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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[Sushi Boy]

I'm hoping y'all (yep I'm from Texas) can give me some advice.

I'm captain of a community team racing in our second festival this weekend.  I've tried to space out the inexperienced paddlers throughout the boat with the ones I'm most concerned about near the back, so if they have problems keeping in synch, they won't throw off the rest of the boat.

What I need help with is the weight distribution.  We have some big, heavy, strong guys on the team.

Right now, I have the lightest people on the front four seats, my heavy-weight engine room in the next two seats, and middle-weights in the last four seats.  Is this the best way to spread the weight around the boat?  Should I move my heavy-weights further back?

Thanks for your input,

Roger

[hoover]

That sounds about right ... you'd also have to consider your left-right balance as well, because that can cause rocking as well.

[PaddleFunk]

You may also want to consider what type of boats you are running when moving that weight around the type of boat will change the way the boat reacts to the weight... a 6-16 is much more forgiving than a BUK or Gemini when it comes to moving that weight up and down or right to left. 

When you look at the boat from the outside does the bow point up down or flat then you should have an idea of where you should be moving your weight.  Keep the dragon looking above the horizon but not at the stars if you can the nose will likely drop when people get into their paddling positions anyway... avoid plowing at all costs slows the boat down when you're trying to paddle into the water.

[DiggerPig]

Sushi Boy Wrote "Right now, I have the lightest people on the front four seats, my heavy-weight engine room in the next two seats, and middle-weights in the last four seats.  Is this the best way to spread the weight around the boat?  Should I move my heavy-weights further back?"

Traditionally my team had some very big paddlers, so I've had to play around with seat position to max out the team's performance.  You should have your heavy weight paddlers around the 5-6-7 seat of boat.  The reality is with heavier paddlers they need the middle of the boat to allow enough room for them to move/rotate.  Having paddlers squeezed in like sardines at the back of the boat, make them very ineffective. 

I would also strongly suggest that you start training your heavier paddlers to paddle on boat sides.  Last year my team had two paddlers over 245 pounds.  Unfortunetly they both paddled stronger on the right and tired out quickly if I moved them to the left.  That meant that I had to put some paddlers on thier weaker side to balance the boat.  If both paddlers were on the right side that meant I had to figure out how to off-set the 490 pounds with only two people in the boat.

I would suggest moving the heavier paddlers to seat 5-6-7.  I would also make sure you train your paddlers to paddle on both sides.  Last year I was able to get the weight in the boat almost completely balanced from side to side (no more than 15 pound from right to left).  It was a pain in the butt when I had both my heavier paddlers on one side. 

I hope this helps.

Digger

[gunghaggis]

DiggerPig brings up an important point... suppose two of your right side paddlers are sick on race day, and your spares only paddle left.

I always train paddlers to paddle both sides - 1) it is important to develop body symmetry 2) it helps to prevent over-use injuries 3) it helps to balance the boat when one side is heavier than the other side.

But that's all moot now... because your race is THIS WEEKEND!!!

It's also important to know what kind of boats are being used.
If a 11 seat 6-16 boat is being used - we will usually leave a space between rows 4 and 5.

Try this for novice community teams for a 11 seater boat

seat 1 - good paddlers who can set the timing (lighter is better than heavier)
seat 2 - good lighter paddlers who can sub into seat 1 when requires
seat 3 - lighter paddlers
seat 4 - lighter paddlers with poor timing...
- leave a space -
seat 5 - good medium weight paddlers who can keep the time with the lead strokes, and for paddlers in the back to follow.
seat 6 - heavier paddlers who need long leg room in the middle of the boat
seat 7 - heavier paddlers who need not as much leg room
seat 8 - can still handle heavier paddlers
seat 9 - medium weight paddlers
seat 10 - medium paddlers with poor timing... or a heavy paddler and a skinny paddler with poor timing.

Tell people to keep their heads up, eyes forward and watch the lead strokes for timing...
Have seat 5 remind the seat 4 people to keep heads up... and the steers watch seat 10 - for when they go out of time...

Give the paddlers instructions for how to keep in time... earlier exits... heads up...
Give the paddlers instructions for what to do when they go out of time... eg. bring the paddle in, so nobody else hits it... heads up, watch the lead stroke, come back into the water as soon as they can.

And remember.... HAVE FUN!!!! 

[tjl]

I would also strongly suggest that you start training your heavier paddlers to paddle on boat sides.  Last year my team had two paddlers over 245 pounds.  Unfortunetly they both paddled stronger on the right and tired out quickly if I moved them to the left.  That meant that I had to put some paddlers on thier weaker side to balance the boat.  If both paddlers were on the right side that meant I had to figure out how to off-set the 490 pounds with only two people in the boat.

Have to agree that both sided paddlers give more flexibility in setting crews.  Also, if they do both mixed and single-gender racing in the same festival, you can have them do one side for mixed and the other side for single-gender.

But in the situation described above with two 245 pound right-side paddlers does have a possible solution if the festival has 11 seat boats.  Put 11 paddlers on the left side and 9 on the right side.