Brief History
The sport came to Great Britain in 1980 by way of the 'Hong Kong in London Chinese Festival'.  It was introduced as a competitive sport at the 1981 World Canoe Championships in Nottingham and the Dragon Boat Racing Club of Great Britain was formed in 1985 but it had to change its name to The British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) in 1987 as more and more individual Dragon Boat Teams were formed.  Since then, over 30 clubs regularly compete in the BDA National League and Grand Cup Finals each year.

Facilities and Equipment Required
Many of the regular teams now own their own boats but whenever an event is staged, the organiser will have a number of 'pool' boats for the use of novice and other teams who do not own their own boats, so non-ownership of a boat is not a deterrent to racing.  These boats are always fully equipped with paddles, etc.  Crews race in light clothing, ie singlet or T-shirt and shorts.  Jeans are out as they are too absorbent and could be a danger if a boat capsizes.  The sport has strict rules and regulations mainly for safety reasons laid down by the BDA.

Benefits
Dragon Boating is a very social sport.  Any group of people can readily form a crew and have fun.  Many serious crews started as a fun crew, liked it and continued to race on a regular basis.  It keeps you fit and anybody who can hold a paddle with two hands can take part.

Crew sizes
The standard Dragon Boat carries up to twenty paddlers, a drummer and a steerperson.  A training or junior boat is being developed which carries only up to ten paddlers and is very useful for training purposes.  These are not raced competitively by the BDA but some are used in fun races that are staged mainly for charitable purposes.