HUNDREDS of people lined Weymouth seafront as the popular annual dragon boating race roared into action.

Crowds lined the Esplanade on Sunday afternoon as six teams took to the water of Weymouth Bay for the charity race.

An estimated £1,500 was raised during the event and the monies will now be divided before being distributed to a handful of charities in the coming weeks.

Six teams picked up their paddles and took to the water for the event, all vying for the coveted top space, with a team of prison officers, from Portland Young Offenders Institution, called Porridge, winning the race,

Up This Wey finished in second place, with the Ultimate Badass Club finishing in third place in the race.

Greenhill Pirates picked up the Spirit of the Event award, with the Granby Shield being won by the Ultimate Badass Club.

The race, which was organised by the Rotary Club of Melcombe Regis, was being held in the town for the 19th year in a row.

Malcolm Ketchley, from the Rotary Club, said: “The whole event went very well.

“We were blessed in that there was no rain during the day and the sun came out for the race.

“Everybody had a really good time during the event. Even though the beach was pretty empty, there was a lot of people who were along the Esplanade watching the race which was good to see.

“We haven’t got the final figures of what was raised yet but we expect it to be around £1,500.”

Despite there being a fairly decent crowd turning up on the day, the race was still hampered by the wet weather with fewer teams than normal signing up.

However, Mr Ketchley said the group was still pleased with the way the day had gone and the group were now looking forward to next year’s event.

He added: “We did only have six teams, which is a little bit disappointing but we think that if we had better weather then more teams would have turned up.

“It is a very popular event, there were a lot of spectators and everybody seemed to have a good time.

“We can’t do it without the help of PGL from Osmington, they provide all the boats, paddles and safety equipment so we must say thank you to them and now we look forward to next year when hopefully we will have more teams.”

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