Dragon Boat West

Hey all..anyone have any suggestions as to some new regattas? We currently participate in Nanaimo, Harrison, Kelowna, Cultus and FCW. We like regattas that have Women's finals, but have settled for competing against mixed. I heard Kent/Cornecopia is a great one day, heard some negative stuff about Portland (and good too)..we're also looking to stick a regatta in June next year...help, anyone??? I'll take ANY suggestion! We're looking at local to the Lower Mainland/NW Washington, but are also curious about out of town ones too. Thanks! :lol:

Port Alberni has a women's festival too. I don't know anything about contacts, dates, etc. but maybe somebody out there can jump in with details. I've gone a couple of times and it's really fun and very informal.

I'm not sure if this one is still running, it used to be in July (?), I've been up 3x but I haven't heard anything in the past couple years.  It was a lot of fun though!

Dunno if this helps but I've made a map and listing of "west coast" festivals here (http://www.swordfishdragonboat.ca/droogleboat/festivals.htm).  I haven't updated it in awhile so let me know if there's anything wrong with it.  June does look pretty bare though aside from Alcan and Portland.

Thanks a tonne, guys!!! Keep em coming! :lol:

Hey Krysee

    There are a ton of regatta's that you could potentially go to but it comes down to costs and if your willing to travel.  In

May - Lotus/Bill Alley and FCRCC Regatta
June - Portland, ADBF, ALCAN
July - Nanimo, Kent WASH, Toronto, Harrison, Richmond, Vernon ... unfortunately the last 3 are all on the same weekend.
August - Victoria
September - Taiwanese, Kelowna, San Francisco

Just to name a few

OR ...

We could hold a private race Sudden Impact vs. Water Warriors prize could be  BEER mmmmm  BEEERRRR :Cheers:

Private race??? YOU'RE ON!!! Name the time and place...hehe (Is it clothing optional??? :shock: :lol:)

FCRCC has a Women's Regatta and the Spring Regatta, which is mixed.

Smaller races still to come.

Go to Penticton for Sept 9th - its a small race but fun.

Better yet,
take another road trip to Porland for the Sellwood Park Race - using 6/16 boats - NOT the Kaoshung Taiwanese boats

Gung Haggis attended the inaugural Sellwood Park race in 2003 and every team recieved medals except for 2/ out of 18 teams (I think).
The race was good, and even more teams are entered now.

Race organizers are even giving a special $300 entry for Canadian teams.  (US or Cdn - I dont know)
Contact Aayla Montgomery - with information on a different thread.

Then... enter the UBC Day of the Long Boat for Oct 1st.  in a voyageur canoe.

oh man, PLEASE tell me that it isn't run by a "everyone's a winner even if you don't come in the top three", "you get a medal for good effort" type person....   :?

Colossus.... play nice  :P

Dear Colossus

It was the INAUGURAL event, and they obviously anticipated having more teams show up then the 12 or 16 medals that they had made up.  They had some of the BEST teams from Portland and Washington there. V02 Max was also there from Vancouver, and LARD made the trip from LA.

Sellwood Park race is growing, but this year Portland area is not doing the Vancouver Lake regatta.

Some of the US races give medals for top 4 finishes.  Kent did this in 2003, I wasn't sure about this year.

This topic is for new regattas that teams like Kryssee's haven't raced before.
Many regattas and races are starting up in areas that have not seen dragon boat racing before.
Try going to Salmon Arm, Penticton, Vernon or Summerland, then try going to Red Deer, or Winnipeg.  I enjoy checking out the inaugural races.  It's fun, and everybody is pretty understanding and friendly.  The Taiwanese style boats that we have in Vancouver, are raced up and down the Mississipi River in the USDBF Central division, in many towns and cities.

Kent had issues this year with on-water officiating as well as seeding teams.  Some teams may not be back, others will.  It was fun for our team.  Kent has women's finals, as they have tried to follow IDBF format from their inception in 2001.

In Victoria, I had a good talk with the leaders of San Francisco's  DieselFish team.  In the Bay Area, there are only about 4 races, which is why DieselFish came up to Victoria to race, and have also come up to Alcan for years past.

Vancouver area teams have seen a big explosion in dragon boat races in the past few years.
I was just telling our team that when I raced in the early '90's we only raced Alcan - that was it for the entire year, then we started travelling.  Victoria only started up in 1996.  Taiwanese Festival will be the 9th event for Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team for this year.

Kryssee, suggest to your club to go to San Francisco for next year.  They have moved the race back to the last weekend in September.  It's a great way to prolong the summer paddling season.  SF also has Women's races.  At Victoria this month, Captain Ian of The Pirates met the DieselFish team from San Francisco, so maybe next year there will be a Chilliwack team at San Francisco!

Oh - and think of going to Toronto for next year.  Toronto's 2007 race will be the weekend following Alcan.  It's big - 180+ teams, 6 boats to a lane.  Better chance of medals for everyone - competitive, recreation or novice.

Thanks so much, gunghaggis! That is a TONNE of info! Some of the ladies on our team would really like to go to a far away land for a regatta, but we'd like about 2 years of fund raising before we go. Some suggest Hawaii, Australia or even Key West.  It's definitly something to talk about. I'd love to do the San Fran. one..like a stepping stone to the "big" ones! :lol: