A second start for the local winner

The winner of Discovery Bay’s four-boat Community race earns another start: a place in the afternoon’s Gala final alongside the winners of the Mixed Cup, Open, Ladies and A45 competitions. Friendly neighbourhood racing has a fairly demanding reward. [3]

Race 19 is scheduled for 13:30 HKT on Sunday, 25 October. The draw puts Dutch Connexion in lane 5, Team Mushu of Hong Kong Disneyland in lane 6, 正誠自由龍 in lane 7 and PinkPower Cancer Survivors 粉紅戰士 in lane 8. It is one race, decided on time. The community guide says at least three quarters of a Community crew must live in Discovery Bay, with no gender requirement. Local membership is written into the rules. [3] [4]

The race sits inside a 27-race programme on Tai Pak Beach’s 400-metre course. The community site’s 56 crews are 56 category entries: 32 Mixed, eight Open, six Ladies, six A45 and four Community. Counting the names in the published draw gives 47 distinct crew names, because some appear in several categories. Lamma Dragons, for example, is entered in Mixed, Ladies and A45. [2] [3]

School debutants and clubs with a history

German Business School says it is bringing 30 students for its first school dragon boat team, prepared with help from volunteer coaches from Say Yes Dragon. Its name appears in both the Mixed and Open draws. A school debut has landed in a field with some very experienced neighbours. [8] [3]

Seagods says it was founded in 1999 to promote mixed dragon boat racing in Hong Kong. Its own honours list includes Stanley Gold Cup wins in 2024 and 2025. Lamma Dragons traces its beginnings to women in the mid-1980s asking the fishermen of Yung Shue Wan to teach them to paddle. Those are two different routes into the same sport: a club built around mixed racing, and a harbour community passing on its skills. [5] [7]

Dutch Connexion also has a history beyond today’s highlighted results. The Lamma 500’s archive includes a Dutch Connexion team message about its 2008 event. PinkPower’s name carries another connection: the International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission lists Pink Power among Hong Kong’s teams. Today’s draw names the crew PinkPower Cancer Survivors, and places it in both Mixed and Community racing. [9] [6] [3]

The field stretches further: Arup, JPMorgan Chase Legends - Poseidon, GSIS Dragon, South Lantau Paddle Club and 香港航海學校 all appear in the programme. The names on the lane sheets put schools, businesses and paddling clubs into the same day’s racing. [3]

How the afternoon takes shape

For the 32 Mixed entries, three heats decide the afternoon’s company. Total points put the top eight into the Cup final, the next eight into the Plate, then the Bowl and Shield. The published schedule gives those finals 14:45, 15:00, 15:15 and 15:30 HKT respectively. A difficult heat can change which trophy a crew is racing for without ending its day. [4] [3]

Open, Ladies and A45 use three rounds too, but their final round counts double. Equal points are separated by average race time. The guide’s eight-boat example awards nine points for first and seven for second: the jump to the front is worth two points. [4]

The community site’s results are entered by volunteers and remain provisional. The organiser’s announcements take precedence. [1]