11-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Take it away! St. Catharines company selling in Germany for World Dragon Boat Championships
Joe Camillo and Chris Cookson are heading to Germany this weekend with more than a little Niagara in their suitcases.
The co-owners of RegattaSport in St. Catharines have shipped thousands of products from branded hats to water bottles across the ocean for their company's arrival as the official merchandiser of the World Dragon Boat Racing Championships.
'I think it's great to be there selling to the world with product made right in our backyard,' Camillo said this week before flying out Friday.
The company, with headquarters on Queenston Street and a retail store in Port Dalhousie, won a competitive bid for the international event taking place from July 14 to 20 in Brandenburg an der Havel.
Nearly 5,000 athletes and supporters from 33 countries will be at the races with thousands of spectators expected to cheer them on.
Camillo said RegattaSport has already done close to $40,000 in pre-order sales of assorted merchandise and expects to be busy selling more over seven days of races. They've partnered with a German company and will have the ability to print more products on site as needed.
Fans will be able to pick up long and short-sleeved shirts, hoodies, pins, mugs, socks and an array of other products with the official world dragon boat logo from the St. Catharines company.
'We plan to do significantly more than what we did in pre-orders there during that week. It'll be a big week for us,' Camillo said.
Some of the shirts RegattaSport is selling as official merchandiser of the 2025 World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany.
RegattaSport has been the official merchandise supplier for several international and national sporting events recently and has been strengthening European partnerships.
They supplied the International Dragon Boat Federation's Club Crew World Championships in Ravenna, Italy in September 2024 and partnered with an Italian company there.
They were the official suppliers for the 2024 World Rowing Senior, Under 23 and Under 19 Championships that took place in St. Catharines last August and for the 2024 Canoe Kayak Canada National Sprint Championships that same month in Welland.
RegattaSport also supplied the Canada Summer Games in Niagara in 2022 and next month, they will be heading to Newfoundland for another big contract with the 2025 Canada Summer Games in St. John's.
Camillo said RegattaSport, which was started in 1988, has worked with the dragon boat community for decades and within the last 10 years with the International Dragon Boat Federation where they've built up a good association.
The company also makes products for the U.S and Australian dragon boat teams that will be competing.
RegattaSport's manufacturer is Camillo's company Niko Apparel Systems in Hamilton, which cuts and sews the products. Between the two companies there are 50 employees.
'We're just really proud of what we built,' said Camillo. 'All the product is made right here in southern Ontario so it's keeping people employed, that's really important.'
He said a lot of people may be surprised by RegattaSport's story, which he admits is pretty cool.
'You'd never think that this Canadian company, a southern Ontario, St. Catharines-based business, would be selling product in Germany and be popular too.'
