Dragon Boats up for the £1 million challenge

For the last fourteen years the Rotary Club of York has run an annual Dragon Boat Challenge on the River Ouse, on a course from Scarborough Bridge to Lendal Bridge. In that time they have raised in excess of £940,000 for York and Yorkshire charities and some 170 charities have benefitted from this event.

This year's 15th event, on Sunday July 9, is just over a week away. But already the Rotary Club is confident it will smash through an important barrier, and ‘Make it a Million’. Yes, that would be a total of £1,000,000 devoted to good causes in Yorkshire...

In 2003 the first Dragon Boat Challenge was staged because the Rotary Club of York needed a new activity that had the potential to raise a decent sum of money to support its charitable objectives. The club ‘poached’ the idea of a Dragon Boat event from the Rotary Club of Abingdon and were introduced to Dragon Boat Events Limited - the company that continues to provide the boats and helmsmen, and manages river-safety).

They could immediately see the potential offered by the Ouse as it flows through the centre of York. A straight stretch of river, defined at each end by an iconic bridge, with plenty of space on either side, was ideal for an exciting, spectator-friendly river sport.

The 'Grand Finale'. Photo: Chris Shepherd

York's first Dragon Boat Race was highly successful. Thirty teams took part, and between them they raised a total of £45,000 for charity. Never in their wildest dreams did those Rotarians who set up the Challenge envisage it would still be running successfully fourteen years later, however.

“We were hopeful we could run the Challenge for a few years – if we were lucky, maybe as many as five – before it became difficult to recruit teams," recalls Graham Wilford, the first Dragon Boat Challenge Chairman. "Fifteen years on, we are still operating to the same format and each year are oversubscribed with teams wanting to take part.”

Inevitably there were challenges to overcome. Initially British Waterways were sceptical that three boats could be raced safely abreast down the river. Since 2004, four-boat racing has been the norm, however, with the Grand Finale featuring six boats – and British Waterways and its successor, the Canal and River Trust, have remained supportive.

A dramatic moment as a team celebrate victory

From the outset, York’s Civic Party proved to be great supporters, turning up each year come rain or shine to meet and talk to the teams and participating charities. In 2006 the then Lord Mayor, Janet Hopton, talked of the success of the Dragon Boat Festival and of its potential for the future.

"This Rotary event has become in the last four years something that thousands of people enjoy as participants or spectators," she said. "Its success has encouraged the city council to introduce the York Festival of the River which I'm sure will take off in the future". She wasn't wrong.

The Dragon Boat Challenge hasn’t always been plain sailing, however. In 2012 the event had to be cancelled at two days notice owing to rising water levels. On the day scheduled to hold the event, the towpath and Rowing Club’s clubhouse were under water.

Nothing daunted, the Rotary Club of York girded its collective loins and remounted the event six weeks later in September, when thirty-four teams still took part and raised a very sizeable sum for charity. Two days after the September restaging, York Rowing Club’s clubhouse was once again under water...

A bit of a dampener: a boat capsizes. Photo: Chris Shepherd

The 2017 Challenge will be held on Sunday July 9 on the River Ouse in the centre of York. Anyone intending to come along should make their way to the river bank on the Museum Gardens side, where excellent views of the racing can be found.

And where next for Dragon Boat racing in York, now that we've ‘Made it a Million’? Why, we need to try and do it all over again, of course!

THE CHARITIES

The basic format of the challenge has remained the same, ever since that initial event in 2003. Teams, now numbering thirty-six, are drawn from local businesses, charities, and the armed services.

Each of the participating teams competes in three heats, paddling against different competition each time. The six fastest teams then race off in a Grand Finale. There are several Awards for which they compete with trophies for the overall winner, fastest Armed Services team, fastest Charity team, best dressed team – they compete in fancy dress - and so on.

The Challenge Trophy for the overall winner was designed and made by student Gavin Pollard through a successful design competition run by York College.

For many, the day offers a great opportunity for team building. Each team also selects a specific charity they wish to support, and two-thirds of the sponsorship they raise goes to that organisation.

A dragon-head prow. Photo: Chris Shepherd

In addition, each year either one or two charities are ‘nominated’ by the Rotary Club of York and these receive the other third of the sponsorship raised by all the competing teams.

In 2017 the 'nominated' charities are the Alzheimer’s Society and Macmillan Cancer Support. Although both are national charities, monies raised through the Dragon Boat Challenge will be spent on local projects – for Alzheimer’s on ‘Care Information’ and ‘Support’ programmes, and for Macmillan the provision in York of an Advance Care Planning programme.

A spokesman for Macmillan said: “Rotary’s support will help fund a Macmillan Advanced Care Planning Co-ordinator based in York. Advance Care Planning is an opportunity to help you take back control and ensure you receive the care you want, and it can also help make things easier for your relatives.”

The Alzheimer’s Society added: “Carer Information and Support Programmes will increase carers’ understanding of dementia, offer practical information and enable carers to plan for the future.”

• To make a donation to this year's Dragon Boat charities, visit yorkrotary.co.uk/ and click on the dragon boat link, then the donations page.

THE SPONSORS

The Dragon Boat Challenge is a challenging but rewarding event to stage. The Rotary Club of York has a standing committee that concentrates solely on ensuring that each year’s Dragon Boat Challenge is better than the last one.

But the event wouldn't be possible without the support of numerous organisations in York.

The York Civic Party invite the Rotary Club to use the Mansion House to host an Awards Presentation Evening each autumn.

City of York Council have helped ensure facilities are made available so that the event can run smoothly, and York City Rowing Club contribute their expertise in running regattas.

There are also a number of local corporate sponsors. In 2017 the main sponsors are Shepherd Group, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Saville Audio Visual, and William Birch and Sons. Their financial support helps ensure that all costs associated with running the Dragon Boat Challenge are paid for before participating teams start collecting their own sponsorship. This means that every penny raised by the 36 participating teams always goes to charity.