Dragon boat racing is an exciting water sport with deep cultural roots. It originated in ancient China over 2,000 years ago as part of traditional ceremonies to honor the poet and statesman Qu Yuan. The races were meant to ward off evil spirits and ensure a good harvest.

Today, it has grown into a popular team sport worldwide, blending athleticism with cultural heritage. Teams race narrow, canoe-like boats adorned with dragon heads and tails. Each boat is powered by a crew of paddlers, a drummer to maintain the paddling rhythm, and a steerer to guide the boat.

Dragon boat racing is not only a test of speed and strength but also teamwork and synchronization. It's thrilling to watch and participate in, often accompanied by vibrant festivals and a celebratory atmosphere. Have you ever seen one in action or considered giving it a try?

You can participate in the festival by registering your team online or contacting us for more information on individual sign-ups. Each team consists of 20 paddlers and 1 drummer. We provide a Dragon Boat Canada certified sterns. (the person that steers the boat). 

Mix divison teams must consist of a minimum of 8 female paddlers in the boat. Paddlers under 18 years of age must have parent or guardians permission to participate.

Junor teams are restricted to paddlers that are 18 years or less of age on festival race days. No paddlers on a junior team can be over 18 years of age, the age restriction does not apply to drummers or sterns people.

There is no mimimum of female / male paddlers. All juniors teams must have 18 paddlers.

Should high winds or other circumstance result in high waves within the race area, then the decision to suspend racing will be made by the Race Director in consultation with the Race Management

In the event of moderate wave activity that, in the view of the Race Director and Race Management team, may substantially increase the likelihood of a capsizing event, interim solution(s) will be to

(a) remove drummers from the dragon boats; and/or

(b) reduce the number of paddlers per boat to 16.

The decision on whether to implement this interim solution will be made by the Race Director in consultation with the Race Management Team. If this modification in the race rules is implemented, the decision will be communicated as follows:

• Loudspeaker notification
• Volunteers will visit each team site in the athlete’s tent village area
• Staging area managers, on deck managers and dock managers will check to ascertain that only 16

paddlers board the boat.

• All teams will be advised on capsize protocol at their training session.
• Should a team capsize, the steersperson will implement the capsize protocol.
• The safety boats/race marshals will immediately move to the area where the dragon boat has capsized and assist paddlers in the water.

Once all paddlers that are in the water have been moved to safety, one of the safety boats will tow the capsized boat back to the dock area where it will be fully bailed out, checked for damage and either returned to service or removed from service.

• In the event a dragon boat capsizes, experience has demonstrated that several paddlers will likely swim to shore and climb up the shore. In this event, a pre-selected volunteers (“Safety Officer”) will immediately move to the area where paddlers have elected to swim to and aid the “swimmers.”
• All “swimmers” will then be escorted to a first aid area to obtain to ensure that there are no injuries.

Every effort will be made to adhere to the established race schedule should a delay occur due to wave, wind or storm activity, and the delay is so lengthy as to render adherence to the original race schedule impossible, then the Race Director, in consultation with the Race Management Team, will modify the schedule.

Every effort will be made to adhere to the established race schedule should a delay occur due to wave, wind inclement weather or other issue outside the Sydenham Challenges control and the delay is so lengthy as to render adherence to the original race schedule impossible, then the Race Director, in consultation with the Race Management Team, will modify the schedule.

Should the wave, wind, inclement weather or other issues outside the Sydenham Challenges control occur during the first heat, the recommended modification will be to finish the first heat when conditions allow and use all fist round times to seat team in their division for the final medal around. The second round will be cancelled, and teams will move to the final medal round.Should the wave, wind, inclement weather or other issues outside the Sydenham Challenges control occur during the second heat, the recommended modification will be to cancel the second round if less than half the races have been completed in this round and use all fist round time to seat team in their division for the final medal around. If more that half the races have been completed, the remaining will be completed after the delay. In the event that the remaining race can not be completed, the medals will be awarded bass on round one times only.

Should the wave, wind, inclement weather or other issues outside the Sydenham Challenges control occur during the final medal round, the recommended modification will be to award medals for final round races for each division that have been completed. All divisions that did have not completed the final round racing, medals will be award on their round 1 and round 2 combined times.

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