Tauranga's Breast Cancer Survivors Dragon Boating team, Boobops, will be launched into the sport's international championships with Jeremy Hantler from the Harmonic Resonators at the helm of their fundraising efforts.

Boobops are delighted to be backed by Tauranga family band – the Harmonic Resonators, who are hosting a fundraising concert for the team this Sunday, August 28 to see them off to the 2023 International Dragon Boating Regatta.

As a worldwide competition, hundreds of teams will compete at Lake Karapiro in Cambridge next April. Held every three to four years, it's the first time New Zealand will host the event.

'[At] The last regatta in Florence we came 11th in the world – we were pretty excited about that but we want to do better this time,” says Boobops' Julie Sach. 'We'd love to be number one.”

As a family band, The Harmonic Resonators are more than happy to support the 48 dragon boaters.

'This is a really nice grassroots initiative that's going directly to support people in our community, and it's great to help out in the best way we know how,” says Harmonic Resonators' lead singer Jeremy Hantler.

'We all know somebody who has been affected by breast cancer and this is a really proactive group who are helping some awesome wāhine toa (strong women) with their recovery.”

Julie, a fierce fan of the band, compares the Harmonic Resonators to the likes of the Howard Morrison Quartet with a touch of the ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou' soundtrack.

'I've seen them about five times now and they've just got this real infectious presence,” says Julie.

Jeremy Hantler of the Harmonic Resonator's will put on a stellar show to fundraise for Boobops. Photo: Bob Tulloch.

While breast cancer brings women together for the sport, Julie says it is not the focus. 'The focus is on fitness and staying well and that's why we do dragon boating – it helps prevents lymphoedema, which is a side effect of breast cancer surgery.”

Training three times weekly, the Boobops are revving for next year's regatta. 'We've had a lot of events cancelled in the last few years and we haven't really been able to compete properly,” says Julie. 'This is an international competition on our back doorstep so that's pretty cool.”

She encourages everyone to get along to the fundraiser concert for an amazing night of music – there will be limited door-sales, so it's best to book in advance for a good seat. 'We're going to do a mix of songs from our new album which are well-known songs translated into Te Reo Maori, combined with a whole bunch of classic sing-alongs and some of our most popular tunes,” says Jeremy.

The concert is this Sunday, August 28, at 6.30pm at Baycourt Addison Theatre, Tauranga. Grab tickets at: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=HARMONIC22