(UPDATE) AFTER several months of intense preparations, the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships unfolds Thursday off the pristine shores of the Puerto Princesa Baywalk with a record-breaking 27 countries and close to 2,000 participants from all over the world seeing action.

'Puerto Princesa is one of the cleanest cities in the world, so we have a unique site for the world championships where we can write history here together,' said International Canoe Federation (ICF) President Thomas Konietzko of Germany on Wednesday during the press launch on the eve of the competition.