Now, it has the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships, to be held Aug. 1 to Aug. 5 on the Schuylkill, Mayor Street announced yesterday. While both events are expected to attract a crowd different from the one at last year's Republican National Convention, Street is hoping they do the same thing for Philadelphia that the convention did - give it international attention and pump the city as a tourist destination. Dragon boats are 40 feet long and propelled by 20 paddlers. They are decorated with bright colors, a dragon head at the bow, and a dragon tail at the stern. Races range from 250 to 1,000 meters, and rowers stroke about 90 times a minute.
Time is kept by a drummer on each boat.
According to Jack Galloway, who heads the boat-race host committee as well as the Dad Vail Regatta, the races are expected to attract 200,000 visitors and roll lots of money into the local economy. The promoters are relying on corporate sponsors. Dragon-boat racing goes back at least 2,000 years in China. It started with the legend of Qu Yang, a politician who fell out of favor with his fellow ministers. He drowned himself by jumping in a river with a rock strapped to his chest.