Corporate Teams

This is a competition that doesn’t exclude. You’re a dragon boater? Great. Never done it before? Even better. Try it once and you’ll be hooked. We’ve got 100 teams who will testify to that. Our packages make this the single best place to try dragon boating for the first time. With practice sessions included, if you’ve got none of the gear AND no idea, we’ve got you sorted.

James Clarke, Partner, Deloitte

“It’s always a highlight to see people from different parts of our business come together into a single, focused team. One of the standout features of this sport is how the team gels and improves over the course of the season - understanding their roles, positions and routines to succeed.

We always have a lot of new paddlers who start the season trying to understand what is going on and finding new muscles.

But by the end of the season, everyone is in tune from warm up to debrief. The support provided by the Dragon Boating Festival really helps our team build itself up each year.

It’s something our people are proud to take part in!.”

The corporate division is designed for crews made up of company staff and contractors, who are looking for the team building benefits, fun, fitness, wellbeing, and competitive challenge of dragon boating.

  • Mixed crews (minimum number of 8 male/8 female paddlers in the boat when racing)

  • A minimum number of 15 crew members must be employed by the company or subsidiary.

  • On race weekend a maximum squad of 25 may be drawn upon to provide the crew of 20 paddlers for each dragon race. Note: drummer and sweep are additional.

  • Crews in this division are offered a minimum of 6, with a maximum of 12 training sessions in the leadup to the festival.

Wellington Dragon Boat Festival will provide your company team:

  • A cost-effective team training programme spanning from January to March, which facilitates individual and team development in a stimulating environment

  • Everything you need for training and racing, including a boat, coach, sweep, life jackets & paddles

  • Welcoming and fun environment

  • Enhanced work dynamics

  • An activity which fosters company pride, commitment, and team spirit

  • Break down barriers across management levels, and social groups

  • Improved workplace health and wellbeing

  • Improved fitness and health

  • Positive and confident attitudes via team building

All you need to do is choose a team package,
figure out when your team members will be available for training and ensure everyone books 15 February 2025 and 28 February - 1 March 2025 into their calendars for our Harbour Fun Day and the Festival.

In 2025 we will be welcoming local teams to begin training for the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival from Monday 13th January.

Training sessions occur on the hour starting between 4pm and 7pm Monday - Thursday.

Corporate teams can sign up for packages that come with a minimum of six training sessions.

Once you have registered your team, our festival manager will contact you about booking your training sessions. We provide everything you need for training on and off the water!

Tatiana, DataTorque

The Wellington Dragon Boat Festival is an incredibly enriching experience for us, which is why we keep coming back, year after year. Not only do we love the excitement of the big race day when our colleagues, friends and family cheer us on from the waterfront, but we also value the months of training together leading up to the event.

It’s an opportunity to interact with colleagues we might not normally work with and participate in an activity where everyone is crucial to achieving success. After each training session, when the adrenaline is still flowing, we carry the sense of joint achievement back into our work environment, resulting in greater team cohesion and camaraderie.

We feel more united, more committed, and more motivated than ever, ready to face the challenges that come our way, both on the water and at work.

Is HR holding the purse strings?

 If you’re keen to get the team at work into a boat, you might need to pitch it to the right person first. Here’s the starting point! To make it easy, we’ve put together a letter that you can edit and send straight to HR, your manager, the CEO or whoever it is that needs to give their approval. Click to download it and get the ball rolling.