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SEPT 21, 2024
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
DRAGON BOAT COMPETITIVE SPRINTS
FOSTER CITY, CALIFORNIA
Hosted by the Bay Area Dragon BOAT FOUNDATION
Come race the Sprints! We guarantee an adrenaline-pumping great time!
You don’t want to miss out!
Sign up now and get a chance to win a cool cash prize for racing!
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The Bay Area Dragons (BAD) is the first, founding dragon boat club in Northern California, founded in 1996 by our Canadian founders, when they moved here and found out that dragon boat racing did not exist! Our non-profit organization is the Bay Area Dragon Boat Foundation.
BAD started with 2 boats with practices held in San Francisco by the pier, growing the sport from 1 humble team to spreading the racing bug that sprouted many more dragon boat clubs over the years. BAD hosted the first dragon boat race festival in San Francisco nearly 28 years ago.
BAD has been hosting an annual summer dragon boat race since the early 2000s, with a new festival name change 14 years ago and this year, to welcome the Year of the Dragon, we are adding this new invitational race format for recreational and competitive teams! Enter the Dragon!
Come join the race and enter our exciting dragon waters on the beautiful lagoons in Foster City, California! We’ve got new boats and new gear for a fun weekend of competitive racing!
Foster City is just 15 minutes drive from the SFO airport, 30 minutes drive north to downtown San Francisco, and 30 minutes heading south to Silicon Valley. It is central to everything and a great base for your racing and sightseeing visit to the SF Bay Area.
Enjoy this Race Festival Video Highlights of our 2019 Summer Novice Race Event, which is the same location as our competitive race.
Thank you for kicking off this summer with us at our home base of Foster City, with a beautiful lagoon, great spectator viewing along the park boardwalk, and spacious grassy areas for teams to relax on. Come for racing, stay for vacation!
RACE REGISTRATION IS OPEN from May 14, 2024 through August 15, 2024.
See you in September! Remember that song?
Please email race@bayareadragons.org with any questions.
REGISTRATION
UPDATE AS JULY 19: Due to multiple requests and unforeseen events, we will be hosting the race as a 1-day Competitive Sprints on Sept 21. The 2-days Competitive Regatta will be in 2025, please send a message to race@bayeradragons.org be added to the email notification list for 2025 registration.
Sign up now and get a chance to win a cool cash prize for racing!
The Bay Area Dragon Boat Competitive Sprints will be held on Sept 21, 2024 at Leo Ryan Park in Foster City, CA. Estimated time from 8am – 5pm each day.
Registration opens on May 15, 2024 and closes on August 15, 2024 or when the race grid is full. Sign up and don’t miss out!
RACE FEES
Mixed Team Entry: $400 (until July 31), $500 (until 8/15 or when race grid is maxed out)
Registration Fee is for a standard mixed team or women’s team. A women’s team will be competing against mixed teams.
Team Entry is confirmed when registration fee is paid in full.
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■ Race course will be the standard 200m distance.
■ Each mixed team consists of 20 paddlers (10 male, 10 female) with up to 4 backups.
ROSTER CAP = Maximum of 24 paddlers per team roster.
■ You need 18 to 20 people to form a team, not including the drummer and steersperson There must be a minimum of 18 paddlers to race and a maximum of 10 male paddlers in a race.
■ Each team needs to bring their own drummer and certified steersperson (comp-race certified from your own city’s competitive race). Beginner steersperson are not allowed. Drummers and steersperson will be provided upon request based on availability.
■ The minimum age to race is 13.
■ Each paddler must sign a race waiver electronically prior to the Race. Team Captains will receive the Online Waiver Link after race registration is closed.
■ Team Roster/Manifest is due a week before Race Day. Team Captains will receive the Online Roster Link after race registration is closed.
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■ Each team will get at least 3 races per day
■ Paddles and Life jackets will be available for racers to use. Please note that all racers must wear life jackets on the water at all times. Paddlers are allowed to bring their own paddles and lifejackets. Paddles must meet the IDBF 202a specifications. Paddlers bringing their own PFDs must ensure that it is a US-Coast Guard approved life jacket. Inflatable life jackets are NOT ALLOWED.
■ Entry fees are tax-deductible! We strive to keep team registration fees as low as possible. All team registration fees are tax-deductible donations (TAX ID #94-3308173).
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■ All prices are in USD dollars. Registration fees must be fully paid by each fee specific deadline to receive the applicable discount. Bay Area Dragon Boat Foundation may cancel registration if the race fees are not paid by the registration deadline or if the event has reached capacity prior to the deadline.
■ Bay Area Dragon Boat Foundation reserves the right to remove any discounts if the registration is not fully paid by the time the discount deadline is passed (a discounted registration entry that is not paid by the discount deadline may be adjusted to the non-discounted price).
■ Bay Area Dragon Boat Foundation reserve the right to review registrations for eligibility and modify registrations if a registrant does not meet the qualifications for the race or the registration rate. Registrants are responsible for any adjustment in registration price.
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Refund requests accepted until July 31, 2024 and provided to original method of payment or check minus 25% administration fee, or full credit valid until September 30, 2025. No refunds/credits given after July 31, 2024. Transfers to a different team or name changes are only allowed until registration deadline subject to capacity. Prices are in USD dollars. In the event of full event cancellation due to smoke, heat, or public health emergencies, race fees will be fully refunded or carried forward for future use for the following year’s race event.
Please email race@bayareadragons.org with any questions
About
The Bay Area Dragons (BAD) founded “Paddle For Life”, a charity race that began in 2000, to introduce the dragon boat racing sport to the local community while giving back to local cancer charities. Paddle For Life ran successfully for 10 years until 2010, when it was subsequently moved to other states for expansion. In 2014, BAD revived the race in Foster City as a summer race festival for corporate teams in the Bay Area. The Bay Area Dragon Boat Novice Race is a popular summer event in the community, a wonderful opportunity for team building, to get out and get active, and meet people from communities across the San Francisco Bay Area.
BAD is adding an invitational race event to give recreational and competitive teams another fun race event in the fall to finish our racing season. We look forward to welcoming our dragonboat-loving paddling friends from all over the West and East coast to come celebrate the Year of the Dragon and race in our beautiful home base in Northern California!
FAQ
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Racer details including waiver links and race format, will be sent to registered team captains after registration is completed.
Thank you for your interest and support!
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SFO airport is the closest airport to the race venue in Foster City, about 15 minutes by car. Uber and Lyft are easily available if you are not renting a car. If you plan to do some sight seeing around Northern California during your visit, we recommend you rent a car for maximum flexibility. Uber and Lyft are easily available as well if you prefer not to drive, though rides can add up if you venture north to Wine Country or south to Monterey.
Public Transit (BART system) - BART from SFO or OAK can go to Millbrae, where one would then use CalTrain to get to the Hillsdale station. Then taxi to FC hotels.
Alternative option is to take Uber/Lyft from airport to Foster City.
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Free parking is available at the designated parking lots walking distance to Leo Ryan Park. Race site map will be provided after you register.
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We have obtained a discount rate with a hotel near the race venue for registered teams exclusively. The hotel discount code and link will be provided directly to registered teams when you are confirmed. The hotel is a 7-minute WALK to the race site. We are working on additional hotel discount rate options TBD.
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There are a lot of restaurants locally in Foster City. There will also be food trucks at the race site during the race weekend. UberEats and DoorDash options are available too.
CONTACT
We are Bay Area Dragons. Feel free to contact us!
Race Organizer: race@bayareadragons.org
Payment: treasurer@bayareadragons.org