Outriggers

Outrigger Canoes

As a member of Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club you have the advantage of being able to paddle in Outrigger Canoes as well as Dragon Boats, all for the one membership fee. There are several reasons why paddling in outrigger canoes (OCs) is advantageous to dragon boat paddlers:

• The technique is close enough for you to be able to use the same technique in both a dragon boat and an outrigger.
• OC paddling hones your technique for a dragon boat because the paddler needs to keep their weight in the boat for stability. This means you learn to bring your weight forward, not out to the side of the boat.
• You have lots of room to stretch out, so the length of your stroke increases and the stroke rate tends to be slower also, giving you time to extend your stroke.
• In an OC you can feel the strength of your own paddling. In a dragon boat with 20 paddlers, you generally can’t feel your own contribution to the boat. On an OC6 (and especially on an OC1 or OC2), there are less paddlers, so you can feel your own contribution to the boat, and you can feel when you are paddling with greater strength. You also need to paddle with greater strength to really get the boat moving.
• In summary, you learn to paddle with better strength, better control and a longer stroke.
• Sessions are longer, so it’s a great endurance session. All athletes need lots of endurance sessions in their training.
• You get to see more of our beautiful waterways and wildlife.
• You get to catch waves – that is the best fun of all!!
• Anyone wanting to try out for a state team probably needs to be able to paddle in an OC1 for trials.

Outrigger canoe training times can be found here 

Information on how to join Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club can be found here