Dragon boat words · Intermediate

The words that make the commentary make sense. They build on the beginner words.

I · Intermediate · 56 words · Step 2 of 2

General terms

IDBF

The International Dragon Boat Federation, the world governing body. It runs the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, the Club Crew World Championships and the Universities and Colleges World Championships, and recognises continental federations.

Regatta

A group of races in different competition classes run by one organising committee. A race is a contest between two or more dragon boats.

IDBF sanctioned and approved events

A sanctioned event meets the IDBF's organisational and safety rules in full, as a championship regatta does. An approved event has told the IDBF it meets acceptable standards but does not have to apply all the competition regulations.

Competition class

At an IDBF championship, each pairing of a racing class and a race distance, for example Premier Mixed 250 m. It gets championship status only if enough nations and crews take part.

Crew and roles

Reserves and the crew list

Only competitors named on the entry form and crew list can race. Named reserves (up to four) may substitute without further permission, but crew members cannot be changed once the crew list has been given to the chief official.

See also: Crew

Crew manager and boat captain

The crew manager looks after the crew's discipline and administration, and the boat captain is responsible for the crew's conduct and safety on the water. They can be one person. Officials talk only to these people, a team leader or head of delegation, or one other named official, about results, protests and appeals.

See also: Crew

Gong beater and flag puller

Extra roles in some traditional boats. The gong beater strikes the gong. The flag puller takes a flag from a buoy at the finish, which shows the boat has finished and fixes its time.

Fit to race

Not only physically able to race but with no known medical reason not to compete for the whole championship. The chief boat marshal checks crews and keeps unfit competitors from racing.

Classes and eligibility

Junior classes

Classes for competitors whose age in the year of competition is 18 and under, 16 and under, or 14 and under, with the minimum age of 12. They can be single-gender, mixed or open.

Senior classes

Senior A is for those whose 40th or a later birthday falls in the year of the competition, Senior B the 50th and Senior C the 60th. The drummer may be younger but at least 12.

24U and university class

For competitors aged at least 12 who are 24 or under in the year of competition, or who are full-time university students.

Para dragons

Racing for adaptive paddlers, crews formed from people with physical or mental conditions that limit movement, senses or activity. PD1 is a crew in which every paddler has a recognised impairment, and PD2 one in which half do.

Cancer paddler crews

Crews formed of people who have had cancer. In a breast cancer paddler (BCP) crew everyone including the helm and drummer is a breast cancer survivor, and in an all cancer paddler (ACP) crew everyone has had a cancer. They count as club crews.

See also: Crew, Paddler, Drummer, Steerer

Premier division

When senior or junior races are held too, the open-age Open, Women's and Mixed classes are called Premier and together make the Premier Division.

Representative, club and university crews

A representative crew is chosen to represent a country, territory or member federation. A club crew represents a dragon boat club, and its racers must have been bona fide members for at least six months. A university crew represents a university or college, with registered students. The two kinds do not race together in a class.

See also: Crew

Nationality rule

To represent a country a competitor must normally be a citizen or born there and be able to prove it. A permanent resident of three years or more may represent the country they live in if they have not represented their birth country in the previous two years. Temporary visas do not count as residence.

Boats and equipment

Provided boats

At IDBF championships only IDBF-specification racing boats are approved, and crews may not bring or choose their own: the organisers provide them. Boats used in a race should not differ in weight by more than 10 kg.

Boat and lane number

Each boat carries a number board on its bow showing its boat number, which is also the number of its racing lane. The number is at least 33 cm by 23 cm on a board at least 60 cm by 46 cm, readable by finish line officials from 90 m.

Racing vest number

At a championship each competitor has a personal identity number (PIN) on an identity document, and also wears a vest number from 1 to 26 on the back of the racing vest, matching the crew list. The vest number box is at least 210 mm by 150 mm.

See also: Crew

Racing colours

Representative crews race in their country's or territory's recognised colours, club crews in their own colours. A crew that does not appear in the strip it submitted may be made to race in plain white vests.

See also: Crew

Equipment and seat pads

Extra equipment that could improve performance is not allowed, and no pump to clear water may be carried. Only on-board communication between crew members and soft seat pads (neoprene, about 15 mm thick, not more than about 20 cm by 40 cm) are allowed. Straps that fasten a paddler into the boat or to the paddle are banned, except quick-release ones for adaptive paddlers.

