It might be too chilly for you to consider paddling in Victoria, BC, but what about Victoria, Australia?
We checked in with Jeff Saunders, Development Director for the Victorian Dragon Boat Association, the governing body for the sport in the state of Victoria, Australia. Jeff and his team are currently gearing up for the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival, taking place on March 24, 2013 in Victoria Harbour.
Q. Tell us a little about the festival!
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| Paddlers loading in Melbourne's Victoria Harbour |
A. The Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival (MIDBF) started in 1985 on the Yarra River, which runs through the centre of Melbourne. It is now run on Victoria Harbour, Docklands, which is a newly developed waterfront area that was the main shipping docks for Melbourne from the 1880's to the 1980s. It still has recreational boats and commercial vessels using the harbour and we occasionally need to halt racing to allow a commercial vessel to go through the course.
The Festival is run over a single day, and the Victorian state titles are run on a 500m course as part of the schedule, later in the day we run other races on a 200m course. We can have up to 6 lanes, and expect around 400 competitors.
Q. What divisions do you offer at the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival? What trends have you seen in registration recently?
A. We run 500m races for the Victorian State Titles as well as 200m races. We offer Mixed, Women's and Open divisions, as well as a 40+ Masters division and a 50+ Grand Masters division. We also run a Breast Cancer Survivor division, in the 200m category. If there's time, we even run a 2000m Mixed event. All the races are run in 20-person boats. We have had small growth in the number of paddlers under 40 years old lately, and a decrease in the 50+ paddlers.
Q. What makes this festival special - why should you choose Melbourne over other international events?
A. The location is very close to the city, so you can wake up in your hotel room in the city of Melbourne and take a 15 minute tram ride and be at the course. Like many other dragon boat events, the people are welcoming and friendly.
Q. What’s the biggest difference between paddling in North America and paddling in Australia?
A. It's hard to say, I have never paddled in North America. We are aware that Canada always performs well in the world championships, so many Australian coaches would have watched a few videos trying to see how you do it!
Q. Any advice for paddlers and teams thinking of taking an international trip to compete this year?
A. My state of Victoria is in the southern part of the country so we only have scheduled racing in our warmer months, November - March. Australia is a long journey so it is difficult to get international teams here to compete. If you want to fit some dragon boat racing into an Australian holiday the various state bodies would be happy to help; there are links to all the state bodies on the Australian Dragon Boat Federation (Aus DBF) web page: www.ausdbf.com.au.
Thanks to Jeff Saunders and the Dragon Boat Victoria! We wish them the best of luck with the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival on March 24, 2013.
