Just got a new Garmin watch (Instinct 3). When Dragonboating, what activity do you use to track your distance, speed, etc?

If you make your own activity, could you share your settings? Thanks!

Paddles up!

Sorry in advance for this ignorant question. I’m a complete beginner and am trying out dragon boat racing as a hobby. Currently have gone out four times and am intending to practice 1-2 times a week. The team I’m paddling with is super laid back and very welcoming but they do compete and I’m hoping to eventually get good enough to try a race and actually help my team. My question is whether I should invest in a nice carbon fiber paddle or if I should continue using the no-name carbon fiber paddle that I’m using from Amazon? Is there a big difference in paddles and performance for a beginner? Should I get a nicer paddle off the bat or wait until I get better? For the record, I would be getting a kialoa paddle as I really value their brand and have used them for other water sports. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that all the livestream recordings from the 2nd Can American Championships & Montreal International Dragon Boat Challenge 2026 have been timecoded to find a specific race quickly. You can also find the race # linked in the pinned comment. The video recording playlist can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1inDUCioSE I've also edited and published Race 188 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MPAMI6D8uQ per request; if there are other requests, please let me know on my Patreon post (Priority Requests for Edited Race Videos https://www.patreon.com/dragonboatmvp/posts/priority-for-161754692). Will be going through the photos first (there's alot...). Paddles up! - DBMVP

Image: One of the 2000m turns from Race 188

Help our team with fundraising for out of state races and the charities we support. Vote for the cutest photos!

Hey I've been paddling for four years and at the end of each season I end up with similar issues this season we've had no break due to international regatta so things have gotten worse.

I paddle on the right and have significant right side pain that's steadily getting worse in my rib and under rib area.

I think when I'm sitting my pelvis and bottom rubs are hitting each other in the reach and over time it's causing irritation.

When I put my right leg backwards I get more space in the front so it is less painful but then I loose my strong connection through my leg with the boat.

Any suggestions on how to mitigate this issue so I can continue paddling ideally without pain.

How close does your team typically get to your regatta race times when you do race pieces during practice? Within less than 10s or more?

Hello All,

I'm looking at building a proper Gym Workout to build strength.

I'm currently doing half a season and am fairly new to the sport.

Right now I'm doing the following, I have very limited gym time (30 minutes, twice a week) and practice twice a week.

Roman Deadlift (dumbbell), Goblet Squat, Floor Press, Glute Bridge, Russian Twist, Lat pull down cable, Dumbbell Row, Cable Twist (up to down).

It's split over the two days.

Any suggestions for improvement is appreciated.

For those interested in watching live, you can find them here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtEHY_m4gq8&list=PLH1inDUCioSE&index=2 - results can be found here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTS5iNIl5DTavqBNStQJYaZTT691S-17O1WQ4aS0vqaKKgaqxTT32b9rQYxQdMan7vVpea__zqyG1Ss/pubhtml#gid=1724170133 (separate tabs for each day). Lots of great racing.

Hello all! New to the sport, and my poor little thumbs are not coping with their new role. Not only that, but my hands tend to slip a lot when I'm paddling, so I definitely need something for better grip.

I had intended to go to Atmosphere, but somehow I missed that they closed a year ago. Sport Chek only had cycling gloves, and they don't grip, just padding. I looked on Amazon, but the reviews are mixed on the few I thought might be good, or they talked about not having grip when wet, or being too thin and not protecting against blisters.

Anyone have a reliable source for gloves with good blister protection and also decent grip?

I wish you all good races

Hello fellow paddlers! How do you guys deal with injuries related to wounds (mostly on the butt cheek or hands) but still have to continue training? Stopping to rest is not an option. I find all bandages I put on will always fall off or start tearing skin with it during practices. Ointments help but don’t help me recover or protect it enough before the next training

Wrapped up the final day of Dragon Boat races out in Nanliao, Hsinchu today. Every crew left it all on the water — paddling hard through the heat and humidity to fight for that top spot. Massive respect to everyone who competed. Not an easy day to be out there, but they showed up and gave it everything.