The course and distances

Start and finish lines

Lines at right angles to the lanes, at least 90 m long and marked on both banks, with red flags or buoys on the water at the edges of the course. At a world championship each lane has a starting bay behind the start line.

Regatta course

For a world championship, as flat and still a straight stretch of water as possible, long enough for at least a 1,000 m race, with a depth of at least 3.5 m that is even across the lanes. Other championships need at least 500 m.

Turn course (long races)

For the 2,000 m and longer races on a circuit with two straights of about 450 m and two turns. Each turn is marked with at least five buoys, a second set of three smaller buoys about 5 m outside forms the turn corridor, and the lane on the straights is at least 10 m wide.

Competition format

Heats

The early rounds when there are too many entries for one race, with no more than nine boats in a heat. Crews are put in heats by drawing lots, or seeded if their standards are known. The heats must send at least three crews to the main final and two to each semi-final or repechage.

Repechage and tail race

Systems that give crews who lose in the heats a second chance to reach a higher round, and place races that rank the remaining crews. One of them must be used at IDBF championships.

Finals and secondary places

Each competition class has a main final plus further finals, tail races or a plate competition to decide the other places. A crew that has not raced in at least one intermediate round cannot enter the final unless it is the only race.

Aggregated times

When fewer than six crews enter a class and race each other over several rounds, their race times are added together to give the final placings. A team that misses a round does not get a final result.

Rest between races

A crew must get at least 30 minutes between its race start times for 200 m and 250 m races, 40 minutes for 500 m and 60 minutes for 1,000 m and over. The period includes disembarking, warming up, reporting and embarking again.

Starting

Crew assembly and embarking

Crews report to the crew assembly area and are ready to embark 3 to 4 races before their start, with identity checks possible. They load into the boat assigned by the lane draw, and go straight to the start without interfering with racing. Crew changes after loading need the chief boat marshal's agreement.

See also: Crew

Held start

A start from a pontoon in which boat holders hold the sterns of the boats (or each steerer holds a rope), and release them on Go. When that is not possible a free start may be allowed. Once the starter has alerted the crews, paddles must stop moving in the water.

False start

Starting after Attention and before Go. The starter raises a red flag and shouts Stop three times or repeats the signal, and the course umpire's boat crosses in front of the boats waving a red flag. The crew at fault is warned; a second false start may mean exclusion or a five-second time penalty.

Jumping the start

Anticipating Go so much that a false start cannot be called but a material advantage was gained. The starter may add a time penalty of 2 to 5 seconds.

Late to the start

For a crew that is late with no approved reason, a warning for the first offence, a time penalty of up to 5 seconds for the second and disqualification from the class for the third. A crew must race in its allotted lane, and a lone crew at the start must still paddle the course to get a time.

Equipment failure at the start

If the boat is damaged before the crew is called up, the starter may delay the race by up to five minutes. Failure of equipment such as the drummer's seat or the steering oar (not a paddle) up to 50 m after the start leads to a restart if the crew stops and raises their arms. The course umpire can also recall a correctly started race, for example if boats are swamped.

Racing rules

Leaving the lane

A course umpire may add five seconds if a crew leaves its lane or impedes another, whether or not it affected the result, unless it only strayed from a steering error and impeded nobody. Umpires warn boats that drift, and a crew that ignores warnings and gains an advantage risks disqualification.

See also: Crew

Wake riding

Gaining speed by riding the forward face of another boat's bow wave, which is forbidden in races of 1,000 m or less. The umpire following the boat decides if it happened.

Collisions

Umpires report a collision to the chief official, who may disqualify the boat at fault or order a re-race if the result was materially affected. A crew that could have avoided it by stopping paddling and did not may be disqualified from the class or the whole competition. Deliberately swamping, capsizing or damaging a boat can bring disqualification and a fine.

See also: Crew

Distress signal

A crew in trouble, for example someone overboard, waves the red flags carried in the boat above head height, or raises outstretched arms to the vertical and back repeatedly. A signal given without cause leads to action under the disciplinary code.

