Paddlers,
My apologies for the later than usual confirmation of our race date but the California Dragon Boat Association (CDBA) is pleased to announce that the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Race and Festival date has been set and will be held on September 23 & 24, 2006. The race will be held again at Treasure Island, which will not
only provide a great venue for racing and our festival but amazing views of the San Francisco and East Bay skylines and closer access to downtown San Francisco than Lake Merced ever did.
A race packet will be sent out shortly but here are some of the event details.
Race Format: Our race will continue to offer loads of racing for our visiting teams. In addition to the mixed division, you can participate in:
the Visiting team championships (mixed teams); the Mens/Womens race divisions (by combining with another crew if necessary, or if you are racing a womens crew in the mixed division); as well as the Masters
race (for paddlers over 40 years old)!
Race Fees: Visiting team race fees have not been determined yet, but will not be significantly changed from last year. I would recommend budgeting at least USD $600 per crew entry, which gets you into the mixed division as well as any of the aforementioned additional divisions (on a first come first served/space available basis). This race fee may be discounted if we introduce an early-bird registration option.
Lodging: We continue our great relationship with the four-star Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel (
www.parc55hotel.com) which offers the CDBA exceptional room rates. The high quality of the rooms and the hotel at the special discounted rates has been a huge draw for many of our visiting teams. The Parc 55 is located in downtown Union Square, in the heart of San Francisco. Great restaurants, shops, bars, etc, are all within walking distance. Room rates have been set at USD $104.00 for a double-double room (sleeps 4), excluding taxes.
Transportation to Race Site:
1) As usual, free Shuttle Buses to and from the race site on Saturday and Sunday of the race. For Friday practices, shuttles may be provided on a per-person pay basis, based on demand. Otherwise, teams need to
arrange their own transportation (public transporation or taxis).
2) Airport Transportation - You can take the BART (
www.bart.gov) train directly from the airport to the hotel, it's very convenient, fast, and cheap. It's about USD $5.00 per person. For comparison, taxi from the airport to the hotel will be approximately USD $45.00. You really don't need to rent a car if you can avoid it as hotel parking
is pretty expensive at USD $30 per day.
More information will be sent out as soon as possible as we know that you all are locking down your race and travel plans. In addition, we will update our race website,
www.sfdragonboat.com regularly.
We are exceptionally excited about our festival and race being at Treasure Island again and hope that you can join us on the water in September !
Please forward this email to those you feel should read this and encourage them to join the CDBA-out-of-town yahoogroup. More info at
http://www.sfdragonboat.comFeel free to email me if you have any questions at:
[email protected]Paddles Up !
Andrew Yan
Visiting Team Coordinator
California Dragon Boat Association
www.sfdragonboat.com 
