[Guest]

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

 

Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

180 Guests, 0 Users

[SS]

Has anyone ever attended the Dragon Boat festivals in New Zealand or Australia?  Does anyone have any thoughts about these festivals?

www.dragonboat.org.nz/

http://www.dragonboatfestival.net/

Thanks!

[Sun Tzu]

I did NZ in 2001. Great people and great hospitality. I did the Karapiro festival just outside of Hamilton and it was the season ending festival for the NZ dragon boat community. Overall, very well run and a good race venue as the facility is used for rowing and other paddling events. Race starts were fair as the boats were backed into a starting dock with the tail held by a race official until the starting gun.

In terms of amenities at that particular venue...pretty limited as you are pretty much in the boon docks but there were tents and vendors set up at the site and several teams had BBQ's going & the coolers stocked!

The boats, paddles and paddling technique is quite different than what we do in Canada & US. The boats are a completely different design and have a rounded bottom, making them quite a bit tippier. Boat length about the same size as the 6/16's. Paddling technique is more akin to flatwater canoe as paddlers paddle in a kneeling position as oppose to seated as we do here in Canada. I understand that is changing and over the last few years, teams have adopted paddling from a seated position. The paddles are more similiar in design to outrigger paddles minus the bend at the shaft. The paddles have a palm grip and the blade is wider.

Anyways, hope this helps!  

[SS]

Thanks very much for your help Sun Tzu!

[Sun Tzu]

A Game:

You're welcome!

Another link you may want to check out regarding NZ Dragon Boating is:
http://www.dragonboats.co.nz/default.htm

I realize it hasn't been updated since last season, but they always update at the last minute. If my past experience with them hold true to form, we should see updates in November.

This is site is pretty good in listing all the NZ Dragon boat festivals, providing forms and contact information. If you are serious about NZ, you can typically squeeze in a couple of festivals in a span of 2-3 weeks (i.e. Wellington, Christchurch & Auckland). If you are gonna go that far, make it worth your while!  

Pip Fleming is one of the key organizers of the NZ Dragon boat festivals. Her contact info is on this site. Give her a shout if you need to get more info. Real nice person. I had the opportunity to meet her when I was in NZ. She was able to line me up with a team from Auckland.

Anyways, if you get the opportunity to go to NZ, you won't regret it!  

Cheers!

[SS]

Thanks again Sun Tzu.  We're looking at going in 2007 possibly.

[Raging Moose]

The Henley Dragons of the UK travelled to New Zealand last year, so their experiences might be a good guid for you.  On their site you can find a couple of race reports.  I think they had a travel log on there somewhere as well but I can no longer locate it.  Try digging around in their race results archive, or email their web admin.

http://www.henleydragons.com/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,997-17453-18603-5034-163667-news-item,00.html

http://www.henleydragons.com/vsite/vcontent/content/news/0,10869,997-17453-18603-5034-164003-news-item,00.html

By the way, greetings from T.O.