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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[kryssee]

Well congrats, Digger Pig, on your pretty gold necklace you'll be wearing all week, I'm sure! That final time is about as close as it comes! The difference between a slow and a quick click of the thumb on a stop watch! lol And congrats to all paddlers who survived, not to mention finished the races! I just heard that the pleasure boats caused quite a problem this year, being that they decided the race course was a nice place to hang out. Heard that one boat had to come to a dead stop while they were racing. Wonder if this is going to be an ongoing problem, or if the race organizers decide to invest in a potato gun for next year???  Can't wait to see the official results!

[leftie]

Vernon was great!!!!  Love the sand (burnt the bottoms of my feet), the beachfront tents, the clear, clean water and the warm Okanagan hospitality......

The racing was great....

Yes Kryssee, there was a complete boat stop in the women's championship final - a rough wind came up from nowhere, along with a very angry black cloud and horizontal rain...... It descended upon us and caused a bit of a redirection with our boat - causing us to go off course....... we couldn't correct and had to stop...... and the rest is history. This whole drama took place over the course of about ten minutes.  I guess that is the nature of the Okanagan weather - blows in as fast as it blows out......  "The SQUALL" caused havoc on shore - blew our tents over - thanks to the Okanagan Springs Team for catching our tents before they blew to Salmon Arm...  Hey - but that's racing....

Thanks to everyone in Vernon for helping us to have a great weekend.  Well done!

[Paddlebunny]

Are there any other race results to share? 

[Shaggin_Diamond]

Hopefully the results will be posted soon.  Mixed Championship B finals were won by Calgary, Fluid Motion second and SDR third.  Great racing by all teams!

[Lethal Weapon]

It was a fine fine day for Dragonboat Racing! (TO be said with a thick Scottish accent..)
Saturday was a beauty with no wind or waves and good times in the beer tent (no Bong..)
SUNDAY was more of a challenge, while not as crazy as last year, it was a challenge for the steers and test for the crews as they battled the elements for some pretty close and exciting racing.
I was in the chase (rescue) boat all day sunday and got a first hand look at how the boats were being tossed around by the wave.
A great job by WE as usual in preventing any serious collisions (and only one capsize which happened before the start of the race).
I had the pleasure of paddling with SI on Saturday but has a front row seat for the exciting Final with PAC reach in the final.
Here are some pics of Paddlers howling, Drinking, dunking and oh yeah, paddling!



The one and only capsize of the day, Good team name "Posiden's Fury"....

Todd of GH, Hanging on for dear life,

Calgary steers losing it in the semis...too bad

Check the wave on the side of the boat

A litte hard for the recovery, eh Pam...LOL

SI steer making the save

FIre on Water, The Blue paddles

Lock and loading Beer Bong 3.0

Hmmm, Same Homeless Guy from Harrison was here...

Why you should not wear Lycra on a hot drummers seat. All Smiles!

Close finish!

Nice form

[Lethal Weapon]

some more shots


1000 meter turn

Hmmm, New shaggin Sun glasses

Maaaaannaaa WWWaahhhinnneeeeee

In Action

Damn, It took me an hour to photoshop a smile on DiggerPig's face...

Nice elevation

[krazykid]

Great photos yet again Ben. Thanks to W.E for putting on another great event.  it was a fantastic racing weekend, cept for that unfortunate storm that rolled through quite quickly, we lost our tent as well!  I cant wait to race again

[Backward Rowing]

Random shots

[@1 with the blade]

   

BUT those Dynasty Boats need to find a shallow grave

Being touted as such a wonderful boat benefiting from Computer Aided Design it goes to show a CAD boat can be masterfully reproduced on mass, to its own detriment. Unfortunately the Computer couldn't point out to the "Designer" before production that a round bottom much like a sailboat NEEDS the stability of some sort of keel. Even sailboats have a dagger-board or weighted keel to keep them from easily overturning.

These are the worst in anything but the flattest of waters. The only thing that keeps more of them from swamping is their insanely high (and uncomfortable!) sidewalls. Thankfully, as you can see in the pictures, these sidewalls offer LOTS of advertising room above the waterline.

A shallow grave isn't needed, it would be too much work. Set them adrift in deep water on a windy or boat chop driven area, pop their flotation and let them do what comes natural.

[mustbecrazy]

Vernon is always a favorite venue..for all the reason's cited on another thread...sun, sand, great vendors, excellent scenary and, despite some all-out hard racing, relaxed and casual.

Those boats, on the other hand are the worst!  You have to have them absolutely balanced or the steersperson deals with it for the entire race.  As a paddler, there is no comfortable position for your feet, at least not one that makes both hinge and rotation, in a linear way, possible.  The issue about the high gunwale has already been addressed.  I say sink 'em...unless you are a team that really likes not knowing if you are going to make to the start line or down the race course upright or really likes that " Mr Toad's wild ride at Disneyland" feeling when you race..

