DRAGON boat teams from around the region will battle it out in the 2017 BakuNaga Dragon Boat Races on December 16-17 at the Boardwalk in the City of Naga.
Leading the list of competitors will be the first Naga Invitational Dragon Boat Race champions Philippine Accessibility Disability Services, Inc. (Pads) Adaptive Dragon Boat Racing Team and runner-up Gruppo Habagat Dragon Boat Team. Also joining are the Cebu Fireblades, Ariya Dragon Boat Team, Yellow Fin Dragon Boat Team – Dumaguete, Biliran State University (BSU) – Tacloban, Bohol Paddlers – Tagbilaran, and the Team Naga Dragons.
The race will feature 400m open and 400m mixed categories.
According to Dragon Boat Cebu Central’s Randy Su, this is the second race to be held in this industrial city which is around 23 kilometers south of Cebu City, with the first one held last October.
“The first was just an exhibition race. Expect newly formed teams in action [this time],” Su said.
The race is also expected to highlight the new boardwalk of the city.
“[It’s] a great venue for Cebu dragon boat racing, which is fully supported by City of Naga Mayor Kristine Chiong.”
The race name is a portmanteau of Bakunawa, a dragon in Philippine mythology often represented as a gigantic sea serpent, and the city’s name itself.
Registration fee is pegged at P400 per person. Interested participants may contact 0917-626-2621, 0916-515-7525 or visit facebook.com/DragonBoatCebuCentral.