Kaohsiung’s annual dragon boat championship will take place between June 7-9. This year a total of 137 teams and more than 2,800 participants will lock horns to win a grand total of NT$600,000 in prize money. Participants have already started practicing on Love River, but to prevent boats from colliding with each other, hitting the river bank or going round in circles, new helmsmen must first undertake training to ensure the safety of other participants.
In addition to the dragon boat race, Kaohsiung City Government’s Education Bureau is also preparing to hold other events and activities including a dragon boat tug-of-war, an eco-friendly homemade raft competition, egg balancing contest, a display of homemade canoes, sailing boat and canoe taster activities, street performances and a display of local agricultural produce and food stalls.
Secretary General of the Kaohsiung Dragon Boat Committee Chu Wen-hsiang says that every year a small number of helmsmen fail to properly control their dragon boats and this causes some vessels to deviate from their lane and then crash into the boat in the neighboring lane. Some boats bash into the river’s embankment or even go around in circles, Chu said, but fortunately participants are always more scared than hurt when this happens.
Photo: Hung ting-hung, Liberty Times
照片：自由時報記者洪定宏
For this very reason, this year the committee has specially organized a short training course for helmsmen to teach them how to move forward safely, techniques for balancing the boat, judging a boat’s course, how to turn and how to pull into a pier and other techniques.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
高雄龍舟錦標賽將於六月七日至九日舉行，今年共有一百三十七隊、兩千八百多人參加，角逐總額六十萬元獎金；選手已開始在愛河練習，但為避免船隻碰撞、撞擊河岸及打轉，新舵手必須先接受訓練，以保障選手安全。
除了龍舟賽，高市教育局也安排龍舟拔河、自力環保造筏趣味競划、端午立蛋、自力造筏獨木舟展示、帆船及獨木舟水域體驗、街頭藝人表演、農特產品展售及美食攤位等活動。
龍舟委員會總幹事朱文祥指出，每年都有少數龍舟，因舵手操控失當，導致船身偏離水道，衝撞隔鄰水道的龍舟；或是直直衝向愛河護岸，甚至在河道打轉，還好都有驚無險。
因此，今年特別開辦舵手講習課程，指導他們行進安全、平衡技術、方向判斷、轉彎及靠岸等技術。
(自由時報記者洪定宏)
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