Painted alternately in palettes of reds and whites, purples and blues, greens and whites, the lanky boats parted the green waters of the San Francisco Bay gracefully. Adorning every bow were dragon heads with gold whiskers and a red tongue and on every stern a green tail.

More than 100 of these "dragon boats," powered by over 2,500 paddlers from the Bay Area and across the United States gathered alongside Treasure Island to race in the 12th annual San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival last weekend.

From each wood and fiberglass vessel came the relentless pounding of a drummer whose duty it is to keep all the rowers pulling in time. On Suen Feng Loong, a dragon boat team made up of 30 college students, including six from SF State, Stacey Lee, 28, said she "kept everyone in rhythm," with her drumming.

Coaching the team is Brian Yee, 22, another SF State student who studies psychology.

“Paddling is harder than it looks," Yee said. "Everyone has to be synchronized. Every motion has to be the same with each paddler or else the boat will not move correctly in the water."

Teams of all expertise levels and made up of high schoolers and colleges students competed in various races during the two-day event that organizers say it the largest of its kind in the country.

Suen Feng Loong, which means "smooth wind dragon," did not disappoint as they won their fourth consecutive title in the Asian Week College Cup. The team cheered and smiles were across the faces of all the team members as they celebrated their victory at their tent.

“It was great to win this again,” said Christopher Lee, 22, a business major at SF State. “This was my third year and third win with the team. It’s exciting to be here with my team members who are basically my friends and my family,” Lee said.

Suen Feng Loong clocked in at 2 minutes and 18 seconds in its division, finishing ahead of the UC Berkeley and UC Davis teams. The Stanford University team finished last.

The rain poured on the paddlers on Saturday but the weather has become something the team is used to, according to SF State's Mark Quan, 18.

“We’re used to it by now," the biochemistry and computer science major said. "When we paddle, water comes up to our faces anyway, so the rain really didn’t matter."

Coach Yee said the team practices almost every weekend at Lake Merced. The California Dragon Boat Association, which puts on the event at Treasure Island, provides the practice sites and dragon boats for teams to practice.

“We have Lake Merced for about an hour and half on weekends. What we do is go over drills, commands and work on techniques,” Yee said. “After a competition we give our members a week or two off to rest.”

Dragon boats vary in length but are approximately 40 feet long and require 20 paddlers to paddle the boat. There are also two crew members who don't paddle--a drummer and a steer.

“Since I am facing the back of the boat," explained Suen Feng Loon drummer Lee, a civil engineering major at SF State, "the person who is the steer are my eyes so I can give out the correct commands. The steer pretty much looks out for me when I can’t see."

The festival not only included 79 races but also spectators enjoyed food from different vendors and watched performances from Bay Area groups. Kids were able to draw and color dragons at Dragon Land.

“Since SF State does not have a dragon boat team, this is the perfect way of creating a team for Bay Area college students. Students graduating high school always come up to us during events wanting to join our team,” Lee said.

Those interested in the SFL dragon boat team can visit www.suenfengloong.com. A biography, list of team members and awards as well as locations and times the team practices are available online.