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.
Dragon boats approach the Walkway over the Hudson. Dragon boat racing began about 2,000 years ago in China.
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 one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
Their company has done approximately 60 Dragon Boat Race events, across North America.
At first glance, the Dragon Boat race seems to be no different than a Harvard or, locally, 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,” said Goldfinch. 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 person.”
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 it began in 2013, and this year has made it a family affair. He loved the event.
“Oh, it was fantastic,” Masaro 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.
