NEW ZEALAND DRAGON BOAT ASSOCIATION
New Zealand National Championships
Friday 7th & Saturday 8th April 2017
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Best regards to you all for 2017 from the NZ Dragonboat Association.
We hope you are all well and that your team training sessions and build up towards the “competition” end of the
season are also going well.
As noted in our previous bulletin of July 2016 the 2017 NZDBA National Championship event is being held at the
world renowned water sports course on Lake Karapiro on Friday 7/04 and Saturday 8/04, which is just over 10
weeks away.
This bulletin is a reminder to you all that if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to register your teams for the
Nationals event.
All the information on how to register your team and crews, the costs, the format of the event and who to
contact, is all on the NZDBA website. Click on “The Nationals” menu option and everything you need to know is
there.
However if you still have questions once you have read through the information then please email
[email protected] or speak with your friendly NZDBA RSO representatives who can also help you out.
These representatives are as follows:
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Aoraki Dragonboat members - Noel Anderton and Meri Gibson
Auckland Dragonboat members – Heather Bisset, Sooupu Perese and Ricky Greaves.
Waikato Dragonboat member – Shane Petley.
Breast Cancer Survivor (BCS) teams – Colleen Harris
IMPORTANT NOTICE - We have moved our website.
Please note that we have recently launched our new website under the new Sporty platform and so if you have
old links to the NZDBA website saved in either your browser favourites or bookmarks please update them to the
new website location which is http://www.sporty.co.nz/nzdragonboat or if you just enter www.nzdba.co.nz in
your browser you will also get to the new look website.
Here are a couple of important notes for you as Team Managers or Team Contacts:
1. The early payment discount date of 1/02/2017 is fast approaching so you will need to get your team
registrations in and payments sorted really quickly. A number of teams of have already done this and
been able to take advantage of the 5% discount on offer. Check out the FAQ’s section below for further
details on the important dates.
2. Accommodation is still available in Cambridge or Matamata which are less than 10 – 15 minutes drive
from the lake, Hamilton which is 20 minutes drive away via the new bypass and there may still be camp
sites available in the camp ground adjacent to the lake for small groups or individuals.
The NZDBA also has three(3) 8 bunk bed rooms so 24 beds available in the lodge at the Lake available for
hire for the Friday and Saturday nights. If you are interested in securing these rooms then please contact
us ASAP at [email protected]. Note: You must hire all 3 rooms (ie. 24 beds) therefore this offer is more
for a whole team rather than individuals or small groups of individuals.
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NEW ZEALAND DRAGON BOAT ASSOCIATION
New Zealand National Championships
Friday 7th & Saturday 8th April 2017
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Q1. I’m confused – does “Small Boat” mean the boats are smaller or that there are less people in the crew? Or
both? That is, do we use the “10-Man” boats?
A1.
The term Small Boat means the crews are smaller, not the boats. So there will be 10 PADDLERS (plus a
Sweep and Drummer) in a crew, BUT they will paddle in our standard “Champion” 20 Man boats which
will mean there will be some empty spaces when you load your crew.
Q2. What do we mean by “Mixed”, “Womens” and “Open” racing classes?
A2.
Mixed is what we are fairly used to. It means a crew of both male and female paddlers.
In the case of a crew of 20 paddlers there must be at least 8 women in the crew for the team to be
allowed to race as a Mixed crew. You are allowed to have more than 8 women in a Mixed crew if you wish
but you can’t have less than 8.
Accordingly for a crew of 10 paddlers (Small Boats) there must be at least 4 Women in the crew but you
can have more if you choose to.
Womens crews consist of all female paddlers. Note that the Caller and Sweep must also be female in line
with the IDBF (International Dragon Boat Federation) regulations.
Open. This is an interesting one. Essentially the Open division is for Men’s crews however (and I have no
idea why, other than that women are awesome!) you can also have Women in an Open crew. Therefore
Open is exactly that … “open” to whatever crew configuration you want (For example, 20 Men, or 17
Men and 3 Women, or 10 Men and 10 Women. For Small Boat crews, it could be 10 Men, or 8 Men and 2
Women etc).
Q3. We’re entering a Mixed team in the Standard Boat (20’s) division. Can we then split the team in two and
enter 2 x Small Boat Mixed crews? Or even just one Small Boat Mixed crew?
A3.
No, on both counts.
A team/club may enter a separate Mixed Standard and a separate Mixed Small boat crew as long as
paddlers are not shared between the crews (ie. the paddlers in each crew are all different people).
However you can split your 20 person Mixed crew into a Small Boat Women’s crew and a Small Boat Open
Crew, or into one or two Small Boat Open crews. Remember that Open crews can be of whatever gender
composition you choose.
Q4. Can we just enter a team or teams in the Small Boat Women’s or Small Boat Open divisions and not enter the
Standard Boat division?
A4.
Yes you can as long as your team hasn’t attended a National Championships in the past 2 years. Refer to
Q6 below for the full run down on this.
Q5. Can we just enter a team in the Standard Boat (20’s) division and not enter the Small Boat division?
A5.
Heck yeah but you’ll be missing out on a whole different level of paddling, more paddling opportunities,
more prize winning opportunities and more fun 
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NEW ZEALAND DRAGON BOAT ASSOCIATION
New Zealand National Championships
Friday 7th & Saturday 8th April 2017
Q6. We are really struggling this season to get a full complement of 20 paddlers for our crew. Can we just enter a
Small Boat crew in the relevant Small Boat division?
