Dragon Boat West

 Waters Edge released info on new races for 2007 check them out - it should be interesting to see who shows up for the cdn nationals ,whether the east will show their faces or not .Most of the time it seems they won't leave their centre of the universe so not sure whether this will bring them out west


 Sneak Preview - Events 2007


 

Water's Edge is currently in the planning stages of creating a smoking racing season for 2007.  Here is a sneak preview of some of the events that Water's Edge is involved with to heat up your 2007 season.

 

We always enjoy the energy and the love of racing that your teams bring to our events and hope to see you there!  We look forward to supplying the racers with a new race fleet of BUK’s at these and various other 2007 events!   Stay tuned for special attractions that will make each of these events a unique experience for your team.

 

3rd Annual Dash for Charity & Junior Spring Sprints

April 28-29, 2007 location TBA

(50% of net proceeds go to a local charity)

 

Whistler Dragon Boat Festival  **New**

June 30 - July 1, 2007, Alta Lake Whistler

 


Kitimat Corporate Challenge

July 1, 2007 Kitimat, BC

 

Vernon Dragon Boat Festival

July 27-29, 2007 Kalamalka Lake  Vernon

 

Canadian National Dragon Boat Championships

August 24-26, 2007, Calgary Alberta **New**

 

 

And even better is the fact they will have a new fleet of BUK's ...YEAH !!!!!!! 


**New**  Dragon Boat Race Fleet Purchase

New for 2007 is the Water's Edge BUK Dragon Boat Race Fleet.   Water's Edge prides itself on delivering timely, safe, fun and well run events.  With the usage of the  IDBF approved race fleet at our events, it will ensure fair racing at every level!


 

SCORE!!!!   just how many are included in this fleet?  and will they be running alcan as well?  *crosses fingers so that i don't have to be in those horrid geminis or 6-16s anymore*

I heard from someone who said they heard from Waters Edge (so a bit of skepticism is in order) they're getting 6 boats. If you combine those with the three FCRCC BUK's, you have enough to run one heat at Alcan, which means they'll be alternating BUK heats with Gemini heats.

NOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!! 

here's an idea....  lets EACH of us pitch in $7 ($7 X ~24 peoples/team X ~150 teams at alcan = $25,200) and get the rest of the needed boats to have a complete BUK line-up.  so we lose a coffee and a half for one day...  for the comfort of paddling for several seasons to come!  hell, i'll even pitch in $20.  and this way, with all new boats, there won't be any "this boat is older than that one" crap at the end of the day. 

hmmmm...

where will the Geminis go then...and where will we store the new Buks

On another note,
If we charge each team $170 extra for entry fee, there, the costs' been covered.  Save you the hassle for harassing people

we burn then in a huge paddlers party bonfire at the beach. :lol:

or we require the money (team managers can collect from team members) upon pick-up of the team packages before alcan.  no moolah, no race. :-)

So there's no White Rock this year...I wonder where it could be held...Langley?  Maple Ridge?  North Van?

Junior Spring Sprints...sounds interesting.

And a DB fest in Whistler right after Alcan, with all the construction going on down in the creek, I wonder how it'll effect Alcan...

the way it looks right now, there is no way of having 500m races where we're used to having them.  perhaps moved further down the creek?  where its near impossible to view? or cancelled? or shorter 250m races instead?

So are the WE and FCRCC BuK boats all of the same type?  Here in the San Francisco area, most of the BuK boats are of the older (2000-2003) model, but there are a few of the newer (2004+) model.  The newer ones do not seem to be as well liked, and many people are suspicious about whether they are equal to the old ones (the 2006 San Francisco race used only the old ones (including some rented from GWN) for racing; one of the new ones was the display boat on shore).

What's wrong with the 6-16s?  Or is that some of them are so old and beat up that there aren't 9 that would be considered equal boats?

that, and the angles for my legs while bracing to paddle are horrible...  kills my knees.  (i'm pretty tall; shorter people don't always have this problem)

seats falling apart, head and tail heavy as heck(though light compared to Gems) and difficult to dress, needs minor repairs at least 3 times a season(oar brace, seats, ect.)

though its good for practice as it accomodates 20+ paddlers

most are unequal in age and quality, best one around I think is not the new one but the Lo boat(old) at FCRCC

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!  omg! talk about chaffing and pinched skin etc...   my god, those seats are horrible in a couple of the boats.

