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!
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:
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!
Champion Dragon Boats are the next best thing to top end equipment for dragonboating. These boats are manufactured in China and the name of the company that produces these boats are “Dalian Qian Long Aquatic Sports Development Co. Ltd”. I guess it was such a long name for a company they decided to just choose the word “Champion” to call the boats. This company manufacturers different types of equipment such as paddles and canoes and Hawaii boats, but their core is the “Champion” Dragon Boats.
Currently they have two models available, the Model 12 (fits 12 paddlers in a boat) and the Model 22 (fits 22 paddlers in a boat).
Champion Model 12 Dragon Boat
As this boat is slightly smaller than the standard 22 paddler boat, it weighs a little less at 180kg. Generally this weight is acceptable at International level competition and at the end of the day the boat contributes to a small part to achieving a great result.
Model 12
Champion Model 22 Dragon Boat
This boat weighs in at 270kg and is certified by IDBF of spec 1222. Nowadays we are seeing clubs purchasing Champion dragonboats as well and they are becoming widely used in competition and at events. Not only are they great boats to race in they are also slightly cheaper than the BUK Boats. Reason I see is because the labour and parts are cheaper to manufacturer in China which is why these boats are able to be sold at a lower price point. Overall though, these boats still have the quality and precision compared to other dragon boats offered in the market.
