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Dragon boats on a windy lake

| 17 May 2016 | 12:45
    Team RedShed CrossFit came in 2nd place.
    Team RedShed CrossFit came in 2nd place.
    Windy conditions made lining up for the start challenging.
    Windy conditions made lining up for the start challenging.
    Scott Johnson from Dynamic was the official starter at Sunday’s Dragon boat races.Windy conditions made lining up for the start challenging on Sunday.
    Scott Johnson from Dynamic was the official starter at Sunday’s Dragon boat races.Windy conditions made lining up for the start challenging on Sunday.
    Racing against the wind.
    Racing against the wind.
    U Crew Team gets ready to race.
    U Crew Team gets ready to race.
    L to R: Dee Bowlby, Claudia McGuckin, Mike Terpak, Casey Bowlby and Mike McGuckin enjoy Taste of the Boardwalk hosted by Lake Mohwak Country Club at Sunday’s event.
    L to R: Dee Bowlby, Claudia McGuckin, Mike Terpak, Casey Bowlby and Mike McGuckin enjoy Taste of the Boardwalk hosted by Lake Mohwak Country Club at Sunday’s event.

BY ROSE SGARLATO
SPARTA — No one had it easy at Sunday’s 2nd Annual Sparta Dragon Boat Festival including official starter Scott Johnson who sat on a dock all day competing with the weather.
“The wind is a challenge in all aspects. Lining up the boats for an even start has not been easy,” said Johnson, a staffer at Dynamic Boat Racing, the company that provides the boats and instruction.
Sparta Education Foundation, benefactor and host of the event, signed up a variety of sponsors along with 52 teams, for a total of 1,000 participants for the fundraiser. With 21 people on each boat and many spectators, the event was the talk of the town and the place to be on a cold, damp Sunday in May.
In between cheering on teams and dodging the cold, people got to sample local cuisine at Lake Mohawk Country Club’s Taste of the Boardwalk.
“One of the best aspects of the Dragon Boat Festival is how it promotes community pride,” said Dorothy La Beau, president of the Sparta Education Fund.
The actual races from start to finish are 250 meters, and each team races two times. If a team makes it to the third heat, they continue on. After a long day that begin at 8 a.m. results came in the later afternoon as follows:
1st Place (Club Level) NJ Dragons
1st Place- Sparta Station Athletics A
2nd Place- RedShed CrossFit
3rd Place: RDA Fitness
According to Doug Layman, co-chair of the event and principal of Helen Morgan Elementary School, there were two first places for a reason:
“NJ Dragons are a competitive dragon boat club team from Parsippany. Due to their level of experience we felt the need to recognize tiered levels of teams: competitive and community. NJ Dragons had the best race time overall.”
Last year, the first Dragon Boat festival raised about $30,000, said Layman. At this juncture the organization will not have the net proceeds for the 2016 event for a few weeks.
“The second annual Dragon Boat Festival is a major fundraiser for the Sparta Education Foundation which enables us to fund educational grants and programs for all of Sparta’s public schools,” La Beau said. “We are proud to have raised over $657,000 for grants to our schools since we were founded in 2006.”
To sign up for next year’s event stay posted at www. Spartadragonboat.com.