Mothers Day - Sunday 13th May 2007
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This trophy is up for grabs again!
Don’t miss your chance to be involved in an action packed event, which includes official launch, presentation dinner, lots of prizes and major FUN whilst supporting a very worthwhile cause! It all kicks off with a launch on Tuesday 17th April at Hogs Breath Café in the city.
We want to involve both the hard core racers and social sailors – so are offering several classes of entry. Everyone can join in!! Handicapped divisions include Racing and Cruising for Mono-hulls and for Multi-hulls. This race also includes a non handicap division.
All Yachts entering receive:
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- Launch Party at Hogs Breath Cafe
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- One ticket to Celebration Night
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Lots of great prizes are up for grabs including:
- Cash prize pool of $2,500 - to be drawn out of a hat on the Celebration Night – so all entrants are in with a chance!!!
- Haul out, water blast and weeks hard standing at Sandgroves Quay
- Prizes for “Breast” Hats
- Prizes for “Breast” Dressed Crews
- Lots of other great prizes!!
Entries Close Friday 4th May 2007
For further information contact Wayne Huxley on 0407 179 001
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Lunch Cruise - 11.00am – 2.00pm
A fantastic way to celebrate Mother’s Day & help raise funds for breast cancer!
Gold Cup Cruise aboard “Alfred Nobel” - $120.00 per person
Includes:
- Seated Luncheon of Local Tiger Prawns, Cold Roasted Chicken and Meats, Salads and fresh Bread all served to your table.
- Drinks package including bottled wine, beer, sparkling wine and soft drinks.
Silver Cup Cruise aboard “Tumlaren” - $60.00 per person
Includes:
- Buffet style lunch of Cold Meats, Chicken, Salads and Breads.
- Open Bar available to purchase drinks.
OR – get an earlier start with a “Munch Cruise” aboard the “Anniki” – a showpiece of North Australian maritime history! -
$60.00 per person 10.00am – 1.00pm
Munch your way through a delicious brunch fest
Includes:
- A munch fest of delicious finger style foods
- Welcome aboard glass of champagne
- Open Bar available to purchase drinks.
All cruises enjoy a fantastic view of the race, participate in the Sail Past and passengers are all entered into the Lucky Draw for some fantastic prizes!
Tel: 1300 889 566 to book or for further information
DRAGONS ABREAST wish to say a BIG Thank you to all participants in the Inaugural Simply the Breast race held in Darwin on 7th May 2006. A very special mention to Wayne Huxley, Mike Butler, Penny LaSette for your marvelous work in pulling this all together!
Presentation dinner - all the blokes wore pink g-strings!
The Simply the Breast Inaugural yacht race was held on Darwin Harbour on Sunday 7 May 2006 as part of the Weekend on Water to promote breast cancer awareness.
Simply the Breast is more than a race – it is a whole package aimed at promotion of breast cancer awareness and education combined with fundraising for Dragons Abreast. The festivities officially kicked off with the launch party, followed by the actual race and then the presentation dinner.
Michelle Hanton, the NT based founder of Dragons Abreast says “we are very pleased that Hogs Breath Café, and Medibank Private have recognized the value of our work and agreed to partner with us for this event.”
The launch itself took the form of a Pink Party from 5 to 7 pm at Hogs Breath Café on Tuesday 4th April. Local MLA Kerry Sacilotto was the hostess for the evening, and there were some great lucky door prizes. Entry was by donation to Dragons Abreast – all of which is tax deductible.
Medibank Private General Manager, Bob Payne said ‘Medibank Private is thrilled to have the opportunity to actively support a community event in Darwin such as the Dragons Abreast, ‘Simply the Breast’ inaugural yacht race.
“I am personally impressed with the passion and dedication of Dragons Abreast in both the work they do to promote awareness and education of breast cancer but also in the ongoing support services they provide to survivors, their spouses and families.”
“Medibank Private is keen to be actively involved in activities such as the ‘Simply the Breast’ yacht race that promote a fit, active and healthy lifestyle and encourage the participation of people of all ages across the community to become involved and show their support for breast cancer sufferers and survivors.
‘We are committed to investing in activities that promote the health and wellbeing of our members and the broader community so supporting events such as Dragons Abreast ‘Simply the Breast’ yacht race are of particular importance to us, especially in raising awareness of breast cancer, encouraging early detection and demonstrating people can still lead a full and active life despite breast cancer”
Commodore of Dinah Beach yacht Club Mike Butler says “We want to involve both the hard core racers and social sailors – so are offering several classes of entry.” Mike continues “just as breast cancer does not discriminate neither have we with this race. Everyone can join in!! Handicapped divisions include Racing and Cruising for Mono-hulls and for Multi-hulls. This race also includes a non handicap division.”
Those who do not sail did not miss out, as thanks to Darwin Cruises & Charters there was the option of joining either the Alfred Noble for a seated luncheon or the Tumlaren for drinks and nibbles on the Darwin Harbour to watch the start of the race.
The weekend on water scheduled for the 6th and 7th May kicked off bright an early with dragon boats taking to the sea bright and early on Saturday morning for the Inaugural Shorelands Mandorah Dragon Boat Challenge. The course, approximately 18 kilometres, starts from the Darwin Sailing Club runs to Mandorah and return.
Shorelands, as an NT owned company, has for some time been seeking a local community group to support. Arthur Hamilton, Managing Director of Shorelands said “When we learnt of Dragons Abreast we felt that we couldn’t find a better group of people. These ladies not only work hard at promoting awareness and education but also offer a unique ongoing support network to survivors, and their families”
“Sunshine”, the dragon boat donated by Madeleine Luck was recently repainted and spruced up by Shorelands for Dragons Abreast NT – Paddlers on a Mission who will compete in the race. Members are training hard for the event and expect to take on paddlers from the mighty Arafura Dragons Paddlers Club – who rank amongst the top masters paddlers in Australia.
The winning team receives $1, 500 plus a very unique trophy kindly donated by Shorelands – a generous prize indeed, and one that all competitors are keen to win.
“The staff at Shorelands” says Arthur, “will be cheering for the Paddlers on a Mission because as a company we watch and learn from these ladies the value of life and the strength shown by them makes us proud to be involved.” Proudly puffing out his chest the very approachable Managing Director continues “As Territorians we feel proud knowing that Dragons Abreast was founded in the Northern Territory and thanks to the hard work and dedication of the NT women there are now Dragons Abreast paddlers right across Australia.”
Pauline Deslandes, NT Coordinator for Dragons Abreast says, “it is heartening to have the support of Shorelands. We hope more companies will come on board and relieve us of the burden of fundraising so that we can continue to support NT Breast Cancer Voice, the advocacy group, with the outreach program and promoting our message that despite breast cancer people can still get out and enjoy life to the fullest.”
Dragons Abreast Australia is a registered not-for-profit charity established since 1998 is totally volunteer run and receives no government funding. From small beginnings in the Northern Territory, the organisation has grown to 31 member groups spread right across every State and Territory. Although managed by a Board of Directors, the head office remains in Darwin under the leadership of founder Michelle Hanton with the accounting side being looked after by Mal Sciacca BDO Chartered Accountants on a pro bono basis.
We’re visual! We’re fun! BUT we have a serious message – breast cancer kills.
We are all shapes and sizes. We come from all walks of life. Some are ultra fit, some barely do any exercise. Our age range is early 30’s to 84 years young. The common bond is we all have breast cancer but we are all determined to ‘live life’!
Why Dragons Abreast?
Once breast surgery is over and the radiation and/or chemotherapy has finished, suddenly breast cancer survivors are “on their own”, facing the sometimes daunting task of reconstructing the rest of their lives.
It is a jolting change of pace for many, switching from a whirlwind of medically driven activity to suddenly being in charge of rebuilding their health, their fitness and their lives. This is at a time when those around us, who have not lived the journey, often think that the battle is won and we should 'just get on with it'.
Being able to do all those things in the company of others who have traveled the same path helps to restore the confidence, the spark and the sense of adventure needed to permit a full and active life despite the breast cancer.
You could say we are the “loony fringe” of dragon-boating as a sport. We are more about participation and inclusiveness than competition. We even have a special rule which is unavailable to the sporting teams - we each only do as much or as little as we feel up to and when a paddler needs a rest, she (or he) can just stop paddling for a bit - even in a race. So, we do not often win races against the big guns - sometimes we’re a bit like that Olympic swimmer, Eric Musumbani, and like they did for him, the crowd always cheers us on.
So if you are living with Breast Cancer then there is a silver lining! You can join in the fun and paddle with us. We have regular introductory paddle sessions and those that don’t fancy paddling but just want to meet a bunch of fellow survivors are most welcome! There are lots of ways to join in without actually paddling.
And remember the Hog’s Breath Cafe motto…”There are many things we’ve never done, but we ain’t never had too much fun!” This makes Hoggies and Dragons Abreast a perfect fit – having fun and celebrating life!
(Text Supplied by Hogs Breath Café )
Why do we paddle?
We paddle to demonstrate there is quality of life despite a breast cancer diagnosis. By being part of the team we help each other regain that sense of wellness, self-confidence and control in our lives. Although physically demanding, being involved in a dragon boat creates a new state of awareness. It is exhilarating and lots of fun. It promotes teamwork and at the same time helps overcome the isolation that a diagnosis of breast cancer can often bring. It gives participants a deep sense of pride in their accomplishments as they feel themselves become fitter and stronger with the passing weeks. Whilst not intended as a support group, friendships made in Dragons Abreast Australia provide a unique support network at a grass roots level for people with breast cancer.
Yes we compete in dragon boat regattas, but our race is against breast cancer. We are proud that our presence, wherever we go, gives a “face” to the breast cancer statistics – 32 Australia women a day are diagnosed breast cancer - we are those statistics.
Not all our members are fortunate enough to survive – that is the reality of this disease, 7 women a day will die in Australia of breast cancer. Those who have been part of Dragons Abreast will inevitably say their lives have been enriched by being part of Dragons Abreast.
Launch of "Simply the Breast"
Simply The Breast Inaugural Yacht race was formally launched on Tuesday 4th May 2006 in Darwin by the Chief Minister at Hogs Breath Café. Over 120 people attended the launch where the best looking yacht trophy that has ever been seen in Darwin – indeed, perhaps in Australia was unveiled.
The race will be held on Sunday 7th May and for those who prefer a more sedate pace – we are offering two luncheon cruises – the Alfred Nobel and Tum Laren – both generously donated by Darwin Cruises & Charters.
(click on images to enlarge)
click here for information on the luncheon cruises (pdf file 95kbs)
A fabulous new event for the Territory yachting calendar.
The 'Simply the Breast' Inaugural Yacht Race will be held on Darwin
Harbour on Sunday 7 May 2006.
Catering to both the hard core racer and the social sailor there are
several classes of entry - everyone can join! Handicapped divisions
include Racing and Cruising for monos and multi-hulls as well as a
non handicapped division.
Lots of prizes and major FUN whilst supporting a very worthwhile cause.
Proceeds go to Dragons Abreast Australia - a Northern Territory
founded and headquartered breast cancer survivor organisation with 31
member groups across Australia. This registered not-for-profit
charity promotes breast cancer awareness and education, gives a 'face' to the statistics, demonstrates breast cancer does not discriminate on the basis of age or race and encourages early
detection, diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
For further information contact Wayne Huxley on 0407 179001
This race is proudly supported by organized
by Dinah Beach Yacht Club and supported by Hogs Breath Café, Medibank
Private, Sandgroves Quay, Palmerston City Council, Darwin City Council.
This page last updated:
May 20, 2009
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