relentless
dragon boat association
What is dragon boat racing?
An ancient Chinese sport of 42-foot boats crewed by 20 paddlers, a steersperson and a drummer. More ⇒
Become a member
Relentless is looking for new members! If you have experience, great. If not, we will show you. More ⇒
Race schedule & results
We are back to a full schedule of practicing and racing this year and will follow covid safety guidelines. More ⇒
What is dragon boat racing?
Dragon boat racing started in ancient China, 2000 years ago. The modern sport began in Hong Kong in 1976 and came to the US in 1983. Today there are national and international competitions around the world.
The boats are about 41' long and tapered, 42" wide in the middle. There are 10 seats, each with a pair of paddlers sitting side-by-side, facing forward. Each paddler holds a single-bladed paddle. A steersperson stands in the back, and when racing, a drummer sits in the front, beating the cadence.
Typical race distances are 200 meters, 500 meters and 2000 meters.
Club Crew National Championships are held on odd years and Club Crew World Championships are held on even years. The 2024 Paris Olympics may have dragon boat racing as a demo sport.
Pictures: 2023 season
Winter training
Relentless Teams
One united club, multiple teams
Mixed 1
The Relentless Mixed 1 Team is a dedicated, competitive and social crew that has a strong passion for the sport of dragon boating. The team practices Monday and Wednesday evenings and competes in 5-6 races every season, including 1 or 2 travel races.
Co-captains: John Sullivan and Patrick Collins
Warriors
Relentless Warriors is our second competitive mixed team in our organization, having been formed in 2017 as our organization expanded in response to the ever-growing interest in dragon boating. We are made up of men and women with paddling experience ranging from newcomer novices to ten years or more.
Warriors practices take place on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Like all Relentless teams we welcome guest paddlers who would like to join us at a few practices to experience first hand why this is such a fun team oriented sport.
Co-captains: Harry Brown & Ken Brask
Premiere Women
The Premiere Women’s team is a dedicated, enthusiastic, and competitive crew that promotes friendship, camaraderie and a passion for the sport of dragon boating. The team practices twice a week on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings on the beautiful Delaware River in New Hope. The Premier Women’s team competes in 3-4 races every season. We sometimes participate in a travel race each season, depending on interest level from our members. Although we have been paddling strong for over 10 years since our organization’s inception in 2009, we look forward to welcoming new members to our group. As a team we take pride in our friendship and accomplishments.
Co-captains: Jodi Reed & Dawn Strivieri
Orange Krush
Orange Krush is a competitive fun loving fitness minded group of women who enjoy life on and off the water. We have great team camaraderie. We practice twice a week: Sundays at 9:30 am and Thursdays at 6:30 pm.
Co-captains Jacqui Ahrens and Robyn Reichert are positive thinkers working towards promoting team improvement as a unit. “All for one, one for all” is our motto.
Our favorite races of every season are the Independence Dragon Boat Regatta in Philadelphia and Mercer County Park.
Paddlynn' Red
The Paddlynn' Red team is a community team that practices on Tuesday evenings and typically races two times a season. We are a tight-knit team that loves the sport of dragon boating and the physical fitness, challenge and fun it provides.
Co-captains: April Franlin & Kim Smith