They are over forty feet long, are brightly painted and are decorated with a dragon's head and tail. Each boat seats up to twenty paddlers, with a drummer to keep time and a steerer who controls the boat with an oar. Paddlers use single ended paddles similar to Canadian canoe paddles. Most of the boats are sponsored and are painted with brightly coloured advertising messages as well as the traditional dragon's scales. Filled with energetic paddlers racing to the beat of the drum, the boats make very eye-catching billboards for a sponsor's message.
People always stop to watch.
They are likely to be featured in TV and press reports and will be seen by thousands of people - a dragon boat represents a very cost effective form of promotion. In the summer races are typically held at a regatta style events, over a distance of 500m which the best crews will complete in two minutes. Up to six or eight boats may race together - a total of over a hundred competitors in each race. The programs are arranged to make the crews closer and closer as the day progresses, so at the end of the day they can be separated by only a few hundredths of a second, resulting in very exciting racing. There is also a special class for crews who raise money for charity through their dragon boating.