Saturday 11th May is the 2024 Manchester Charity Dragon Boat Challenge and is the Multi Charity event with a maximum 28 teams competing.   

Every upside usually also has a downside and for this event, the downside is is the lack of available parking at the venue.  As the venue is not purpose built for such an event, all competitors are asked to use the Metro and your co-operation and understanding (particularly with not trying to park at the venue) is greatly appreciated. 

Venue:                       The Trafford Water Sports Centre in Sale: M33 2LX

Time on site:       09:00 - Registration opens

                               09:55 - Registration closes 

                               10:00 -  Welcome and Event Start

Getting there:   METRO only. 

Due to the limited onsite parking availability combined with demand from regular water sports centre users, the restaurant and local public, there is NO EVENT PARKING at the venue. The Metro car park will also be unavailable due to the Man Utd vs Arsenal home match as this car park is used as a match games Park & Ride.  Trafford Council require Marshals to manage the parking this year in order that emergency vehicles can get access should there be an incident.  As there is no additional parking beyond what is already in place at the venue, the Marshals have been instructed to turn cars away once available spaces have been used up. 

Please do not attempt to park at Jackson's Boat unless you want to get a ticket.  Cameras record the registrations of all cars using their lane.

Best parking location is The Trafford Centre, M17 8AA.  https://traffordcentre.co.uk/gettinghere.  Limited parking is also available at East Didsbury (Manchester Metrolink) M20 5NP, but be prepared to park elsewhere if it is full.  Parking at the Trafford Centre is therefore recommended to save unexpected delays.

Race Order:   A complete Race Order will be available for download after 18:00 on Thursday 2nd May 2024 via the "Race Plan" button in https://www.charitydragonboatfestivals.org.uk/mcrforms .

Metro times from:

Competitor Registration:    Competitor registration will be located at the entrance to the event area (if dry, or at the Event Control tent if raining) and will open at 09:00. Once you have been registered, please remain in the designated competitor area (part of the main car park) until called for your team photo-shoot before your first race.

At registration we will need from each competitor:

1.  A completed Participant Consent Form confirming there is a minimum 11 of the 17 maximum team members on site and ready to race.

2.  A Disabled Waiver should any team member have a disability that could affect their safety whilst on the water.

3.  A Team Information Form if you want us to read out info about your team (optional)

(Forms downloadable from >>> https://www.charitydragonboatfestivals.org.uk/mcrforms).  Please ensure you bring your completed forms with you to save delay on the day.

Event Format:     After the opening ceremony, the first three teams will be called up for their team photo shoot, followed by their team safety briefing. For the day’s race program to work smoothly, we use a computerised system that ensures:

1. You do not race against the same team twice

2. The time interval between your races are as even as possible

3. You do not race in the same lane twice in succession unless mathematically impossible.  There may also a number of Challenge Races (head-to-head's) built into the race programme.

Late Arrivals:      So that your whole day to runs smoothly, if there are people in your team who are either late or not on site when your team is called up to be briefed / race, you will either have to race without them or (if there are insufficient numbers to race with), miss that race altogether. No refunds will be given to anyone who misses their race - and no safety briefings or late entries will be permitted once Round 2 has started. 

1. A full safety briefing will be given to each team prior to the start of round one and all team members who intend paddling during the day will need to attend. 

2. At the end of the briefing you will be given a coloured safety wrist band, which shows you have attended and understood the safety briefing and what was said. Only people wearing these safety bands will be allowed into the dragon boats, so do not lose / remove your band otherwise you will have to undergo another complete safety briefing before you will be issued with a new band!

3. Everybody getting into a dragon boat is required to wear one of the buoyancy aids provided.

4. There will be safety boats on standby ready to rescue the crews in case of a capsize.

5. Capsizes can happen – but thankfully they are quite infrequent. The crews most vulnerable to capsizing are either heavy crews ... or teams that did not pay attention during their briefing!

Competitor Ages:   A minimum of 16 years old for the paddlers and 12 for the drummers.

Team numbers:    Each boat will have a maximum of 17 people (1 drummer, plus 16 paddlers) although you can have less. Each boat will also have a qualified helm provided by our dragon boat provider to steer your boat. If you are a heavy crew and feel it would be to your advantage to have less people in the boat, dragon boats will go just as well with as little as 10 paddlers in it. You must always have a drummer in the boat, whatever the number of paddlers.  It is permitted to 'borrow' a wrist banded drummer from another team in the event your team is short.

