Solomons, MD – As if Solomons Island wasn’t festive enough already! The Second annual Solomons Island Dragon Boat Festival Friday evening, Aug. 18 and Saturday, Aug. 19 brought 27 crews of 18 (16 paddlers, one steer person and one drummer) and hordes of spectators to the Patuxent River side of the island. The event was a presentation of Southern Maryland Community Resources Inc. (SMCR) and was sponsored by Cedar Point Federal Credit Union.
While the logistics of coordinating the many teams for a series of almost 30 races are complex, the Dragon Boat race concept is quite simple. Three boats compete in a 200-meter race and whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner. Some of the victories in this year’s race were literally by a dragon’s nose.
In the final race, the team called Dragon Flies defeated #Bethefirst (sponsored by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office) and the Centurions. The final times were Dragon Flies – 1 minute, 2.25 seconds; #Bethefirst – 1 minute, 2.29 seconds; and Centurions – 1 minute, 2.68 seconds.
Earlier in the day, #Bethefirst bested MikeandMike—a team sponsored by Calvert County Sheriff Mike Evans and Calvert County Commissioner Mike Hart—in one of the closest and fastest races of the day. It was the only two-boat race of the day. The St. Mary’s crew completed the 200-meter trek in 58:81 seconds while the Calvert crew logged a time of 59:26 seconds. In an occurrence reminiscent of this year’s Academy Awards, MikeandMike was originally declared the winning boat. However, a correction was quickly made.
“You all have made this awesome,” Bonnie Elward of SMCR told the crews gathered around the Solomons Boardwalk gazebo at the festival’s closing ceremony. ”We will have this next year.”
Earlier in the day, Elward told TheBayNet.com that the 2016 race had 18 teams last year and no corporate sponsor. The teams pay a large entry fee to participate, many of them do fundraisers. The total amount realized from the 2017 event had not been determined as this story was being filed.
“We do this from Louisiana to Vermont, it’s always a busy summer,” said Philip Goldfinch of 22Dragon Boats, the company that facilitated the competition. The Canada native told TheBayNet.com that he “got the bug” about dragon boat racing years ago when three of his coworkers at the time got involved in the sport. “I’ve never looked back,” said Goldfinch. He explained that part of the rising popularity of the sport on the East Coast is that it doesn’t require extraordinary athleticism on individual participants. “It’s a mix of people.” He explained the presence of a drummer on a boat is “tradition” but that crew member “carries the messages of the coach.” The drumbeats also help paddlers keep pace.
In addition to the races, the festival included several vendors including plenty of food and entertainment. There was live music by Bob Schaller and Friends. A Chinese ribbon dance was performed by “Shelby and Caroline” from St. Mary’s Ryken High School. Solomons Tiki Bar held a car show while the races were underway.
For more information about SMCR visit their web site.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
