Teams race in genuine Chinese dragon boats, especially imported from China and provided by the UK's leading professional dragon boat event's company "Race The Dragon Ltd."  Along with all the boats, 'Race The Dragon' will also supply paddles and buoyancy aids for all competitors whilst on the water and also, a helms person who will steer your team's boat (teams are NOT expected to steer their own boat).

A dragon boat team is made up of (unless otherwise specified on an event's website), up to seventeen team members (sixteen paddlers and a team drummer). ​ Before each team's first race, everyone will be given a full safety briefing and also instruction on the technique used. Teams will then collect their paddles and put on their buoyancy aids before paddling up to the start line for their first race.  

Over the course of the event, teams will compete in three timed qualifying heats, where their single fastest time only will count for Grand Final qualification. (So one or two disasters no problem, as long as out of your three heats, you get at least one good time).

Team work is vital if a fast time is going to be achieved and for this reason, the instructors will also give further 'on the water' training to help with technique. Over the distance we race (200 meters), fitness is not a key factor - technique however is because it's a team sprint where team work and timing is everything.  

What you will be aiming to achieve is an opportunity to compete in the last race of the event ... the Grand Final. This will be a race where all the dragon boats that can be safely raced together will race one last time and first across the finish line will be declared: Dragon Boat Champions of the event

The event will finish with our award ceremony where team trophies will be awarded to the Captain's of the top three teams and Winner's Medals to each member of the winning team.  

To see how the first Manchester Charity Dragon Boat Challenge worked in 2022, visit https://www.charitydragonboatfestivals.org.uk/manchester.

(Please be aware that in 2022, the day was delivered with COVID social distancing still in mind and therefore comprised two "mini-events" rather than our usual full day event.)

Due to massively increasing costs from venue through to suppliers, a typical charity dragon boat event now requires 25+ teams for an event to be viable. Less than that and you may not cover your costs.  

Then there is the organisation side ...

In today's increasingly litigious society, Local Authorities now expect an event organiser to write and submit, a very detailed Event Management Plan that takes every possible factor into account and include Risk Assessments for all those probabilities. 

Once submitted, there will be meetings with / communications from the Authority’s Safety Advisory Group (or designated contact), with inevitable further demands for paperwork / assessments / documentation before the event is finally authorised. 

For a charity fund raising team, this is a massively time consuming task.

With charities striving to reduce costs, it’s little wonder that fund raising focus is now moving away from internally organised events, to partnering with a professional event organiser who has the skills, time and expertise to deal with the organisational aspect of the event on the charity’s behalf.  

With Charity Dragon Boat Festivals you not only get to partner with an organisation with twenty years’ worth of experience, but you also get the benefit of committing to a much lower team entry package too. 

To find out how your charity can benefit by partnering with one of our events, please complete the form via the link on the page.