Dozens take part in Shoreham dragon boat race

More than 20 teams of 16 people signed up to take part in the annual event, which saw boats race from the railway bridge to the Adur Outdoor Activity Centre by the Norfolk Bridge.

Charlotte Kee, an employee at Suter’s Yard in Shoreham High Street, which organises the event, said of the day: “It went really well.

“The weather put a bit of a downside on it, everyone was soaked and cold.

“It was the worst weather we’ve had so far but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We had a pretty good turnout, there were quite a lot of people down by the Ropetackle.

“Considering the weather, it was still a good turnout.”

Four boats competed in the ‘hotly contested’ final, with the Shoreham RNLI lifeboat team winning first place for the second year in a row.

An event spokesman said: “Congratulations to the RNLI for successfully defending their title by 7/100ths of a second! What a final!”

A spokesman for the Shoreham RNLI said: “We won! We are the winners of the Shoreham Dragon Boat Race for the second year running – we won by a dragon’s head.”

A team called the Rice Burners came in second place, while third place went to a team from The Bridge Inn.

Other competing teams included staff from the Duke of Wellington, Gemini Print, the Wellington Wailers, PMC, Whatever Marine Clean and Horsham Fitness.

After the race ended live music was played at Suter’s Yard for the rest of the afternoon.

Charlotte said: “It was really busy, a lot of people compared it to Christmas eve. Everyone was dancing and singing, it was lovely. It was packed out.”

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