The official date for the Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races 2017 has been released. Houston Heat will be taking a competitive team to Hong Kong and race at the international level. Those that have raced in Hong Kong should know how competitive it gets out there; we will be competing against national teams from countries across the world, and at least 6 other teams from North America as well.
We will be participating in 2 races/events: Macau and Hong Kong. All current and in good standing 2016-2017 Houston Heat members are welcome to join, but since we want this to be a competitive team, it will required your commitment to attend as many practice sessions as possible, on and off the water.
In order to stay competitive, we will have at least one mandatory practice each month starting in February 2017. We will be filming practices, OC1 time trial, and paddling on an ERG to evaluate each paddler and recommend improvement on technique and power. Please note that coaches have the discretion to make the team selection; therefore, if you sign up, practice attendance will be observed.
The Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race is a very competitive event. We want to do well in all the races, but above all, I want all of us to have a great time paddling and enjoy our time in Asia.
A round trip plane ticket to Hong Kong around the festival time will be around $800 – $1200 if you book your ticket early. However, we are requesting that you do not book your tickets yet until you are informed to. Stay tuned to the team communications that will go out to paddlers who are signed up. The team manager will be looking for special rate on hotels and AirBnB. Once more information is gathered, we will inform all the paddlers on the team.
Important note: The water in Hong Kong is very choppy, and therefore they might only allow 18 paddlers in the standard boat for each race. Not all paddlers will get to compete in every single race, but we will try our best to rotate the roster while staying competitive.
Team Entries for both events for Houston Heat have been waived by Kerry Chow; therefore, if you know him or see him, please take the time to thank him. FYI: Kerry “Puppy” has been the running the marshaling area at the San Francisco Dragon Boat Festivals for many years.
Deadline to register: November 30th, 2016. Register below to start receiving team communications.
Event Coach:Jackson
Event Coordinator: Sheena
Festival Information:
Macau Dragon Boat Festival
Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Location: Macau, China
Website: http://www.sport.gov.mo/en/sites/dragonboat_sp
Paddler Fee: No cost for 2017 HH Members
Race format: Standard boat mixed
Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races
Date: Friday, June 2, 2017 through Sunday, June 4, 2017
Location: Hong Kong, China
Website: http://www.hkcdba.org/ (Be careful when clicking the link; they have a Youtube video that will auto-play. The website doesn’t have much information about the race at this point)
Paddler Fee: No cost for 2017 HH Members
Race format:
– June 2nd: 10 men boat (Male), 10 men boat (Female), 10 men boat (Mixed)
– June 3 – 4: Standard Boat Mixed