Twenty-two members from the local club attended the Venice International Dragon Boat Festival and the 44th Vogalonga on the weekend and will return home with medals as well as feelings of exhilaration and satisfaction, great memories and heavier suitcases.

The excitement commenced on the Friday evening with an official opening parade in which the Coffs Coast team paddled the length of the Grand Canal as one of only 20 dragon boats selected to participate.  

On Saturday the team competed in the Venice International Dragon Boat Festival in a series of 250m sprint races against teams from Italy, France, US, Canada and Australia.  The Coffs Coast paddlers although accustomed to the calm, peaceful waters of the Bellinger River were not deterred by the challenges presented by the choppy, busy, open waters of the Venice lagoon, windy conditions and abundance of boating traffic.  The team took out first place in the women’s event. In the mixed event Coffs Coast took out third place.

On Sunday the paddlers participated in the exciting 44th Vogalonga starting at 9am with the traditional cannon blast in the Guidecca Canal or San Marco Basin and paddling a gruelling 32 kilometrecircuit of the lagoon, islands and canals returning to finish on the Grand Canal at Piazza San Marco at around 2.30pm.

“Paddling down the centre of the Grand Canal and under the Rialto Bridge to the cheers of masses of onlookers was a very special moment we’ll never forget,” Club President, Elizabeth Crane said.

“We did a lot of long distance training to prepare us for the event and the team handled it without any problems at all.” 

The Vogalonga started in 1975 as a protest against the wave damage caused to the city by power boats and to carry on the traditional boating methods. The highly popular event has been held every two years since and attracts thousands of participants from all over the world. This year the waters of Venice became a sea of colourful boats, comradery and enthusiasm when the 2,300 registered non-powered watercraft of all type, shape, colour and size, were rowed, paddled or peddled by 8,300 participants.

“The atmosphere was electric throughout the entire event particularly at the start with so many boats jostling to get out into the open water and to enter back into the canal and under the small bridges at the finish it was a huge challenge for all but particularly for our sweeps who steer the boat. They did a wonderful job,” said Elizabeth Crane.

The Coffs Coast Dragon Boat caters for both competitive and non-competitive members and the club has men’s, women’s and breast cancer survivor crews and participate in many regional, interstate and international events.  The club paddles four times a week at Mylestom and Sawtell. New members are always welcome. For more information about the Coffs Coast Dragon Boat Club see www.coffscoastdbc.com.au  or phone 0418 953-882.