HUNDREDS of competitors took to the water at Shaws Bay, Ballina, over the weekend for the Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club's annual regatta.

The two day event saw 16 Dragon Boat sports teams and seven community teams from Northern NSW and South-East Queensland compete.

The big buzz of Saturday was the 'State of Origin' race, which QLD held the running title for.

While NSW gave a great fight, event organiser Deborah Gibson said, the maroons took out the title once again in a very close "photo finish".

"They JUST won," she said.

The Shaws Bay Hotel's (major sponsor) Brendan Byrne crossed the bay by boat to present the trophy in the State of Origin race.

Ms Gibson said the Rainbow Region Dragon Club, who put on the annual regatta, had been very happy with how the weekend had turned out.

"The weather has been perfect," she said.

Competition was fierce among the dragon boat sports teams, who put their physical limits to the test during the heats and finals over the two days.

The seven community teams had their own race format, Ms Gibson explained, with many teams taking on the persona of their team names, dressing up as pirates and hillibillies, among others.

The Community Final went to the Kyogle Hillbillies, who actually ended up with the second fastest time of the regatta - a great achievement for a community team, Ms Gibson said.

The Sports Women's title went to the Manly Dragons

The Sports Men's 10s title went to the Ballina Dragons, who took out the fastest time of the regatta.

The Sports Mixed title went to the Kempsey Macleay River Rats.