Aoraki Dragon Boat
Association (Inc)
Christchurch, NZ

Click here for more info from NZ Masters Games website

Dunedin 2012 - NZ Masters Games

Aoraki Dragons worked with Dunedin City Council with the intention of bringing Dragon Boating to the "NZ Masters Games" in February 2012.

Racing was planned for an exciting new venue, the Taieri River which offers a warm and sunny valley setting. Teams were to be shuttled from the Masters Games base (Forsythe Barr Stadium) to the Taieri River near Dunedin Airport. After a full race card of paddling, load back onto the bus be chauffer driven back to the party!

The Regatta was scheduled for Friday 10-Feb-11 and Saturday 11-Feb-2012.

Day 1 : Sprints Racing

The first day's racing will feature simple 250 metre sprints, starting at the opening of the eastern (right hand) end of the race area, heading west and finishing just in front of the bridge. See map for Sprints.

Day 2 : Turns Races

On Day 2 (Saturday) races will be the longer distance "Turns Races". Note the races will probably be 1,000, but depending on feedback we can easily extend this to 2,000 metres.

The Champion Boats gather in front of the Finish Tower and at 15 second intervals they head (east) to a turning buoy about 200 meters out (see map). Boats turn left around the buoy and race back westward and under the bridge, then make another left hand turn around a buoy and back under the bridge. Repeat the racetrack for a finish opposite the finish line tower.

Divisions and age groups

If there are less than 4 qualifying teams in any Age Grouping, Aoraki reserves the right to consolidate them with a younger division.

Races are on Taieri River, which is about 130 metres wide at this point. Teams have marquee shelters along the south bank, with uninterrupted views to the mirror-flat racing area in front of them. A broad bridge crosses the river just to the right of the Finish Line, and there is full viewing of the whole race area. Map from Dunedin...

Aoraki Dragons first ran Dragon Boating in the new IDBF Spec boats in 2009. See the story in the local ODT. in November 2008, Otago Museum staff approached Aoraki Dragons about running a festival in conjunction with a major Chinese Cultural display they had planned. Aoraki agreed to showcase Dragon Boating as part of their exhibition, THE EMPEROR’S DRAGONS
Precious Collections from the Shanghai Museum

Aoraki towed six boats down on the Thursday to Saturday to compete, and to organise the racing. Local teams were "DCC Dragon Boat Team", "Pacific@ Otago University", an Otago Museum team, a team from the "Otago Southland Chinese Association" and Deloittes ("Barbarians").