Sorry... don't know the details of the story. I don't read Chinese.
The picture was circulated a few months before the Taiwanese boats arrived in August 2003 - only 10 days before the races - what a nail-biter!
The woman falls over because her legs are not locked under the horns of the dragon. Everybody should be taught how to properly climb onto the dragon head. Of course this only works if you are trying to grab the flag before anybody else does, and you want to reach out as far as you can.
For our first demonstration race on the Friday before the festival started, the boats had only been put in the water the day before. Mayor Larry Campbell and Counsellor Raymond Louie had been scheduled to be the first "flag grabbers." But Mayor Larry had to go out of town. For a replacement, I was able to get Lori Fung, Olympic Gold Medalist for Rhythmic Gynastics in LA '84 - very lithe and acrobatic.
The boats were paddled over by Grand Dragons and the Eh Team. I teach Lori and Raymond how to climb onto the dragon heads. I tell them they are going into dragon boat history as the first flag grabbers in a Canadian race.
"Are we your guinea pigs?" Lori Fung asked me.
"No... you are pioneers!" I reply.
I don't know of any flag grabbers who fell off the dragon head in 2003 or 2004. These boats are also used up and down the Mississipi. Check out
http://www.americandragonboat.com/They even have a "tiger boat" painted with black and orange stripes.
