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.

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).

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.

We only race 20s at the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival. We wouldn’t rule out 10s for our Harbour Fun Day though!

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.

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 for R18+ only (you must have your 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!