The 8th annual “Final Fling” dragon boat racing event, which marks the end of the dragon boat racing season on the Sunshine Coast, was held at the Garden Bay Pub in Pender Harbour on Sept. 26.
At this year’s event, Max Haugen kindly donated inscriptions for the new cup he presented, rightly named the Sunshine Coast Final Fling Sally Haugen Memorial Cup. Sally Haugen was one of three ladies who brought dragon boating to the Sunshine Coast and formed the team “Dragons Abreast.”
Sally was an inspiration to many on the Coast; always smiling she dedicated a large part of her life to helping ladies with breast cancer to enjoy the benefits of dragon boating. Sally herself battled with breast cancer for 30 years, passing away on July 29, 2013. She will always be missed by those she touched. Sally was one special lady!
The Final Fling event was created by Sally Haugen, Carol Stanfield and Rick Harmer in 2008. Dragon boat racing teams from Sechelt and Powell River compete on a course for the fastest time.
This year, gold went to the MacKenzie Mussels of Sechelt, silver to the Dragontinis of Pender Harbour and bronze to the SeaGals of Sechelt.
