Aoraki Dragon Boat Association

The Aoraki Dragon Boat Association (‘Aoraki Dragons’) is the collective of adult, youth and school dragon boating teams in the South Island, founded in 2007, making sure we have the resources, equipment and infrastructure to train and race in dragon boats. We’re one of four regional sports organisations (RSOs) for dragon boating in New Zealand, operating under the guidance of the New Zealand Dragon Boat Association (NZDBA) which is a member of the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF), the worldwide governing body for the sport. Aoraki Dragons is administered by a nine-person volunteer Board of Management.

We currently have fifteen 20-padder boats and six 10-paddler boats in four training locations around Christchurch and north of the city, with other boats located in Dunedin and Blenheim. Teams train with the boats through the paddling season from around October to April (sometimes through winter, too), in preparation for race events against each other, culminating each year in the South Island Championships in mid or late March and the National Championships in late March or early April.

Member teams pay an annual subscription fee to maintain membership of Aoraki Dragons and affiliation to the NZDBA. These funds are managed by the Board to maintain our boats and associated equipment, run events and cover administrative costs such as boat and equipment insurance. As a registered charity (Charities Services Registration No. CC54814), we also apply for charitable funding to enhance our fleet of boats and associated equipment.