Umpire flags

At the end of a race the course umpire shows a white flag if there was no infraction. A red flag means an infraction, and gives the crew a chance to correct it if raised during the race. A black (or dark blue) flag means a breach of the disciplinary code.

Turn rules

Races go anticlockwise with the turn buoys on the left (port). A boat must keep its racing line through a turn and may touch a buoy without penalty. Turning inside a buoy without good reason costs 5 seconds for one buoy, 15 in total for two, 30 for three, and disqualification for four or more.

Right of way at a turn

An overtaking boat has the inside line if it has an overlap at the 50 m marker buoy, meaning its dragon head is level with the other boat's steering arm. The boat being overtaken must give room, and failing to give clear water costs 20 seconds. A boat with no overlap must follow through the turn.

Last 450 m

After its final turn a crew may leave the lane and take any line down the last straight, with overtaking on either side if clear water is given. A boat that loses control must avoid a collision at all costs, even by stopping paddling.

See also: Crew

Staggered and mass starts

Long races normally use a staggered start, seeded with the slowest crew first and at least 10 to 30 seconds between crews, either lined abreast or in line astern. When the venue and crews allow, a mass start sends all crews off together from numbers drawn at random.

See also: Crew

Finish and results

Dead heat

Two or more boats finishing together. In a final they share the placing. In heats and semi-finals both go through if the programme allows, otherwise they are offered a race-off, and failing that their earlier race times may be used.

Photo finish

At championships the organisers must provide photo-finish equipment and take a record of every boat crossing the line in every race. The chief judge acts on the operator's advice, and records the finish order independently of other finish officials.

Race time and gross race time

In a staggered start the start times are compared with finish times to get each crew's actual race time, and penalties are added to give the gross race time. With a mass start the time from the race start to the finish is used. The fastest gross race time wins.

See also: Crew

Time deduction bonus

Up to 20 seconds the chief official may take off the time of a crew whose time was adversely affected by another crew, when a course umpire confirms that it lost time through obstruction.

See also: Crew

Disembarking

After finishing, a crew goes back to the boat marshalling area and gets out, and stays under the marshals' directions until everyone has left the crew assembly area.

See also: Crew

Penalties, protests and officials

Time penalty

Seconds added to a crew's time, marked TP on the results sheet, with no appeal. Starter and umpire penalties for starts and racing are separate from the disciplinary code. Under the code a crew must first be warned twice (a black flag raised and lowered, then raised until acknowledged), and time penalties of 1 to 5 seconds can then be given for ignoring instructions.

Disciplinary code

Covers not following officials' instructions, verbal abuse, conduct likely to bring the sport into disrepute, and threats or acts of violence, from the day a crew arrives to the day it leaves. Verbal abuse can bring penalty points: 4 points exclude a crew from that race distance and 6 or more exclude it from the rest of the competition. Violence means disqualification. No help or coaching from outside is allowed during a race.

See also: Crew

Protest

A protest about another crew's conduct is lodged by the crew manager with the chief official within 15 minutes of the end of the race, and one against a result within 15 minutes of its official posting. At championships it must be in writing, name the rule broken and carry a fee that is refunded if upheld. The competition committee should not take more than 30 minutes over one.

See also: Crew

Jury and appeals

At championships the final authority is a jury of three to five members from the IDBF Executive Committee and the Competition and Technical Commission. A crew may appeal a competition committee decision to the jury within 20 minutes of being told in writing, and the jury's decision is final. At other events appeals go to the IDBF Executive Committee within 30 days.

Race officials

The chief official chairs the competition committee (with the chief judge and chief umpire) and decides matters not covered. The chief judge runs the finish. The starter and chief umpire handle the start and the course, with course umpires following races in motorboats. Boat marshals check crews and equipment, and timekeepers back up the electronic timing.

Safety officer

The official responsible for the safety of crews on the water: an event safety plan, trained rescue crews and craft, buoyancy aids (required for junior crews), and a headcount of a capsized crew. The safety officer can advise postponing or cancelling races if conditions are dangerous.

See also: Crew

Public warning

A penalty the chief official may give, announced over the public address system with the offence and the name of the crew, club or person. It can follow unsportsmanlike conduct such as ignoring an official, obscene language, delaying a start without cause, or abusing anyone.

See also: Crew

All Dragon boat words