Dragon Boat West

I've given it some more thought, and I
may be wrong in what i said in the Junior Teams thread.
the real issue that bothers me, i suppose, is:

There is a division for 13 to 19 year olds.
___________<----(IMHO we are missing a division for 19 to 55 year olds here)
There is a division for 55 and up year olds.
There is a division for Men only.
There is a division for Women only.
There is a division for absolutely everyone (mixed).

Now I know Logistically, it would be impossible for the ADBF to support another division of that size, but I am sad regardless . . .   :cry:

agree, disagree?

I don't understand what you mean. It wouldn't be "too general" it would be exactly like the mixed division of this year, except with another couple of restrictions, such as age. So in fact, that would make it less general.
But, like I said before, it would not work due to Logistical reasons:

There are too many similarities between your suggested Open Division and 19-55 division and not enough differences. Teams will not want to enter two divisions just to race against the same teams save for a handful of exceptions.

If they were to add another division, it'd probably be better to just add an Open division where teams raced 250m.  That way results would be more varied since some teams are strong in their starts.  Plus it would definately change how teams approach the festival.  Would they rather practice their starts & sprints or their endurance (yeah, I know.. it's only a 2min race...) and finishes?

There are some other unique race formats back east that someone should try out here.  One format has teams racing 2x250M & 2X500M with the best overall combined time winning.

The other event in Montreal is a knockout format over 250M, with the losing team after each heat being knocked out and the other teams moving on.  Both formats limit entries to fit in the races over one day.

well you can't really run an event here based on times and have it fair.
Changing conditions, plus there's the usual "oh, we got the bad lane excuse"   :roll:

In Montreal, they run the course on the Olympic Rowing Basin.  Think of it as one big, long, swimming pool.  There are some oddities with that race course too, but the racing conditions there are as stable as you'll probably ever get.  I can't remember, but I think Montreal does run placings based on times.

http://gmroli.icommunity.com/index.php?name=Gallery&func=viewphoto&photo=210
(race course and Big Ass timing board in the background)


I'm all for adopting 250m sprints into the race grid.  It'd be neat if they aligned it with what you see in world championship racing.  That would be a ton of fun.

Well, no one said you had to hold races in False Creek.  That being said, pretty much very race course out there has some sort of lane bias, even Montreal, depending on where the wind is blowing.  Montreal is famous for its wash riding - its so shallow that all the boats are pulled along by the leading boats, resulting in very close races.  It takes a really strong team to break away from the pack.  However, in general, the fewer the lanes being used, the less chance of lane bias.  

I'm curious about the new Richmond race course this year - where UBC is building its new rowing facility.  It looks like it may be pretty good for dragon boat races.

well . . . i guess my final opinion will have to be to scrap the Open and replace it with the 19-55. that seems to be the more common way other sports make their divisions anyways. and if every now and then there is a superfreaky good jr team, they could apply to waive their right to race with the other jr's, so they could race with the 19-55's instead.

Not sure what your problem is with the current open mixed division.  Do you have a problem with Laoyam, the grandragons and/or the womens teams racing in the Open mixed division?  By definition, "Open" should be open to any team as long as they meet the requirements - and its better competition for these teams than they will find in their other divisions.  In fact, I'm not sure why a team like Hamber didn't also enter the open division.  It would have been a great experience for them.

no, i don't have a problem with any of those teams with regards to the way the open division is set up. i simply prefer a more focused division, such as 19-55.

it would be great to see the 250 meter race....watching a video on from the club crews was awesome seeing people just grinding it out....i think a lot of people here would be interested in doing it....especially if they left it as a mixed race.....

as for adding another division though....considering how delayed it was this year...adding another division would push the day to about 8pm or later.....

I believe Hamber is registered for our Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race.  It would be great if more junior teams came out.   :)