Henley Junior Regatta

Henley Dragon Boat Club hosted the first ever Henley Junior Dragon Boat Regatta on Saturday 28th April 2007, and it is hoped that the Regatta will now become a regular event in the busy Henley river calendar.

The Regatta was opened by the Mayor of Henley, Cllr Barry Wood, who performed a traditional eye-dotting ceremony. In ancient China dragon boats used in the annual Dragon Boat Festival were very precious and the heads, tails and drums were taken stored between competitions at the local temple. Before the next seasons racing they were repainted and made ready for the great events to come. All but the eyes of the dragon were prepared. The dragon was allowed to sleep until the day he was needed. On the day of the competition the sleeping dragons are brought to life by dotting their eyes and making them strong for the racing ahead.

Over 90 competitors from local scouting and cadets groups, schools and sports clubs took part in the Regatta, which welcomed both complete novices and experienced paddlers. A couple of members of the Great Britain Junior dragon boat team were competing in crews with their less experienced friends over the 200m race distance.

Each crew raced 3 times in the rounds, their fastest two times were added together and placed them in the major, minor or tail finals. Trophies for Girls, Under-16 and Under-18 crews were up for grabs. The finals were close fought with some exciting and frantic racing which got the crowd cheering louder and louder as the drums pounded out the beat for the paddlers. The course record was beaten race after race as the crews improved their paddling technique and teamwork and fought fiercly for the prizes.

The top girls crew on the day were the Mean Green Machines from Reading Rugby Club who finished 6th overall in 1.21.99, a fine result for an Under 16 girls team with only 6 paddlers! The winners of the Under-16 trophy were BA Dragon Slayers from the BA Hurricanes Dragon Boat Club who finished 4th overall, narrowly losing in the fiercely fought Minor Final to their Under-18 club mates, the BA Dragon Warriors. The overall winners, in the fastest time of the day of 1.07.78 were Breakspear Aspire Blue from St Albans, beating the Wyrmlings from Wokingham Canoe Club by just 1.00.70

The Wyrmlings's were awarded a consolation prize however, receiving the Best Crew name award while the Henley RAF cadets were awarded the Best Dressed Crew prize for looking smart racing in their camoflage kit.

Some photos by resident Henley Dragons photographer Rob Lind are online at: http://www.pixagogo.com/0959194102. Paddlepics were also at the event, their photos are at: http://www.paddlepics.com.

Henley Dragons would like to thank the local organisations who sponsored the event, without whose support it would not have happened. Henley Rotaract, The Three Tuns Inn, Hobbs of Henley and the Hotel du Vin were all keen to support the initiative to give young people a taste of the excitement of dragon boat racing. Their support has helped create an event which could well become a regular fixture on the busy Henley river calendar.

Henley Dragons are keen to set up their own Junior team and would be excited to hear from anyone who is interested in joining the Club. 

Results from the 2007 Finals are as follows: