Dragonboat Blog | The Dragonboating Resource

dragonboat talk for dragonboaters.

Regata 2000 is a manufacturer of Dragon Boats located in Hungary. Many of their customers have said that their boats are “stiff and durable”. Basically they use Fibre glass and plywood to construct the boat and the frame can be made out of pine wood or mahagoni depending on the strength and stiffness you require. Overall the boat weighs between 250kg to 300kg and the boat can be purchased for around 4,800 EURO (includes the head, the tail the drummer’s seat and the steering paddle). For more quantities Regatta 2000 says they can offer a better price.

Lastly to mention, on a special request Regatta 2000 has said they can use kevlar and carbon fibre to lighten the boat at an additional cost. Why spend more when the minimum weight is 250kg?

October is internationally known as Breast Cancer Month and you must be wondering why I am talking about this topic? Well, today is the 1st of October and I thought it is a timely manner to talk about Dragons Abreast, the dragonboat association that helps, supports and raises awareness for Breast Cancer Survivors across the world.

There are lots of activities designed to promote awareness of breast cancer and to help raise funds to support research. The main event for Dragons Abreast Australia this year is the Darling Harbour event held on the 19th October 2008. Furthermore 2008 is a very special time as Dragons Abreast as they are celebrating 10 years since breast cancer survivors took to paddling dragon boats in Australia.

This is what Dragons Abreast offers for cancer survivors:
“Dragons Abreast Australia is a phenomenon that has grown enormously simply because we are filling a gap in the market place by helping post-treatment breast cancer patients regain full and active lives. Happily a large percentage of women survive breast cancer these days but the transition from patients back into a full and active life is often difficult. We are a highly effective element in the ongoing post-treatment management of breast cancer patients, delivering significant physical and psycho-social benefits.”

So – this October support Dragons Abreast by either raising some money via the Dragons Abreast National Event held at Darling Harbour, click here for more information. Or purchase a “Keyring of Hope” here to support Dragons Abreast.

More information about the “Key Ring of Hope” can be found here.

I’ve seen a lot of Kayak and Canoe manufacturers who have designed the top of the line boats and helped a lot of top athletes win Gold medals jump across to manufacture Dragonboats. Plastex Composites is no different, as they make excellent watercraft in Kayaks, Canoes, Slalom and Rowing.

Here is a picture of their dragon boat below and they make them in both 12 man and 22 man boats. The 12 man boat weighs at 170kg and the 22 man boat weighs at 250kg which are all within the minimum standards of IDBF Specs.

Would love to have some paddlers or people who have used this boat to provide some comments below. For now I’ll leave it up to the community to decide what these boats are like!

Plastex Composite Dragon Boat

Olympic Torch on a Dragonboat

This photo above was featured on the US-Edition of the Financial Times on 3rd May 2008. It shows the Olympic Torch on a Dragon Boat during the Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong. It was a great reminder as Dragonboat paddlers that we could share in the spirit of the Olympics, even though Dragon Boating is still not qualified as an Olympic Sport as yet. (I believe it will be one day in the near future).

I know that this picture has been already posted over the Internet and on other sites already, it was just a great reminder of how joyful a moment it was to see this happen.

This manufacturer of boats in Netherlands has designed a Dragon Boat combining kevlar-carbon and fibreglass, making it supposedly an extremely light boat. They say that the casco can be lifted by two people. I can only assume that is the hull. Furthermore they don’t say how much the boat weighs and they offer two types of construction:

1. “One piece” dragonboat 100% kevlar/carbon
2. “One piece” dragonboat 50% kevlar/fiberglass

The “real” difference seems to be in the price of around 500 pounds – which in Australian dollars is around $1,100! That’s a huge difference for the extra 50% of kevlar and fibreglass. Woah!

All Pel Kajak Centrum Dragon Boats are handmade with decks carved from mahogany wood and completely lacquered 4 times over to provide the water proofing a boat needs. Normally the steers oars are constructed out of wood, but this company also offers carbon fibre saying that it is lighter and stronger. Sure that is true, which is the same as a carbon fibre paddle, though it’s starting to becoming the most expensive dragonboat I’ve ever heard – and simply may be too light for my liking.

I wonder if this boat is worth the “low-price” they say it is at 5,750 pounds. Definitely will cost more than a BuK boat, which I still have to say in comparison sounds like a much better boat to paddle in.

The last thing I don’t like about the “look” of this boat is it’s dragon head – it just looks way over the top and not something I would be happy to sit behind whilst paddling..

Oh one last thing – they offer different colours: red, blue, yellow, black and white.

Gemini Dragon Boats are manufactured by a Polish company called Gemini Composites. Their experience is in manufacturing boats such as Yachts, motor boats and Dragon Boats out of composite materials. As you will see the Dragon Boats they manufacture are made out of a composite plastic materials and everything is moulded together, even the seats!

Their main advantage is “toughness”, where there are no screws or fixing points at the seats or on the hull. One problem I see is if any parts get damaged, e.g. seats or the hull or the side of the boat, then basically it means that one will have to send it back to the manufacturer for repairs. It would be easier to ask the manufacturer to send parts rather than shipping a whole boat back! Gemini also says that it’s lower maintenance, because there are no “wooden” parts involved, yes and no. One, if wood is protected properly it will last for years and it’s easier and cheaper to replace. Two, wooden seats will be more comfortable to sit on compared to plastic moulded material as there is potentially more chances that plastic will expand under heat.

Well, I’ll let you all decide whether or not this is a good Dragon Boat to use!