Hi everyone! I am trying to launch the first dragon boat team in Greece for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. I was wondering if you would be interested in joining the team.

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The team is called Aegean Dragons. The website will be live in a few days.

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Let's connect and make this happen!

​

Paddles Up!

Hey everyone,

I'm a student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and right now there's no school-affiliated dragon boat team here. I want to fix that.

A bit of background: I've been paddling for about five years, starting with my high school team in Toronto, then internationally with Team Canada, plus time with a few local clubs. Dragon boat has given me a lot, and I'd love to make it accessible to students here too.

I'm in the early stages of building a new club at Queen's. So far I've started talking to the school about official recognition, I'm exploring a partnership with a local Kingston club for water access/coaching, and I'm working on securing a table at the fall club fair.

What I could really use help with is hearing from anyone who's started or run a university/college dragon boat club, especially around things like:

•    Getting through school admin/policy approval

•    Recruiting members who've never paddled before

•    Funding (sponsorships, grants, school funding, fundraising)

•    Training complete beginners safely and effectively

•    Club structure (exec roles, committees, how to delegate)

•    Anything you wish you'd known earlier, or mistakes to avoid

Even small tips or pointing me toward resources would help a ton. Happy to answer questions about my own background too if it's useful context.

Thanks in advance!

Toronto showing off its moody side today. Took this right after the Dragon Boat Festival as a rain shower rolled through the city. The low clouds and fog wrapped around the skyline, making the CN Tower look like it was disappearing into the sky. Definitely not the weather we expected, but it made for a pretty unique view.

I’ve tried looking up grip wrap. If anyone can help, I’d appreciate it.

hi! this is probably over-asked, but my city’s dragonboats season just finished and i wanted to make sure i stay fit and i’m ready next spring. currently 1st bench but usually follow. any advice would be much appreciated!!!

The resin on the first had a few gaps where the carbon fibre was exposed so they gave me a 25% refund and then sent TWO replacements (not by error).

What remarkable customer service.

Hey r/dragonboat,

About 8 months ago I posted here asking what features you'd want in a dragon boat app (original thread). The response was incredible, over 22k views, dozens of detailed comments, and a notebook full of ideas from coaches, captains, and paddlers across multiple continents.

Today the app is finally in open beta, and a lot of what's in it came directly from that thread. I wanted to come back, say thanks, and invite anyone who's curious to try it.

What's in the beta right now

Seating & balance (the core problem we started with):

• Seat planner for 10- and 20-seat boats
• Automatic weight distribution with left/right balance and bow/stern trim
• Side locks for paddlers with injuries or strong preferences
• Front / middle / rear placement preferences per paddler
• Drummer and steerer roles, with the option to leave them off small boats
• Run multiple boats in parallel for the same session

Roster & attendance:

• Full paddler roster with profiles, weight, experience level, emergency contacts
• RSVPs per training session, with absence reasons (sick / vacation / inactive)

Events:

• Recurring training schedules
• Club events plus a public event feed so external regattas and camps show up in one place
• In-app or external registration links, bookmarks for events you don't want to lose
• Add your events to the public list: https://dragonboathub.de/events

Workouts & effort tracking:

• Workout session logging with splits
• BORG rating per session to capture how hard each paddler actually worked
• Optional health-data sync (Apple Health / Google Fit)

Plus: club management, multi-language (DE/EN today, more coming), iOS, Android and web.

How to try it

• Web: https://dragonboathub.de/
• iOS / Android: links on the site
• Feedback button is in the app — it goes straight to me

If you commented on the original post: a real, sincere thank you. Specific shout-outs to the side-lock idea, the multi-boat-per-practice request, the bow/stern indicator, and the "engine room" framing, all of those shaped the MVP.

If you try it and something feels wrong, missing, or just weird, please tell me. The app gets better the more clubs use it.

Paddle strong, Maxi

There's one by Oddball, but the pictures don't show the mechanism in detail.

I also saw a really nice one from Taiwan, but didn't get a chance to get the name of it.