Paddles Up for the Fifth Inlet Spring Regatta
PORT MOODY, BC – On Saturday, April 20, the fifth Inlet Spring Regatta will take place at Rocky Point Park, in Port Moody, attracting dragon boaters from around the region and teams from Washington.
"We're thrilled to witness the remarkable growth in our fifth year of hosting the event," stated Robbin Whachell, President of the Nothin' Dragon Paddling Society. "Our registration reached full capacity for participating teams well before the cutoff date. We're proud to announce that we have 44 teams geared up and ready to race! Additionally, this year marks a special milestone as we welcome teams from the USA for the first time. We extend a warm invitation to the Tri-Cities community to join us and discover the excitement of dragon boating."
The Inlet Spring Regatta is a prominent fixture opening the Canadian Dragon Boat Season and is hosted by Nothin’ Dragon, a senior team based under the Nothin’ Dragon Paddling Society that operates in Port Moody. A free family-fun event and with open layout, spectators will rub shoulders with the paddlers, enjoy live music, face-painting, photo boards featuring birds of the inlet, shopping and educational booths, as well as a DJ, live entertainment and the beer garden.
“Our food trucks were contacting us last fall, excited to be a part of next regatta,” said event chairman, Brian Kenny. “We’re very happy to be able to provide more food trucks and merchants this year. We want to thank the City of Port Moody for their ongoing support to make this event happen. And the Inlet Spring Regatta would not be possible without the support of our major sponsor, K+S Potash Canada. Their commitment to our event demonstrates their dedication to the local community and the spirit of camaraderie fostered by the regatta."
The Regatta features 200m sprints, with each race taking approximately 1 minute to complete. Teams race in heats of 3 to 4 boats across. In sync teamwork and a spirit of competition make each race exciting! Teams will compete in either a mixed or womens division, and the top three teams will receive a coveted woodal (wooden carved medal) featuring the kingfisher, a bird of the Inlet carved by First Nation artist, Glen Rabena.
Each BUK boat seats 20 paddlers, one drummer and a standing steersperson at the stern. Most teams bring spares, a coach and managers. Some teams arrive short in numbers and sign up to receive roving spares from other teams. Each team will be guaranteed four races.
Unique to our dragon boat event, the woodal! Kingfisher design by First Nation artist, Glen Rabena.
The 44 teams competing are from Chilliwack, Cultus Lake, Fort Langley, Harrison Hot Springs, Ladner, Langley, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond, Seattle, Coquitlam, Vancouver and Victoria. Learn more about each team HERE.
The Nothin’ Dragon Paddling Society wishes to thank this year’s sponsors and supporters: K+S Potash Canada, City of Port Moody, Yellow Dog Brewing, Enhance Sport & Wellness, The Tri-City News, Oddball Apparel, Thrifty Foods, Centrum Solutions, Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue, Old Mill Boathouse and Shutter Up & Shoot.
For more information go to www.inletspringregatta.com.
2024 Teams: Abreast at Rocky Point, Abreast Deas Divas, Abreast In A Boat Fortitude, Abreast In The City, Al-O-Wetters, Century Dragons, Draggin' Divas, Dragon Ladies, FC Premier Mixed, FC Premier Women 10, FCRCC Momentum, FLCC Chicks Ahoy, FLCC D-Fyance, FLCC Dragonflies, FLCC FORTified, FLCC Fraser Spirit, FLCC Furies, FLCC Paddle Pushers, FLCC Race Crew, FLCC River Dragons, FLCC SunDragons, FLCC Titanium Masters, FLCC WOW, Fort Langley Iron Maidens, Grandragons, Harrison Wild, Mavens of Mayhem, Paddle Rangers, Pass the BUK, RPDB Moody Brews, RPDB Moody Dragons, RPDB Moody Growlers, Seattle Flying Dragons, Seattle Flying Women, Seraphins, Seventh Wave, SFU Shockwave, SIPC One Paddle, Spirit of a Renegade (SOAR), STEMCELL, Thunder Strokers, Twisted Dragons, Unified Ripped Tides, and WaveCrashers.
About Dragon Boating: Dragon boat racing is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. Participants of all ages compete and enjoy the sport. Over 2,000,000 people around the world participate in dragon boat festivals or regattas. Dragon boats are 12 meters in length and are propelled by 20 paddlers guided by a steersperson and kept in rhythm by a drummer seated at the bow of the boat maintaining a steady and powerful pace for the duration of a 200-metre or 500-metre course.
About the venue: Known as the City of the Arts, Port Moody is located in Metro Vancouver at the east end of Burrard Inlet and is bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south, and Burnaby on the west. The regatta venue, Rocky Point Park, is known for its beautiful amenities with The Boathouse Restaurant, Pajos Fish and Chips. and Rocky Point Ice Cream all within one to five minutes walking distance. The area is well-known for its four local breweries also within short walking distance from the venue.
About the Nothin' Dragon: The Nothin' Dragon senior team is based in Port Moody, B.C., and operate under the Nothin’ Dragon Paddling Society. The team has approximately 65 members and support the Rapids dragon boat high school team made up of students from Riverside and Gleneagle Secondary. More information at nothindragon.org.
Media Contact:
Brian Kenny
604-817-5961
inletspringregatta@gmail.com