High winds caused a boat to flip over at Standley Lake in Westminster on Saturday afternoon, sending 20 passengers who were training for the annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival into the cold waters about 100 yards from shore.
“It was really windy and the water was really rough so it blew over one of the dragon boats,” said Diana Allen, a spokeswoman for the Westminster Fire Department.
The racers from the capsized boat spent about 15 to 30 minutes in the lake before they were shuttled to shore. All were wearing lifejackets and no serious injuries were sustained, Allen said.
“They all had on their lifejackets, which really saved this from being a tragedy,” she said.
There were three dragon boat teams practicing Saturday at Standley for the upcoming race, scheduled to be held July 28 and July 29 at Sloan’s Lake.
