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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[sweet heat]

Anyone attend this festival?  How was it? 

[Aquaman]

I attended (paddled for WaveRunners out of Calgary).
The weather was pretty crappy, rainy on Saturday, chilly and cloudy all weekend.
The river course was weak, as any boat in Lane 3 was handed a huge disadvantage (the river bend just west of the course created a lot of extra current for Lane 3).  The only race we did not win all weekend was the one in Lane 3.
With only 3 lanes racing at a time, there was a lot of waiting between races, too.
This year Edmonton had to use a different part of the river to race in, I believe they are returning to the original layout NEXT year.
Uhuru from Edmonton was the overall winner of the event, great paddling by them.  It should be noted that Para Huti Huti from Edmonton was not there this year as they are saving themselves for the Canadian Club Crew Championships in Calgary next weekend.
In spite of the criticisms above, we all had a good time, the event ran smoothly.
Since the venue is moving next year, my biggest advice to the organizers would be to get a different beer sponsor.  That Alley Kat beer in the beer garden tasted like #%&#$.  It was pretty easy to reduce my beer intake so I can be ready for next week's CCCC.

[wanker]

Hmm, my club has not attended this festival for about six years now.  The uneven lane assignments is of course the greatest concern.  You can have the best entertainment, fun, most efficient and well-run festival in the world, but if the racing itself sucks, why bother?

BUT, I love Alley Kat beer - depending on which ones they would have had available.  If it's the Full Moon Pale Ale, it should have actually exhibited a full hop aroma and a relatively aggressive bitterness.  Maybe they served the Charlie Flint's lager, which is more of a Classic American Pilsner.  This would be more suitable for the masses.  Their other regular offerings are an Amber ale, an apricot based beer and a barleywine.  Some of their seasonals have been outstanding as well.  Not sure what you would have found objectionable.  Who knows, maybe you just like Keiths or Grasshopper better.

[sweet heat]

I agree, we attended this festival last year and the discrepancies between the lanes made the races unfair.  you could pretty much tell who was going to win depending on what lane they got.  i think attendance was down this year because of that. although the nationals next weekend may also have been a factor.