A Canadian sports medicine specialist, Don McKenzie, at the University of British Columbia started a women’s dragon boat team for women with a history of breast cancer. He stated that “It is an approach to promoting health and raising breast cancer awareness that is driven by women with the disease. All people who live with cancer, are survivors or support those who have had cancer can appreciate the sense of team synchronicity in a dragon boat. The feeling of being stronger individually and with others is both healing and reassuring.

Teamwork is everything in Dragon Boat Racing. Synchronicity is more important than strength. A perfectly synchronized team will almost always beat a stronger, less coordinated team. Our experienced coaches will guide our teams towards becoming one together while having fun!

Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet. Quick-drying materials are beneficial, but not required.  Wear sunscreen, sunglasses, closed-toed shoes, and a hat. Bring water. Bring bug spray.  DragonBoat Beaufort offers paddles and personal flotation devices for practice.

Dragon Boat season is March to October/November.  Throughout these months DragonBoat Beaufort will attend various Dragon Boat Festivals.  DragonBoat Beaufort holds various social activities (i.e bowling get together) throughout the winter months and an annual dinner in December.

Dragon Boating, like other sports, has its own unique vocabulary.

Below are a few examples of what you will hear with our team:

• Hold the boat – Paddles buried at your hip, stopping the boat fully
• Paddles up / We have Alignment – Paddles up at the catch point, but not in the water.
• Ready Ready – Arms straight out in front of you, leaning forward, paddle parallel to the seat.
• Attention Please – Blades buried in the water at the catch point (wet start) / No change in position but ready to start (dry start).  This instruction is only used during a race and you will be informed which start we are using by the coach
• Take it away – Begin paddling
• Let it run – Stop paddling, bring paddles to a rest position on lap
• Back paddle – paddle backward, keeping pace with the front of the boat.

If you are interested in paddling, you can attend 2 casual Saturday practices to try it out before committing to membership.

• Full membership includes paddling and costs $100 for an individual or $150 for a couple.
• Social membership which does not include paddling is $35, or $50 for a couple.
• Associate Members who serve as Captain, Steersman, Safety Boat Crew do not pay a membership fee as we are grateful for their service.

DBB is funded entirely by membership dues, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations  The bulk of our funds are generated through our annual Race Day event.

Simply fill out the application here and show up.