Dragon Boat Race 2025

Dragon boat race - Saturday 6th September

We are thrilled to be back at the Dragon boat event at our new location of Testwood Lakes for our third year taking part in this Charities Unite event.

Dragon boating is a fun-filled, adrenaline pumping, water sports activity. Teams compete in Dragon Boats, which are large canoe-like vessels fitted with ornately carved dragon's heads and tails. Crews of up to 16 people sit in pairs and paddle to compete in races over distances of around 250m. Each boat has a drummer beating time to keep the paddlers in unison, and a professional helmsperson in the stern to guide the boat. No previous experience is required as full training will be given on the day.

The details are:

Date: Saturday 6th September 2025

Timings: Details of the timings will be provided closer to the day but expect the event to run between 9.30am and 3pm.

Venue: Testwood Lakes, Brunel Road, Calmore, Totton SO40 3YD

Teams: Teams are made up of a mixed sex team of 16 paddlers and 1 drummer making a total of 17. Anyone can take part over the age of 12 who is able to sit unaided in the boat – lifejackets will be provided.

Cost per team: £500 (This is a non-refundable upfront cost to pay for the boat) An invoice will be sent with a card payment option.

Fundraising : Each team is expected to raise a minimum sponsorship of £1700 per team (£100 pp). We are asking each team to set up 1 joint JustGiving page that the whole team can use.

Due to a change of location, we only have 1 boat which is available on a first come, first served basis.

Register: To register your team of 17, click 'register' this will need to be completed by someone who is willing to be Team Captain. The Team Captain will be our point of contact, and we are expecting this person to circulate all information we send to the rest of the team as necessary.