Colour City Dragons on the Derwent

Caption: Colour City Dragons paddled a marathon event on the Derwent River, Tasmania recently before COVID-19 concerns ended the dragon boat season.

Colour City Dragon paddlers managed to squeeze in the Beaches, Bridges and Bays Marathon Challenge in Tasmania before COVID-19 event and travel restrictions were brought into place.

A total of 20 Orange paddlers made the 30-plus kilometre paddle, starting at Lindisfarne, heading south as far as Bellerive Beach, across to Constitution Dock to give the cruise ship passengers something to talk about then to Prince of Wales Bay via picturesque Cornelian Bay with its fishing shacks. The boats turned back at Bowen Bridge as conditions became a bit choppy with the strong winds.

The paddlers loved the unique perspective on Hobart from the water, negotiating the wash of frequent MONA ferries and the change in scenery from sandstone cliffs to beautiful homes, gardens and beach shacks.

The event was limited to seven teams including clubs from Bathurst, Dubbo, Bendigo and Tassie.  Each boat had 20 paddlers and a sweep. The teams enjoyed a morning tea break, photo opportunity and followed up with lunch at the home of the host club Derwent Storms at the end of the voyage.

Colour City Dragons coach and sweep Phil Lambert said the club may have may have found its niche with the 100 metre sprints.

“The following day teams returned to stretch out their sore muscles for a 3.5 km race where Colour City Dragons performed well taking 6th place in a competitive time,” Phil said.

“They took out first place in their “fun” 100 metres sprints and the women let the men win “tug-of-war.”

“All our training at the Lake and Carcoar Dam paid off. We lasted the distance in the marathon and held a good pace for the shorter race. And we finished our sprints with gas left in the tank,” he said. 

The dragon boat season has now been drawn a close due to the COVD-19 concerns.