PORT Stephens Dragon Boat Club recently had members represent the club in the Region v Region race regatta event held by Dragon Boat NSW.

The event took place on Sunday 2 October 2022 at Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith.

The event involves participation of all clubs within NSW representing their allocated region with Port Stephens being part of the Hawkesbury, Central Coast, Hunter squad.

Regions represented were: Sydney Metro, Sydney City, Southern, Western, Northern and Hawkesbury, Central Coast and the Hunter.

Qualification for the event included an ‘erg’ rowing test and several in boat training sessions.

Races for the day included 200m, 500m and 1km with twenty and ten person crews.

The Hawkesbury, Central Coast, Hunter squad is composed of six clubs being Hawkesbury, Central Coast, Deepwater Saratoga, Hunter River, Newcastle and Port Stephens with all clubs represented in the squad.

The region represented strongly on the day and in the overall points score took out 3rd place behind the Sydney Metro and Sydney City teams.

This is an outstanding result for paddlers in our region and demonstrates the strength and growth of Dragon Boating in our area.

The Port Stephens Dragon Boat Club attended ‘The pink paddle – paddle for Breast Cancer Awareness’ day at Carrington on 8 October, hosted by Newcastle Dragons on behalf of ‘Dragons Abreast Newcastle’.

The day was a great success with four clubs taking part: Newcastle Dragons, Dragons Abreast Newcastle, Hunter River Dragons and Port Stephens Dragon Boat Club.

Four boats set out and paddled approximately 7kms from Carrington into Newcastle Harbour and returned with some friendly racing and training drills keeping everyone energised and ready for the BBQ that followed.

The Port Stephens team paddle out of Soldiers Point Marina and welcome all new paddlers to the club. If interested please contact us via our email: portstephensdragons@gmail.com our website: portstephensdragonboatclub.com/ or via our Facebook page: Port Stephens Dragon Boat Club Inc.