Details

Practice Schedule

 
Practice sessions will be held from the Monday through Friday at Lakeshore Park, just prior to the festival.  One hour practice sessions are available to registered teams on the weekdays prior to the festival.
Practice schedule will be available as soon as your team registration AND the registration fee is received.
 
Additional practices can be purchased at $150 per one hour session.  You may schedule additional practices by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
 

 

Race Safety Information

Safety practices are discussed during the race practices.  All individuals participating in the dragon boat races are required to attend at least one practice session.  
During the practice, your team will be lined up and seating position assigned to evenly load the boat. The person sitting beside you is your buddy and is responsible to ensure that you are accounted for.  The first row will account for the drummer and the last row will account for the steersperson as well as the person sitting beside them.  Your team is supplied a personal floatation device during practice and during the race.  The dragon boat floats even when capsized.   During the unlikely event that the boat is capsized and the entire team goes into the water, please account for your buddy and stay with the overturned dragon boat.  A motorized boat behind the race teams will come to the rescue, and tow the dragon boat in, along with everyone hanging onto the boat.

Water Rescue Procedure is as follows:

  1. Pan Am provides an hour of boat safety and paddling training prior to the festival.  All teams participating in the event are required to attend these practices, with the exception of professional dragon boat race teams.
  2. Pan Am, our dragon boat equipment provider and race coordinator will provide the dragon boats for the races.  These boats float.
  3. Pan Am supplies Coast Guard approved PFDs (personal flotation devices) prior to the paddlers getting on the boat.
  4. On the event that a dragon boat is overturned or swamped, each paddler shall account for their seat partner/buddy paddler.
  5. Paddlers are instructed to stay with the overturned dragon boat in the event that the paddlers are in the water.
  6. Pan Am's steersperson will do a head count and ask each person if they have their seat partner in sight.
  7. The 1st row paddlers shall account for the drummer.
  8. The referee boat that follows each race will approach the scene and tie a line to the dragon boat after everyone is accounted for and tow it, along with the paddlers, to shore.