Course length:   200 metres.

Event Control:    The event will be controlled from the event control marquee located on the grassed area behind the Water Sports Centre, by the top of the steps to the pontoons.  Race results will be put on the results board at Event Control.

Race Format:    The race format will be 3-on-3 racing (three boats up on the start line whilst the other three are loading). Each team will get a minimum of three timed races with the single fastest time being used for qualification into the final round. So don’t worry if you make a hash of one (or two?) races because one good time is all you need.

The Grand Final will be a dramatic 6-boat race involving the teams with the six single best times from the event an exciting race to the finish.

First Aid:    First Aid will be available from the First Aid post in the Competitor Area (a sectioned off part of the main Car Park).  A further First Aid pack will be located at Event Control for minor First Aid. The key instructors are also First Aid trained and there will also be a Registered Nurse on hand at Event Control. A dedicated mobile phone will be kept on standby at Event Control in the case of emergencies.

Food:   It is recommended for competitors to bring their own food & drink picnic to avoid queueing.  Food and snacks should be available from the onsite The Boathouse Restaurant behind the Water Sports Centre, also the Tree Tops Café in the car park area.

Toilets:   There are public toilets accessible from the outside of the Water Sports Centre.  There will also be portaloos and urinals for team’s use in the event area car park.

Spectator Viewing:  The best place for spectators to view the event is on the far side of the lake., where they will be able to enjoy a better view of the racing.  Please note, there are no toilets on the far side though.

Clothing:  Paddling is best done in lightweight clothing appropriate for the weather. On cold days multiple layers of lightweight clothing are far better than a thick jumper or similar. Please ensure you also bring a windproof / splash proof cagoule as you are likely to get splashed.

A complete change of clothes is also recommended should you have a capsize (which whilst unlikely, is always possible).

Footwear:  Footwear needs to be water suitable, so Crocks, Soggs, sandals or just old trainers you don’t mind them getting wet.  No bare feet or wellington boats please and girls (boys?) please, no high heels as we get complaints from the other teams if fountains start springing up in their boat.

Sun protection: Please remember that the sun can be strong even if the wind is cool, so make sure you have sun cream and hats – especially if bringing children.

Water safety - Boat Balance:  So that a dragon boat has the correct balance (ie, not listing to one side or the other) and trim (not too front or stern heavy) once fully loaded, the helms have the absolute authority to reorganise where people are seated / replace the drummer should they not be happy with how the boat is loaded.   As a guide to the best crew distribution,  people should pair up with a partner of similar height, weight and strength with weight and power sat in the middle of the boat.  You are best with a light drummer and the front pair (who must paddle in time and together) will set the pace for the whole team to follow.

Water safety - on board behaviour:  In circumstances where any team member(s) are, in the opinion of any official from our dragon boat provider, deliberately trying to capsize the boat or behaving in such a way that could result in either damage to the boats or a danger to the crew, then those officials have the authority to request that the time for their last race to be cancelled. Cancelled times will be excluded from Grand Final qualification purposes.

In more serious cases or where excess alcohol or drug use is also suspected, for safety reasons the official has the authority to remove the team member(s) from further participation in the event and for their wrist band also to be removed. Where such person(s) are disqualified but refuse to leave the crew or return their wristband, it is the responsibility of the Team Captain to assist the official. If the disqualified person(s) still refuses to comply, then the whole team may be disqualified from further participation in the day. No refund will be due to any person / team disqualified. In the event of an appeal the decision of the Chief Marshal will be final.

Tactics:   Listen to your helm! They are all experienced in the ways of dragon boating and are there to help you. We can’t guarantee you will always have the same helm!  The secret to dragon boating is team rhythm and timing. If everyone works in sync together, then you will achieve good times. Be warned, it only takes one or two people in the boat to get out of time and stop paddling for the whole boat to slow right down.

Fun:    Have fun! You are about to take part in an amazing water sport and we have a great day planned for you. Most people competing will be complete novices and will not have done this before either. Mere words cannot convey the atmosphere, the fun, the excitement and energy of the festival you are about to take part in. All we can promise you is ... you are going to have a great day out and should be justifiably proud of the money you have helped