Paddles Up! - A flawless day on the lake
<p>Members of the Flathead Dragon Flies celebrate after crossing the finish line during heat two of the competitive category in the 2013 Montana Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday morning at the Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork.</p>
<p>Rob Robinson, the beer keg drummer for the Flathead Lake Brewing Company Imperial Dragons, set the winning pace for his team as they competed in the 2013 Montana Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday morning at Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork.</p>
<p>The last of the rain clouds begin to clear from the sky at the start of the 2013 Montana Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday morning at the Flathead Lake Lodge in Bigfork. This year the festival expanded from the 56 boats that raced the first year to 91, and a second day of racing was added as well.</p>
Colorful might be the best way to describe Saturday’s Dragon Boat Festival on Flathead Lake.
From the hunter’s orange of the volunteer T-shirts to the powder blue of Sake Fusion’s team to the goldenrod of Tamarack Brewing to the all important pink for the many teams rowing for breast cancer awareness, it was a crayon box spilled onto Flathead Lake Lodge and into the waters beyond.
With the pounding of drums and chants in unison as teams raced from end to end of the course, the event sometimes seemed more like war games than a family-friendly event.
But friendly it was, and adding to the colorful atmosphere were the flamboyant personalities of those in the brightly adorned boats and uniforms.
Jessica Rogers, drummer for the Flathead Flames, the Flathead Valley Hockey Association boat, said the event was a fun way to spend time with friends.
“It was awesome,” she said. “It’s all about team spirit. It’s more about fun than racing.”
The Kalispell resident had red and gold paint on her face and in her hair, the latter of which was twisted up like a flame reaching toward the sky.
But other teams were out for blood.
Dennis Kelleher, leader of the Fa’asaulala team from Bigfork (representing Montana Athletic Club), said it was fine for teams to have a good time, but to stay out of their way.
“When the gun goes off, family fades away,” he said. “We’re very competitive. We’ve got a lot of power in that boat.”
With brown war-paint on his face and an iron grip for a handshake, it’s obvious that he means business. His team name is a Samoan word which means “where the land meets the ocean.”
“We had the fastest time out there today,” he said when being interviewed. “Everyone is chasing us.”
So while some teams eye the top prize, many others know by just being out on the water, they have won.
Survivors of breast cancer and dragon boats have come to form a special bond in the last decade or so, and many of the racers were either survivors or family of those afflicted by breast cancer.
There was even a four-boat race for survivors, with three from Canada and another from St. Paul, Minn. The Sistership Calgary won that heat.
Concerns of bad weather were for nothing, as the warm, partly cloudy day had a gentle breeze blowing in from the west. The choppiest the waters got were when inconsiderate spectators on boats in the lake decided to give the rowers a wake to ride.
Unlike Friday’s unfortunate practice day, when eight of nine boats took a spill, Saturday went off pretty much flawlessly.
Bigfork resident Keith Laverty thought day one of the races was everything he could have hoped for.
“This is a fabulous piece of property,” he said of Flathead Lake Lodge. “This is the gem of Flathead Lake.”
Laverty, who described himself as one of his boat’s “engines,” said his first two heats went well and he was excited for Sunday’s final heat.
All teams get three races, two on Saturday and one on Sunday. See schedule at right.
Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.