QLD State Titles 2026 - Event Wrap-Up & What's Next
Dougie wraps up the Queensland State Titles weekend with the numbers, the lessons learned, and a look ahead at what's coming for Paddles Ready — including plans for Nationals coverage with more cameras, athlete interviews, and behind-the-scenes content.
QLD State Titles 2026 — That’s a Wrap
Dougie sits down after the biggest weekend in Paddles Ready’s short history to reflect on what happened, what worked, what didn’t, and where it’s all going.
By the Numbers
The Queensland State Titles livestream blew past every expectation:
- 3,700+ views across the weekend’s streams
- 250 new subscribers to the Paddles Ready YouTube channel
- 355 hours of content watched by the dragon boat community
- 2,500+ concurrent viewers at peak
Thank You
A massive shout-out to Dragon Boat Queensland — Blair, Janelle, Marie, and the entire organising team — for giving Paddles Ready the opportunity and the trust to bring live coverage to the State Titles. They know how much Dougie and Hando love this sport, and they backed them to deliver.
Lessons Learned
It wasn’t all smooth sailing:
- Copyright issues — a couple of songs picked up by the microphones on the Sunday afternoon triggered copyright claims. Dougie worked through the night with the channel provider to resolve them. The songs have been cleared but the commentary stays untouched.
- Audio levels — the music from the foreshore got a bit loud at times, making commentary harder to hear. Noted for next time.
- One camera wasn’t enough — the behind-the-scenes content from the athletes’ village (including the chat with Sonics) was a huge hit. Two cameras minimum from now on.
What’s Coming
Paddles Ready is building towards Nationals with a bigger setup and more content:
- Two cameras — one on the commentary box, one roaming the village
- 60 Seconds with Dougie / 60 Seconds with Hando — quick-fire athlete interview segments
- Special guests in the commentary box
- Training regime content — getting deeper into what crews do to prepare
- More behind-the-scenes — because the community loved seeing the real side of race day
The plan is to have everything up and running by the time Nationals comes around.
One More Thing
If you enjoyed the coverage, the best thing you can do is subscribe and share. The bigger the audience, the more events Paddles Ready can cover, and the more the sport grows.
Paddles up. See you at Nationals.