Click the image above to view slideshow

There can be only one winner when 28 teams go head-to-head at the annual Super 12 Dragon Boat Regatta at The Lakes on Saturday.

While every entered team is a champ in the eyes of organiser Bets Thomas, the real victor will be the Bay of Plenty Dragon Boat Club and the sport she loves so dearly.

This Saturday at The Lakes the annual Super 12 Dragon Boat Regatta will see 28 crews, including three from the BOPDHB (pictured) battle out to be crowned the victor. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Running since 2006, the regatta has grown from strength to strength each year it's been held.

'We started off on The Strand but the logistics were too difficult, so we moved to The Lakes and it has been the perfect venue for us,” says Bets.

The regatta's original purpose was to raise funds for her club to send two its teams – the Bay Dragons and Boobops – off to regional and national competitions.

It has now become an annual fixture on Tauranga's events calendar, as well as being seen as a fun teambuilding exercise for local businesses and organisations.

Bets says at the heart of her club is the desire to introduce dragon boating to all people, regardless of age, fitness levels or gender.

She says: 'The club has no male paddlers and would dearly love to establish a mixed team, plus some more women paddlers would be fantastic.

'You don't have to be a competitive paddler, we'd also love social paddlers who just want to join the club to have fun.”

The Bay of Plenty Dragon Boat Club has a great social aspect, says Bets, and often organise outings where the focus is on fun.

This includes paddling over to Matakana Island for a picnic or around the point to The Strand from Sulphur Point for a coffee.

They've even been known to take to the water dressed in costumes, says Bets.

'There is a huge social element to our club and it's nice to go out and just do fun things instead of solely being focussed on training,” she adds.

The Super 12 Regatta has proven very popular and many organisations regularly return with more crews each year.

Feedback has been very positive year-after-year and the 2013 regatta received glowing praise from the NZ Dragon Boat Association who were 'totally blown away.”

'They were really impressed that the regatta is an event that many companies mark on their events calendar,” says Bets..

'Preparations for Saturday have gone really well, everything is on track and we're looking forward to a great and fun day of racing.”

The roots of dragon boating is deeply imbedded in Chinese culture and dates back over 2000 years.

More than 50 million paddlers currently compete across the globe and it is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world.

The Bay of Plenty Dragon Boat Club's Super 12 Dragon Boat Regatta is on this Saturday at The Lakes, Tauriko, from 8am-4.30pm.

For more information about the Bay of Plenty Dragon Boat Club visit their website at: www.sportsground.co.nz/bopdragonboating