Water's Edge is unfailingly professional and safety-conscious.  They were in rescue mode within moments of this year's capsize.  I appreciate their attention to this kind of detail.  It just begs the question, tho', why should they have to be so hyper-vigilant when the answer is this:  Use a safer boat!

One final observation...the medals given out to the teams fell apart as our team was receiving them... the metal disk in the center fell off and became lost in the sand.  We don't race for medals but if you're giving them, they should be a momento of the event that lasts!

[Waters Edge]

Hi Everyone,

Here are the 2008 Vernon Results:

www.canpaddle.com/newsletter/2008_VernonResults.pdf

Cheers,
the Water's Edge Team

[gunghaggis]

EVIL OKANAGAN WINDS...  didn't I say so!

add in the EVIL DYNASTY BOATS from Calgary

Water's Edge did a great job running the races, and post-poning or cancelling races when the winds picked up.

For Sunday morning, because of the wind kissed waves...  Calgary steerspersons familiar with the Dynasty boats replaced steers people unfamiliar with Dynasty boats.  I was an exception, having steered Dynasty's since the inaugural Vernon race in 2005.

Gung Haggis team was out on the water for the Adult Mixed C Division semi-final, when the "Poseidon's Fury" team tipped into the water on Sunday morning for an unexpected swim. The rolling waves seemed initially more exciting than scary as we paddled out.  The beautiful green water with occasional white caps, was more of a gentle Hawaii surf.

We were directed to point the sterns south with our backs to the wind.  The race was handed to the starter, and teams were called to the staging line.  But whenever the teams turned -  the rolling waves hit the boats broadside and it was unsettling as the boats rolled with the waves in the trough.  We saw "Poseidon's Fury" tip gently starboardside, then soon everybody was in the water.

There were 3 motorized boats on the scene quickly.  The remaining teams circled, once then were recalled to the beach, as the races were post-poned.  As we paddled into  the beach, the captain/coach of Poseidon's Fury was getting a ride in on a Sea-doo.

The 9:15 race which had been running 20 minutes late was delayed until 12 noon.  The Breast cancer race was determined by the fastest time of the 3 breast cancer teams and the actual race was not run.  But the ceremony went on at 11:15 as scheduled.

Damn... I lost control of the Dynasty boat in the choppy water when our Mixed C semi-final was re-run.  Let it Run! Hold... The boat beside us passes us... We recovered and came 4th.

Afterwards during our race debrief - I explained to our team that I had been given steering hints by a Calgary steers to better handle the boats in the chop.  They really "gave it to me" for listening to somebody else and not trusting my own experience and abilities. In my recovery, I found that in these "keel-less boats" you have to have your steering oar deep for better control and leverage.  Harvey from Eye of the Dragon was steering for Fluid Motion, and confirmed this for me as we chatted.  All kidding Calgary aside... It's important for Steers to share information about different boats and different conditions.  We never want anybody to lose control of a boat, or capsize.

Calgary Racing Club lost control of their boat in the following A/B semi-final.  So I didn't feel too bad losing control in our race.   hee hee...  The waters were just that bouncy, and very challenging staying in generally the same direction, as a straight line was impossible with the wind and waves.

Great that "Poseidon's Fury" recovered and came 3rd both in the re-run C semi-final in the C final.

Gung Haggis will be back in Vernon, because we like Kalamalka Lake, and prefer the smaller Vernon race to the much larger Kelowna race.  This is a very friendly venue, and we really enjoyed seeing all our dragon boat friends.

Gung Haggis pictures and stories posted on
http://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/_archives/2008/7/27/3812902.html

[StraightLine]

Sunday's water conditions were certainly "interesting".  I don't think they were as bad as last year in Kelowna, but the impact was magnified by the flat-bottomed hull of those never sufficiently damned Dynasty boats.  By the end of racing on Sunday, I was feeling the impact of forcing the boats to hold a relatively straight track down the course.  I managed to avoid getting any of my boats into trouble, but my first race Sunday morning had boat 4 ending up on top of boat 3 between the drummer and bench 1.  Fortunately no one was hurt.

I would like to thank all of the teams that allowed me to come onto their boat and steer for them.  I know from experience what it is like having an unknown steersperson take control of your team and I take it as a high compliment that teams were asking for me to steer for them in subsequent races.  The teams were -

Starbucks Waverunners (6 races) - the team I was racing with
Penticton Dragon Bottoms (5 races)
Canucks Puck N' Paddlers (2 races)
Mighty Dragons (1 race)
Island Breaststrokers (1 race)
Dragon in the Drink (1 race)
Dr'agonize (1 race)

StraightLine.