POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie Hudson River Rowing Association
hosted, for its third year now, the annual Dragon Boat Race, starting
Saturday morning and continuing throughout the afternoon.
Twenty teams participated this year to raise money for the Mile of Hope
Breast Cancer Foundation and Arts Mid Hudson. Each team each team was
expected to raise some $800 in donations.
Philip Goldfinch, event manager and chief race official, who is also from
22 Dragons of Montreal, Canada – the company that provided the Dragon
Boats, said Dragon Boat racing started in North America in the early 90s,
and has since become the largest growing sport in the world.
Their company has done approximately 60 Dragon Boat Race events, across
North America.
Dragon boats head south on the Hudson during Saturday’s race for
charity
At first glance, the Dragon Boat race seems to be no different than a
Cambridge or, more relevantly, a Marist rowing race; however, Goldfinch
explained that the two sports are, in fact, very different.
“Rowing is with an oar and either two-handed or single-handed depending
on how many oars you are using. Whereby, Dragon Boating is very similar
to canoeing where you’re paddling in a boat and you’ve got
20 paddlers in that boat: 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steer’s person,”
said Goldfinch.
The drummer helps to cadence the rhythm of the paddler’s strokes
and the steer’s person controls the rudder to control the direction
of the Dragon Boat which is, of course, adorned with an artfully designed,
Chinese-style Dragon figure.
It was extremely hot Saturday, but Goldfinch said the races went off without
a hitch; no one succumbed to the heat and water conditions, despite being
highly traveled by other vessels, were optimal.
John Masaro Jr. said he has done the event every year in Poughkeepsie,
since its initiation in 2013, and this year has made it a family affair.
He loved the event.
“Oh, it was fantastic,” he said. “My cousin Cindy invited
me about three years ago, and it’s my third time doing it and I
finally got to bring my family here, and my wife’s parents from
Lithuania and it was fantastic. It’s a great cause.”
Masaro’s wife, Romenta, translated what her Lithuanian father said
about the event when he shared his thoughts. He said, “It was amazing
and I loved it.”
The cousin Masaro spoke of, Cindy Kenry, was their team leader and was
also the leader of another team called Kay’s Crew.
Kay’s Crew was inspired as a testament to honor her mother who had
recently passed months before Saturday’s event.
“My mom’s been actually supporting me doing the Dragon Boats
for nine years straight,” said Kenry. “She would come to every
event and totally support me.”
In honor of her mother, who for the first time could not see Kenry compete,
she and her team put the extra effort out and came in third place. She
said she knows her mother would have been proud.
The Dragon Boat Race is expected to be back to Poughkeepsie again next
summer.
