International Dragon Boat Federation

The International Dragon Boat Federation (Chinese: 國際龍舟聯合會) is the international governing body for the sport of dragon boat racing. IDBF was founded in Hong Kong on June 24, 1991 by Australia, China, Taiwan, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States . IDBF currently has 75 member countries or territories and is supported by five continental federations.
IDBF is a Member of the Alliance of Independent Recognized Members of Sport (AIMS).
IDBF organizes world championships each year: a World Nations Championships one year and a club Crew World Championships the next. These championships are held at venues within member countries.
Although the origins of the sport of dragon boat racing can be traced back at least 2,000 years, its origins as an international sport really only go back to the 1970s.
In 1976, the Hong Kong Tourist Association invited a crew from Nagasaki, Japan, to compete against nine Hong Kong fishermen crews as part of the annual racing at Shau Kei Wan. The objective was to help to promote Hong Kong as a tourist destination during the summer low season.
The event was a success and more and more international crews started to participate in the racing now held at East Tsim Sha Tsui. The local Hong Kong Amateur Rowing Association became involved and helped draft the first ever set of international race rules for dragon boats.
By 1991, several national dragon boat federations had been formed and it became clear that an international governing body ought to be established. So, on 24 June 1991, at a meeting in Hong Kong, the International Dragon Boat Federation was founded. The founding national federations were: Australia, China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States.
In 1992, IDBF published its first set of race rules and the technical specifications that would govern the boats and paddles used for racing.
In 1995, in Yue Yang, China, IDBF held its first World Nations Championships. Over 800 athletes representing 14 nations participated.
In 1996, in Vancouver, Canada, IDBF held its first Club Crew World Championships. This attracted over 250 athletes from 10 clubs from six nations.
Thereafter, the biennial sequence of World Nations Championships one year and Club Crew World Championships the next has been maintained (except for 2020 and 2021 when COVID prevented championships from taking place).
The sport has grown significantly since those early days and 30 nations (some 3,250 athletes) competed in the 2019 World Nations Championships and an incredible 140 clubs (some 6,200 athletes) competed in the 2018 Club Crew World Championships.
The objectives of the IDBF are to:
On the IDBF website, the IDBF notes that, "The IDBF shall observe the general and fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter and IOC Manual on sport and the environment."
The IDBF lists the following four principles of service to its members:
The IDBF Executive Committee, as of January 2023, consists of:
There are 82 member nations of the IDBF. Classes of membership are Full, Ordinary, and Associate.
The 49 Full Members of the IDBF are:
Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Moldova, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion Island, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam .
The 33 Ordinary and Associate Members of the IDBF are:
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Guadeloupe, Iran, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Lithuania, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Switzerland, Venezuela.
There are five continental federations recognised by IDBF. These federations govern dragon boat in their geographic areas, and organize their own regional/continental championships.
IDBF also recognises two federations as affiliated to IDBF:
IDBF maintains the following commissions to assist it in the management of the sport (with the names in brackets after each the current chair of that commission):
For all IDBF-sanctioned competition, teams are divided into the following racing classes by gender and age.
Open class: no restrictions on crew composition.
Women's class: crews must be all-female.
Mixed class: crews must comprise a mix of male and female athletes as set out in IDBF's race rules
Para Dragons class: two categories of racing (with no restrictions on age or gender):
→ PD1 - all paddlers must have a recognised impairment
→ PD2 - 50% of the paddlers must have a recognised impairment
Cancer paddlers: two categories of racing (with no restriction on age or gender):
→ Breast Cancer Paddlers (BCP) - all crew members must have had breast cancer
→ All Cancer Paddlers (ACP) - all crew members must have had cancer
For the purposes of IDBF championships, a competitor's age is the age they would be on 31 December in the year of the competition.
IDBF provides racing for the following age classes:
Premier - no age restrictions
Junior class (note all paddlers must be over the age of 12, but the drummer and steerer can be older)
→ 18 and under
→ 16 and under
→ 14 and under
24 and under - for paddlers over the age of 12 and up to 24
Senior class
→ Senior A - 40 and over
→ Senior B - 50 and over
→ Senior C - 60 and over
Races are divided into two boat classes:
Standard boat: 20 paddlers plus the drummer and the steerer (helm), making the total crew 22.
Small boat: 10 paddlers plus the drummer and the steerer (helm), making the total crew 12.
At IDBF championships, racing is conducted over the following distances:
200 metres
500 metres
1,000 metres
2,000 metres
The IDBF hosts the World Nations Championships, also known as the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships (WDBRC), every odd-numbered year. Each country fields one team per class. Athletes for these national teams are most typically chosen individually.
The IDBF Congress is also held in conjunction with each WDBRC.
A list of WDBRCs is below:
The IDBF hosts the Club Crew World Championships (CCWC) every even-numbered year. Unlike those competing at the WDBRC, teams at CCWC are already-established teams that represents each country in each class.
A list of CCWCs is below:
As the global governing body of dragon boat, the IDBF determines official specifications for equipment and licenses companies to manufacture dragon boat equipment, including paddles and boats.
Licensed paddle manufacturers include: Braca Sports, Burnwater, Decathlon, Eclipse Innovations, Gray Owl, Hangzhoug Fuyang, Hornet Watersports, Kajner Sport, King Paddle, Kanoe Sports, Merlin Paddles, Trivium, Typhoon Limited, Wenzhou Yuansu Sport Co., and Zaveral Racing Equipment.
Licensed dragon boat manufacturers include: BuK, Champion, Shanghai Pei Sheng Boat Corporation, Foshen Ouyue Sports Equipment Co., Ltd, Hangzhou Rui Dragon Boat Co., Kim Tuck Huat Boat Builder, Wenzhou Yuansu Sport Co., Ltd.