5 AMAZING DRAGON BOAT CRASHES

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Some people only watch races for the crashes. Luckily in Dragon Boating there is no concrete or walls to smash into, only the chilly embrace of the water. So feel free to laugh at these crashes, the worst injury these people received was to their race time. Oh, and their ego. 

Sudden Capsize

Cutting off opposing racers is NOT a valid strategy in Dragon Boat. No one is trying to draft. There are no turns. Maybe they put all their strong paddlers on one side of the boat? You can see the steersperson desperately trying the correct the course of the boat, but they all end up taking a dip.

 

 

 

The PIT Maneuver 

The PIT maneuver is a technique police use to spin out criminals in high speed car chases. One Dragon Boat team obviously just watched COPS and decided this technique could also be used in Dragon Boat. Watch how the team that gets rammed keeps paddling after getting hit way off course, until everyone slowly realizes they aren’t even heading in the right direction anymore.

 

 

 

Double Crash

The dreaded double crash! While the first one seems accidental, the second team of crashers really takes “never stop paddling” a bit too seriously. The boat on the farthest lane manages to evade the crash by what looks like just a couple feet.

 

 

 

 

The Crowd Goes Wild

This one is more about the audience than the crash itself. They are just so happy to see that team flip over! I like to imagine if this was a sports movie, that team was reigning champions for the past 7 years and this is them finally losing due to their hubris and bad sportsmanship. Truly, they are the Globo Gyms of Dragon Boating.

 

 

 

Dragon Boat Smash-Up Derby

We're not sure what is going on here but this has to rank as one of the most fun, frustrating and purely insane dragon boat races we've seen. How many crashes can you count? Be sure to jump to the 2:30 mark to see the action.