CROWDS of people have lined the riverbanks this afternoon to watch the annual York Dragon Boat Race.

The event, hosted by York Rotary Club, kicked off earlier this morning and will continue until later this evening as 36 teams battle it out to become rowing champions.

Each team took part in three heat races before the best six teams battle out in an epic grand final, which was won by Swift RAF for Linton on Ouse, whilst the Electric Growlers of Ged Bell Butchers came second. 


Meanwhile, York in Recovery was awarded the Tailender’s cup for finishing last, whilst the best-dressed award went to Average Boating.

There are a plethora of other awards also up for grabs, including The Ouse Cup, Merlin Cup, Charity Cup, and the Ged Bell Trophy.


Each team has raised a minimum of £1,500 for their selected charity, with one-third of the sponsorship raised by the teams going to St Leonard's Hospice.

Chairman of York Rotary Club, David Fotherington, said that the competition had welcomed 12 new teams this year.

He said: "It's a busy turnout this year and the sun is shining so we can expect even more towards the end of the day when the final races take place.


"They promise to be a cracker.

"We think that we should raise about £100,000 by the end of the day which is tremendous and takes our tally to over £1.2million.

"After 17 years, to see the event being as popular as ever is just reward for the hard work over the year to get it ready."

Lynette Nelson, volunteer at the charity, Kitchen for Everyone, said: "One of our volunteers lost his wife last year who was being cared for at St Leonard's Hospice so we thought this would be a good way to help the charity."

York Press:

The Dragon Boat Challenge has been held annually since 2003.