A6.
The simple answer is Yes as long as your team hasn’t attended a Nationals regatta in the previous 2 years
as a Standard Boat crew. If however you are struggling to get team numbers this season and therefore
you are considering not attending Nationals at all then please get in touch and discuss it with us. The
NZDBA are keen to get as many teams attending the Nationals regatta and taking part in the sport as
possible whilst ensuring we are being fair and equitable to all teams. Either email [email protected]
or call Noel Anderton the NZDBA Chair on 021 392 665 to discuss your teams specific situation.
Q7. When do I have to register my team for the Nationals by?
A7.
It’s all on the website but here are the important dates.
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You have until the 1/02/17 to register your team for the Nationals and pay your registration fee to be
able to take advantage of the 5% Early Bird discount.
You have until the 10/03/17 to register your team for the Nationals at the full price after which a late
fee will be charged.
Final registrations close on the 10/03/17
Please note however that spaces are limited to ensure that we are able to get through all of the races on
offer over the 2 days of the event and therefore we advise you to get in as soon as you can and Register
your team.
Q8. We have a team sweep who will sweep our Standard Boat (20’s) crew however we don’t have 2 sweeps for
our 2 Small Boat crews. Does this mean we can only enter 1 Small boat crew?
A8.
No you can go ahead and enter 2 Small boat crews. The NZDBA realises that some teams may have only
one sweep at this stage and so to ensure that teams can enter 2 Small boat crews a Pool Sweep can be
allocated to your team if you require one for a specific race.
Coaches and/or managers however need to ensure that once the Race Draw has been published that you
check it through thoroughly. If there are not at least 3 races between races that your 2 Small Boat crews
are scheduled to race in then you will need to ask the race committee for a Pool sweep. This needs to be
done early in the race day rather than at the last minute (ie. just before your race is due to load)
otherwise you run the risk of your team being disqualified from a race because a sweep has not been
organised prior.
Here are a couple of examples:
Your Small Boat Crew 1 is in race 7 and your second Small Boat Crew 2 is in race 10. There are 3
races between races 7 and 10 and therefore you won’t need a Pool Sweep as your team sweep
can sweep both races without causing a delay at crew loading.
During your thorough check of the race draw you discover that your 2 Small Boat crews are in
back to back races (ie. one race after another). You will need to advise the race committee before
the race day or at the latest the beginning of the race day that there is a clash and therefore that
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NEW ZEALAND DRAGON BOAT ASSOCIATION
New Zealand National Championships
Friday 7th & Saturday 8th April 2017
one of your Small Boat crews will require a Pool Sweep. You will need to advise the race
committee of the Race number, Lane Number and Team name that you will require the Pool
sweep for. A Pool sweep will be allocated to your team for that specific race accordingly.
NB: Pool Sweep Allocation
1. A team cannot choose a Pool Sweep. They will be allocated by the Race committee.
2. A Pool Sweep cannot be the coach or a member of the team that requires a Pool Sweep.
3. The Race committee will do it’s best to ensure that an allocated Pool sweep meets the criteria for
a specific division (ie. A female sweep for a Women’s team or a BC sweep for a BC team) however
if this is not possible a Pool sweep will be allocated regardless and this will not affect a team’s
entry into a specific race.
Q9. What level of accreditation does a Sweep need to have to be able to Sweep at Nationals?
A9.
All Sweeps must have achieved Level 3 or above accreditation to be able to sweep at the NZDBA National
Championships. (Note this is different to the requirement for last year which was Level 2)
The details of the national Sweep Accreditation program and a more complete definition of what it takes
to achieve Level 3 Sweep accreditation can be found on the NZDBA website. Just click on the “Sweep
Accreditation” link to find out more.
Q10. We’re ready to register our teams for Nationals. What do we do now?
A10.
Follow the steps below to get your team into the NZDBA Nationals for 2017.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Go to the NZDBA website at http://www.nzdba.co.nz.
Click on the “The Nationals” menu.
Read through the “Costs” page and the “Event Information” pages.
Then follow the instructions from there. If you aren’t quite ready to submit all of the information for your
team but want to secure a spot for all of your crews at the 2017 National Championships then fill in the
forms with the relevant information.
NB: Your team is not fully registered until you have paid the Registration Fee in full and submitted all of
your Crew lists. However if we do have to limit team numbers so that we can fit all of the racing in over
the 2 days then those teams who have not paid in full may miss out. So we can’t impress on Team
Managers enough.
Get on to registering and paying for your team and crews for Nationals as soon as you can.
5. And while we’re on the subject of Crew Lists, yes you will need to submit a Crew List for each of the
crew/teams you enter into the Standard Boat and Small Boat divisions. So if you are entering a Standard
Boat Mixed crew, a Small Boat Womens crew and a Small Boat Open crew then you will need to submit 3
separate Crew List forms for each crew. Yes we know this is a bit of a pain but it is the only way we can
check paddlers against crew lists when it comes to Crew Loading.
6. Finally…. We’ll see you all at Nationals primed and ready to race Dragonboats for 2 whole days of great
competitive paddling.
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