Dragon Boat Race Day

Dragon Boat Race Day

Race Day for the Pensacola Dragon Boat Festival was an exciting and fun-filled day. There were over thirty dragon boat teams registered for the day and every team had to race three separate times. The weather was perfect - not too hot, a few clouds to help block the sun (you still need your sunscreen) and a good breeze coming off the bayou.
We had our two 10x10 tents setup from the previous evening (site setup party next year) and all of us brought in more supplies over the course of the morning (coolers, ice, water, sodas, no alcohol, fruits, chips, snacks, sunscreen - we need to bring all of this and more next year - we may even have to bring a satellite dish and flat screen TV for football games).

Opening ceremonies started at 8am. I completely missed the Captains Meeting on the dock at 8:30. I just now realized I was supposed to do that as I am typing this blog post. The first race started at 9am. For each race, there were four dragon boat teams racing. We watched the first few race down the shore of Bayview Park to the finish line. They made it look easy (it was not easy).

Our first race was at 11am. We raced against North Mobile Family YMCA (Lane 1), Regymen Fitness -Regymen Dragon Disrupt-oars (Lane 2) and Beggs & Lane - Life in the Beggs Lane (Lane 4). We had Lane 3.

Here are our results from Race 1:
First Place:  North Mobile Family YMCA (1:11.561)
Second Place:  Regymen Fitness -Regymen Dragon Disrupt-oars (1:15.109)
Third Place:  Perdido Key Fireball Breathing Dragons (1:22.830)
Fourth Place:  Beggs & Lane - Life in the Beggs Lane (1:26.916)

Of 39 Dragon Boat Teams, we came in number 25. Race times came in from 1 minute, 6 seconds to 1 minute, 45 seconds.

Our second race was after lunch at 1:20pm. We raced against Mod Maidens (Lane 1), BNI - Referricane$ (Lane 2) and AWKO - AWKO Justice Dragons (Lane 3). We were Lane 4.

Here are our results from Race 2:
First Place:  BNI - Referricane$ (1:22.368)
Second Place:  AWKO - AWKO Justice Dragons (1:23.627)
Third Place:  Perdido Key Fireball Breathing Dragons (1:25.137)
Fourth Place:  Mod Maidens (1:41.664)

We came in at number 24 of all the dragon boat teams after this race. Race times came in from 1 minute, 12 seconds to 1 minute, 54 seconds.


Our third and final race was at 3pm. We raced against SVN - Captain Deluna's Dragon Slayers (Lane 2), Mystic Mafia (Lane 3) and Enterprise Holdings - Enterprise WILL Pick You Up (Lane 4). We had Lane 1.

Here are our results from Race 3:
First Place:  Enterprise Holdings - Enterprise WILL Pick You Up (1:28.332)
Second Place:  Perdido Key Fireball Breathing Dragons (1:30.717)
Third Place:  SVN - Captain Deluna's Dragon Slayers (1:32.572)
Fourth Place:  Mystic Mafia (1:35.649)

This put our team - The Perdido Key Fireball Breathing Dragons - at 26th of 36 (they took two boats out of the race results). WE WERE NOT LAST!

While we would definitely have preferred to win each of our three races and won the whole thing, we learned a great deal this first race year. We made notes. We've made plans. Next year, we'll be back to win!

See all of our Dragon Boat Racing Photos Here

Page 5 - Pensacola Dragon Boat Pictures

Pensacola Dragon Boat Races 2019

Page 1 - Pensacola Dragon Boat Festival 2019
Page 2 - Captains Meeting and Dragon Meets
Page 3 - Dragon Boat Practice Races and Camp Setup
Page 4 - Dragon Boat Race Day
Page 5 - Pensacola Dragon Boat Pictures
Page 6 - Thank You to Everyone Who Donated
Page 7 - Thank You to Our Dragons

Dragon Boat Team Supplies and Party Ideas

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