanese sister city.”
Part of the World Championship will include a race
with breast cancer survivors as a way of raising awareness for the
disease. There will also be a corporate team race for locals wanting to
join in the fun and festivities of the event.
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