DragonBoat Beaufort ready for another race day
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
An annual event that brings in money to assist local cancer patients will take place in Beaufort once more on Saturday.
DragonBoat Beaufort is hosting its 12th Annual DragonBoat Beaufort Race Day on Saturday, June 28 at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort.
According to Christine Jones, Paddle Program Coordinator with DragonBoat Beaufort, 28 teams have registered for this year’s event.
“We have some new community teams and new out-of-town teams, so we’re excited about that,” Jones said.
The event will begin at 8 a.m. with a drummer’s parade that will begin about 15 minutes prior to the races.
The paddlers will be competing for Team Spirit Award, Best Decorated Tent, Best T-shirt Design, Best Drummer Costume and Team, Drummer and Individual Fundraising awards.
This year will feature a few changes from previous years, with a special scavenger hunt for children called Tale of the Dragonheart.
“I don’t want to say too much about it,” Jones said.
Additionally, DragonBoat Beaufort will be awarding a special award called the Kelsey Kup, which is given in honor of the daughter-in-law of member T-Bone Taylor who recently “lost her battle” with cancer. The award will be given out for team spirit.
Race Day is the biggest fundraiser for DragonBoat Beaufort, which uses the proceeds to provide necessities not covered by insurance for people in the community who are battling cancer.
“We’re helping with things like rent that can’t be paid because someone isn’t working because of their illness,” said Jones. “We give people gas cards so they can get to treatment, grocery cards if they need that and other things that come up that you may not expect.”
This year, the nonprofit organization’s goal is $80,000. As of press time, it had raised just more than $79,000.
Their goal in 2024 was also $80,000, and the event raised more than $90,000.
The event is co-sponsored by the City of Beaufort and presented by Modern Jewelers, which is the event’s Platinum Sponsor.
The race day is expected to last until 4 p.m. with the award ceremony directly following the races.
For more information about this year’s event, visit www.dragonboat-raceday.com/2025/.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
