AMANDA Furse has helped her dragon boat team win gold at the Australian National Championships in Perth.

Originally from Bude, Amanda now lives in Melbourne where she joined the Yarra River Dragons, based at Docklands in Melbourne.

Dragon boating is an exciting sport that has taken Australia by storm with teams competing in state competitions as well as annual national competitions.

The brightly painted fibreglass boats are approximately 12 metres long and decorated with a dragon's head and tail.

Each boat holds up to 20 paddlers sitting side by side. There is a sweep — helmsman — who steers the boat and the paddlers are kept in time by a drummer who beats a large drum.

Regattas are held on multi-lane courses, which can result in very exciting and very loud racing.

Normal race distances are 200m and 500m, although there are some events with races of 1km and more. Crews are divided into various classes including open, mixed, ladies, junior and charity.

As a club, the Yarra River Dragons compete against other Victorian clubs in regattas across the state as well as competing annually at the Victorian State Titles and the Australian National Championships.

Despite the somewhat serious element that competition inevitably brings, the motto of the Yarra River Dragons is 'Serious fun... just add water!' — encouraging newcomers to try out the sport as a way of making an instant group of friends, a means to get fit as well as an opportunity to open new doors.

So, if you're ever in Melbourne and would like to give it a go, more details are on their website http://www.yarrariverdragons.com">www.yarrariverdragons.com.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.