How many people are on the team?

How many people does the boat hold?

How do you take your boat with you to races?

Do you own your own boat?

Do I need to have big muscles to join your team?

How often do you practice?

How many races do you compete in each year?

Do you win a lot of your races?

How do I join?

Do I need to provide my own equipment?

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How many people are on the team?
We may have anywhere from 30-50 people who call themselves Stumpies at any given point in time. However, not all of us participate every race so the specific team composition may vary from event to event.

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How many people does the boat hold?
That varies depending on the type of boat.

Most people in Portland are more familiar with the boats used for Rose Festival - you know, the big gaudy ones with colorful dragon heads. (We call them the cement tubs, but they're officially known as the Kaohsiung boats.) These hold 16 paddlers, a caller (the person yelling up front), the tiller (the person steering), and a flag catcher.

The rest of the season, we use smaller, lighter, and less ornate boats (and faster too). There are a number of different styles and varieties of these, but the ones used in Portland are called 616s. Most races other than the Rose Festival use some variation of this style. These boats hold up to 20 paddlers, a caller and a tiller. No flagcatcher is needed for these.

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How do you take your boat with you to races?
Well, it's tough. It can be really hard to get through security at the airport with one of those suckers in your carry-on baggage.

Ha! Just kidding. Each race venue usually has its own boats. Sometimes the smaller venues may borrow boats from someone else in the region. In those cases, the race organizers arrange for the boats to be transported to the site on a special trailer.

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Do you own your own boat?
Though a few of the larger club teams in Portland now own their own boats, we do not. The Rose Festival boats are owned by the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association. The 616s are owned and maintained by an organization called Dragonsports. In both cases, we pay practice fees for the use of the boats.

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Do I need to have big muscles to join your team?
Didn't go to our photo page first, did you? No, huge muscles are not a prerequisite. We accept people at a variety of strength fitness levels. Currently our team includes people of many skill levels, from beginners to people with coaching experience. If you're a beginning paddler who is looking to increase your fitness level, the most important thing is that you're teachable and willing to give it a shot. You might be surprised at how quickly you begin to build muscle and increase your cardiovascular fitness.

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How often do you practice?
During Rose Festival season, April to early June, we practice for an hour three times a week (two weekday evenings and Saturday morning). From March to April, and June through September or October, we practice two evenings a week. Though it is not absolutely required that paddlers show up for every practice, we do expect paddlers to show up for most of them. For more information, see our Practice page.

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How many races do you compete in each year?

We usually compete in at least three races, sometimes as many as six or seven. For a schedule of the races we plan on participating in this year, see our Race Calendar page.

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Do you win a lot of your races?
We do pretty well for ourselves. Often we come home with medals, and sometimes we don't. Whatever the outcome, we try to always have fun and do our best. And we are always first in our lane.

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How do I join?
If you think you might be interested in paddling with us, see our Joining the Team page for more information.

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Do I need to provide my own equipment?
Paddles and life vests are provided by either Dragonsports or PKSCA. However, if you own your own Coast Guard approved lifevest, you may want to use it instead as the dock vests are shared by many people and they can get pretty stinky. Many paddlers also choose to purchase their own paddles eventually.