Aoraki Dragon Boat
Association (Inc)
Christchurch, NZ

Canterbury venues

Pegasus - Canterbury's new satellite Town

Aoraki is always interested in other water courses that would be suitable for hosting the National Championships or South Island Invitationals etc. Another fantastic venue is the man-made lake north of Christchurch, developed by 'Infinity Investment Group'. The new 'satellite town' of Pegasus is just north of Woodend so it is about 25 minutes drive from Christchurch (see the map below). Aoraki 'christened' this lake on Sunday 21st February 2010 with the "Early Bird Regatta"

Main lake

Pegasus Lake is a man-made recreational lake, about 700 m long, with many bays and beaches. It is due to have over four km of shoreline with "diverse on-shore environment featuring beaches, parks and walkways".

However the open racing area is just over 540 m so we will have to see whether we can run a full and proper 500 m race (allowing for stopping distance etc).

The Lake is about 85 m wide at the narrowest. The edges of the lake drop off fairly quickly (about 30 degree gradient) to a massive 5 m deep along most of its length - this doesn't sound like much but it's a pretty long way down, even when the lake is drained! So the narrowest section will probably be about 75 m (once the water reaches, say, 2.5 m deep), which would allow for six lanes of 12.5 m each. Click here and here for photos...

There is a small island at the southern end of the course, which would make for a very interesting turning point in longer races (such as a 2,000 m race). So a race will start by the "Yacht Club" in front of the Swing Bridge (bottom of the map), and run up the right hand side toward the "Lake Pavillion" at the top end. Turn left around a buoy, run down past the "sandy beach" and jetty, past the Yacht Club to your right, under the wider bridge and past the Hot Pools. Take a left hand turn around the island (where there is a race official, declaring which boat has right-of-way) then under the smaller bridge and back into the main lake, keeping right and up toward the Lake Pavillion and the finish line.

Gallery:
Pegasus developments.
Aerial shot, looking south over the town with Christchurch in the distance. Above photo is courtesy of www.pegasustown.com Incidentally, Pegasus 'town' looks spectacular from the air at night - at time of writing, (July-09) there is not much housing, but the street lights show an orderly pattern, reminiscent of "crop circles"! Or is it the Pentagon?!