DRAGON BOAT EXPERIENCE: INTRODUCING DRAGON BOAT (first part)

Dragon Boat is known worldwide and provides racing on 12.66 meter long and 1.06 meter wide standard boats with a dragon shaped head and tale. These boats are piloted by 20 athletes at the rhythm dictated by the drummer. They use paddles between 1.05 and 1.30 meters long and no more than 18 cm wide, while the helmsman at the stern of the boat tracks the route with an oar about 30 meters long.

The races, which initially took place over 700 yards (640m), are now held on the classic distances of 200, 500 and 1,000 metres – this distance not being included in the continental championships. Long distance races were competed for the first time in the 1998 European Championships in Rome, along a distance of 2000 m. The categories are "open", with a reference to male, female and mixed. This last category requires crews with a minimum of eight and a maximum of 12 women in the boat.

The Italian Federation of Dragon Boat, of which Dragon Boat Experience is a part, was born on May 10th 1997 and is the only organization recognized by both the International and the European Federation. FIDB organizes its activities according to an annual calendar scheduling the absolute, the juniors and the “over 40” Italian Championships, in addition to the Italian Cup and a lot of national "Festivals". Currently, the Italian Dragon Boat Federation has about one thousand members.

FIDB organized the 2002 World Cup in Rome, the 2003 European Cup for Clubs in Auronzo di Cadore (Belluno) and the 2008 European Championship in Sabaudia. Today it is a candidate to host the World Cup in 2013 in Ravenna. FIDB believes that Dragon Boat leads people to recognize themselves in the exclusive and shared values ​​of our sport. The dragon boat is unique. It means that the individual is the strength of the whole team, just like in a family.