FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

A dragon boat holds 20 paddlers, with a drummer/caller on the front and a Sweep (steering) at the back. That is a total of 22 persons on a boat.

For training sessions, there is no minimum or maximum number people required to paddle.

Your race day squad cannot contain any more than 25 paddlers + Drummer + Sweep. (We will award 25 x medals to winning teams)

If your team is short of paddlers, please Contact Us and we can help fill your boat.

All participants must be over 12 years of age.

Youth teams are high school aged paddlers. There is no age limit for adult teams.

We have paddlers compete at the festival in their 80s!

We provide everything needed including the dragon boats, life vests, paddles, and coaches. Please wear clothes that you can get wet. No heavy clothes (e.g. jeans) or shoes (e.g. boots). It is encouraged to wear footwear, our boat ramp is steep and often slippery.

We are privileged to provide a location to paddle right in the city itself. We train and race on the Wellington Waterfront, from the Jervois Quay Whairepo Lagoon to Oriental Bay.

The festival is on Frank Kitts Park, with great views of the racecourse on the waterfront from the wharf.

We assemble at the lagoon boat ramp here for training sessions.

The short answer is 'No'. Dragon boat racing is a sport where people of any shape, size, or ability can participate and contribute to the success of the team. Races only last about 90 seconds, so aerobic fitness is not so important.

Our racecourse is approximately 300m. It starts inside Queen’s Wharf and runs down towards Te Papa.

We know it can be daunting to rally 19 other people to join you, so we have started to bring individuals keen to dragon boat together. This is a competition that doesn’t exclude. You’re a dragon boater? Great. Never done it before? Even better. See more information here.

At the festival you get 3 heats and 1 final. In the heats you compete against other crews both in and outside your division. We run division-based finals and your best two heat times determine which final you race in.

We will happily put the call out for people from other teams to jump in your boat!

Heat 1 will be taking place on Friday Heats 2, 3, Finals and Prize-Giving will be taking place on Saturday.

Each team has the opportunity to race in three heats and one final over the weekend. While we encourage all teams to attend their first heat on Friday afternoon, teams may choose to race only two heats and one final on Saturday. Either way, a team’s best two heat times will determine their placement in the finals and which lane they will be assigned.

Friday is considered part of the Festival Programme - due to the volume of entries, we are unable to reschedule Heat 1 on Saturday, and no refunds or discounts if you opt not to race on Friday.

We only race 20s at the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival and have custom built boats for our harbour!
We wouldn’t rule out 10’s racing - if you have some suggestions for our race programme, flick our Festival Manager a message!

We have a selection of carbon fibre paddles and wooden paddles that are provided for trainings and event days. We encourage out-of-town club teams to bring their own where possible.

Yes! We have life vests available in a variety of sizes. You are welcome to use your own, and for NZ based out-of-town teams that are flying in and bringing lifejackets with gas canisters, you’ll need the carriage of PFD approval letter from AIRNZ. This is provided by NZ Dragon Boat Association for its members.
For overseas teams - please check with your airline. Otherwise we have a range of PFDs you can use.

You don’t have to go very far! We hold the prize giving on site after racing on Saturday for the Adults, and after racing on Sunday for the Youth.

Saturday night we have the after-party (you must have a wristband), and have our own bar on site serving a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The bar is open at our Harbour Fun Day, and both Friday & Saturday of the Festival Weekend.

So bring a change of clothes on race day, take advantage of our hot showers on site (Festival weekend only), and get set to dance to some funky beats thanks to our DJ!

One team entry = one division. Teams wishing to compete in multiple divisions must register a separate entry for each division. (i.e If you want to race in mixed and women’s, you would register as two team entries).

All our prices are charged in New Zealand Dollars (NZD) and will have a 15% GST added to them.

Wristbands are not required for the Youth Racing Day.

For the Adult teams - your packages will have wristbands included and are based on the maximum squad for racing.

Adult Team Premier = Unlimited*
Adult Team Standard = 25 x Wristbands
Out of Town = 25 x Wristbands

Please speak to the Festival Manager if you are bringing extra people - we can discuss options.

We expect a minimum of 8 male and 8 female paddlers for a Mixed crew. Beyond the minimum, you may have any gender. Rule of thumb, work on a 50/50 split (excl. caller / sweep)