28 Oktober 2003
Event - Narcosis day (09/08/03)

The yellow team - narcosis day

"It was a wonderfull day and you've all done a great job organising it" says Floortje Ulrich, anaesthesist at the Medical University in Leiden. From all over the country 70 anaethesists have gathered at the recreational area near the watersport centre Vlietland for a day of dragonboatracing.

Handing out the prizes

The Imperial Dragons have organised this cultural and sportive event on behalf of their anual narcosis day. After a warming up, brief explanation on dragonboat rowing techniques and a short training, the actual racing began. Divided in several teams they had to compete with their collegues, paddling the boat as fast as they can to the finish.

Thanks to the enthusiasm of the participants, the presence of the lifeguard and of course all the volunteers of the First Chinese Dragonboat Organisation, Imperial Dragons, made the event a great success and a memorable day for everybody!

27th May 2003
Testing - alternative boat

The new boats have more leg room for the rowers, because de distance between the seats have been extended. This change makes that the boat wich was originally intended for a minimum of 18 rowers, reduced to seats for 16 rowers. The advantage wich can therefore be realised, is that rowers have more room to bent forward while performing their rowing exercise. Thus making possible to maximze their "reach" during the "catch" of the water.

Unfortunenatly this improvement of leg space is being treated as a "disadvantage" by some of our teammembers. This because most of our teammembers don´t have long legs to reach the support on the floor for their feet, wich makes it difficult to keep balance while rowing.

Alot of the other teams are still using the old-type-of boats. Since The Imperial Dragons use these boats during a Tournament, makes it logical to train in the same type of boat. Another aspect is that the older-type-of boats ask alot more discipline in rowing technique. That´s because the distance between the seats is shorter, wich leads to the teammembers sitting very close to each other. Therefore it emphasizes the importance of rowing in synch, and the correct movement of bending forward and inward to the boat.

With all these aspects in mind, The Imperial Dragons are seriously considering returning the new boat, and receiving an older-type of boat instead.

6th April 2003
Sponsoring & Gift

Dragonboat Designer: Ben Pel

Last Sunday March 30th, we´ve finally put our team name on our new boat along with the name of our sponsor: "The Imperial Dragons" and "Pel Dragonboats", wich refers to Ben Pel; our sponsor and also the designer of the boat. The idea is also to rent the boat to other teams on various occasions.

Gift from Bush Dragons

At our openingstraining on March 9th, there were several champagne bottles popped for the occasion. One of the champagne cork that went up in the air, has been turned into a golden "souvenir" by the Bush Dragons. This was handed to us as a gift, for letting them use our boat this coming season for their training sessions. On the plate, the following words have been marked:

"New Team" | "New Boat" | "New Beginning"

2003

Bush Dragons

29th March 2003
New site layout/url

With the start of the new season, we thought it was also time for some refreshments. So now the site of The Imperial Dragons has been completely renewed. Apart from the new layout, most of the content, like information has remained the same. For some interaction we now have added a Forum where team members or guests can free their minds with remarks, questions or problems. There is also a realtime Chat, which can be used to directly communicate with one of our members or each other. We have also included a Photo gallery and this newspage, where you can drop by for the latest info, updates and have a glimpse of our tournamentschedule of this season.
Well, feel free to explore our site don't forget to leave a message in our Guestbook. We are open to comments and suggestions!

Our new Dragonboat

The new season has begun so it's time to resume our training! This year we have received a complete new dragonboat, designed by Ben Pel. That special day was celebrated with drinks and snacks with family and friends. There are quite some photos captured of this event of which you can take a peek at in our photo gallery.

Ceremony - the finishing touch

After the openingsceremony was ended, we slowly stationed the new boat in the water. The senior members were the first to get a taste of the new boat and by starting immediately with their openingtraining.

This year, we also have some potential new members joining the team. After the a brief instruction, the new members have started their training as well. Even though that day didn't really had the weather suited for training, we still went into the waters. In other words, we're ready to rumble!