Dragon Boat West

Hey everyone... here is a summary of stuff that was discussed at the captains and managers meeting which took place tonight.

There are MANY changes to Alcan festival this year:

Boats:
- There will be 9 Gemini dboats (buk boats) at the festival.
- They will try to alternate boats between races (ie, one race with 6-16 fiberglass and next race with Gemini boats)
- For all significant final races (ie Comp A/B/C finals) will be raced on the Gemini. Conso races will be on the 6-16's

Race Grids:
- Race grid has changed this year.
- depending on how you do on your races... you might have to race somewhere between 3 - 5 races during the festivals
- This is due to repicharge races
- Basically the idea of the repicharge races will allow teams to move back up to a higher division if you have a bad race during the festival.

Race Divisions:
- Comp A / Comp B / Comp C
- Rec A / Rec A Conso
- Rec B

2000m Race:
- There will be a 2000m race again this year at the end of all races.
- Top 16 teams from Comp A, Comp B and 1st and 2nd place teams in Comp C will participate.

Race Course:
- As you may know, race course is now going west to east (from Cambie St. Bridge towards Science World)
- There will be markers along the race course to mark the individual lanes
- Markers will be located at the start, mid 250m, and at the end of the course.
- Each boat MUST finish at their respective lanes at the end of the race course (good thing wet noodle is paddling this year).

Referees and penalties:
- ADBF will try to have one speedboat overlooking every three dboats during the race.
- There will be no DQ's this year.
- If an infraction is made during a race, a time penalty will be assessed to the team on the next race.

Alcan Paddler's Party:
- This year, the paddler's party will be held on Saturday night instead of Sunday nights as in prior years.

That's all I have down on my lil note pad.  If anyone has any thing further to add, please feel free to do so.

To think that the meeting would answer all the questions teams had.  They still haven't figured out where the racers village will be, as well as how to load teams on to boats.  I heard temporary docks...but they have to wait for approval with the city?

Correct me if I am wrong. :?:

:wtf:  NO PADDLER'S PARTY ON SUNDAY NIGHT!!!!!!!  

  :(  :(  :(  :(
 :wall:  :wall:  :wall:  :wall:
msn(:'()  msn(:'()  msn(:'()  msn(:'()

  That sucks....how am I suppose to celebrate my last ever participation in this dragonboat racing sport??

 msn(:@)

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?


This is an interesting idea... but I'm not really too keen on it.  But since DZ and FCRCC sold some of their 6-16's already, I'm not really surprised.  Maybe next year ADBF will have a full fleet of Gemini's.


No comment... sounds to be a good idea.  Gives teams that fail to advance a second chance so there's no need for them to blame their lack of advancement on being assigned a slow boat or something like that...


Did I read correctly? Six Divisions? I guess they've cut down on their medals budget.


I would've thought they would take that parking lot behind DragonZone for racer's village.. then again, I'm not sure who actually owns that land... Guido? Any thoughts?


Don't worry, we'll have a DBW BBQ for you in the summer somewhere... We'll tell you the time and place and we'll all meet you there.

Back onto topic.... Was there any talk about Specialty Races like the Nokia Tech Cup... or has it dwindled to nothing this year?

just a personal opinion...  it does seems like they are a lil bit disorganize this year??  There's still plenty of things they don't know what will happen or where it will be.  

As for specialty cups... we won't know till end of May what kind of speciality cups there will be.

What are some of the differences of 6-16 and Gemini (Buk Boats)?

I have heard that the Gemini are lighter and less stable than the 6-16.

Any insight?

The repicharge is a good idea for teams that have a bad race, bad boat, bad lane, excuses......

Welcome to the forums, Optimal
I haven't raced in the Gemini's before but from what I've heard, that is correct. Gemini's will be faster and less stable than the 6-16's.  I believe FCRCC will receive their order by mid-May (I'm not too sure when DragonZone will be getting theirs).  This should give teams about a month to get accustomed to them.

You can find more information in the Gemini boat thread at http://www.dragonboatwest.net//viewtopic.php?t=1127.

Following was taken down from yesterday's meeting...

6-16 Fiberglass - 48' feet in length, ~950lbs, avg spacing between seats 26" inches

Gemini dboat - 41' feet in length, ~450lbs, avg spacing between seats 22" inches.

9 Gemini boats have been purchased in BC and will arrive around May.
- DZ has 4
- FCRCC has 3
- Victoria has 2

Minor details (don't think it will make much difference in the race):
- Gemini boats will be racing with the dragon heads and tails during the festival
- 6-16's fiberglass boats will NOT be racing with heads or tails during the festival

I agree about the disorganization.  I couldn't believe it ... it's mid-April and we still don't have city approval for the docks ????  Yikes.   :shock:

And they're letting the Juniors into the party on Sat night ... so basically, my high school team can watched me get a little "happy".  Joy, joy  :wink:

Yes, I do respect very much that most of them are doing this on a part-time basis... heck, a lot of them are doing this on a volunteered basis.  They all deserve a big  :clap:  for putting in their time every year.

I just have the same concern as Presley that it's already mid April, yet ADBF doesn't have the City's approval for many things (which I don't understand why we are being kicked out of Plaza of Nation in the first place).  

Is the City being uncooperative in helping them host a world class event??