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Sports

Photos: Dragon Boat Racers in Newport Beach

Newport Aquatic Center's Dragon Boat Team prepares for festival and race.

Walt Weis, Neighbor
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Lloyd Aotaki arrived at the on a recent Sunday morning and attached a colorful dragon head to the front of a 500-pound dragon boat sitting in the sand on North Star Beach. 

Aotaki is a founding members of the NAC Dragon Boat Team, which has been paddling out of NAC for the last nine years. The team is preparing for the San Diego Dragon Boat Festival and Races schedule to be held on Oct. 22-23, 2011.

According to Aotaki, dragon boat races are 5,000-meter sprints that require bursts of synchronized energy. The NAC Dragon Boat Team has raced in Long Beach, San Diego, Vancouver, San Francisco, China and Arizona.

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The team's members range in age from 40 to 80 years old and have a wide range of skill levels. Paddlers interested in joining can contact the team at meetup.com/NAC-Dragon-Boat-Team.

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