BuK boats, at least the 2000-2003 type, require similar levels of maintenance as 6-16 boats.  The seats are wood and require periodic refinishing.  Some other components are wood as well.  The 2004+ type also has wood seats.

Speaking of the Gemini boats, are they still in the same 11-row configuration that I remember from the 2005 Vancouver race?

no, all the Gems around here have been remodeled to be 10 seaters, similar seating set up as the Buks, though gunwale now bends due to the original seats being cut off, hence losing balance

I have short legs and the 6-16s are horribly uncomfortable for me also.

omg... this topic just made me think of the barney boat... everything on that piece of crap is falling apart.  the splintered seats.  *ouch* they should really retire that boat.  :x

i agree with colossus.  the cramped rooms of the 6-16 is somewhat uncomfortable.  race time my shins are so bruised it looks like someone took a baseball bat to it. 

BUK are good in that aspect.  very roomy and comfortable but need to adjust slightly the seating posture to compensate for extra leg room. 

erm
i´ve never considered the 6'16s to be cramped, andi have longer legs than you do.  Colossus I can understand, but if you think the 6-16´s are too tight, there will never be a dragon boat made to accommodate your needs.
now if you actually meant the gemini´s, then yeah, i agree whole heartedly.

i'm not sure what part of what i said you're agreeing with, cause i never said anything about being cramped in a 6-16.  i also don't think that there is that much noticable difference between the seat spacing in the BUKs and 6-16s.  the bruised shins for me (and everyone else i can think of, except you) came from the original and the modified geminis. 

good to see you posting from overseas rightarm! hope things are going well!

note that the seating in the the buks are just mahogany boards across the boat, allowing for more leg room vertical wise,

while the 6-16 have mini bulked up benches built into the boat, hence more shin bruises, much like the original gems, 

I think this is what Glowing_Ice meant?

though how you get bruises on your shin from Gem 2.0 is beyond me,

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

on another note, anyone planning on attending Whistler DB Fest?  It's rumored to have OC demo sprints as well.

no worries, i guess we definitely differ in opinion colossus.  wow everyone else you can think of except me.  that's a lot of people!  thanks for the clarification luke.  yes from the design the BUKs definitely have more leg room than the 6-16.  i can sit with both feet forward without too much problem (depending on where i am seated on the boat).  again rightarm brought up a good point, experience definitely varies from person to person.  people with longer legs may have a harder time seating comfortably, and perhaps they don't as stated by rightarm and colossus. for me... 6-16 = bruised shins!

as for the modified gems, i didn't get bruised shins but i did get skin abrasions (on my leg) from the seat in front of me.  my thought is that these gems seat differently and are much tighter, i have to bend my knees more.  add the metal bar on the side and it makes it that much more uncomfortable during a race.

rightarm you're missing out on all the snow and ice up here.  not that you would mind in that 34C weather. *envy*

I really don't know what you all are talking about with bruised shins, etc..etc..

I've had no problems with 6-16s, Millenium, and Gems (modified or not).   

I'm only shorter than colossus by an inch the most?

but you also have a lot more mass than me that keeps you in your seat.  i'm as light as a twig and flail around at the slightest hint of a breeze.

back to spacing/sizing though...  i've sat in pretty much every seat there is in the 6-16 and have never had a problem with cramped conditions.  if anything, there is TOO much room in the middle of the 6-16s for me (seats 4-7). 

After paddling in the new geminis with Subaru I had one huge bruise on the outside of my leg from right below my knee halfway down my leg.

However, the Gemini boats in 11-seat configuration had much closer seat spacing, so hitting your shin on the seat support was much more likely than in a 6-16 boat.

yah, depending on where you sat, you could have part of the old seat RIGHT where you shin is and scrape/bump/bruise your shin throughout a practice or race.  all they did was saw out the old seats when removing them...  still chunks of the plastic mold left in the boat.

Oh Jeez. If you have so much trouble paddling in all the boats made available to you find another sport. Complain, complain, complain. Get involved. Run for office. Bruises on your shins. Aww. Do you realize the work that the clubs do for the paddlers and the **** they have to endure from you chronic complainers? My God. Get a life.

 actually if the clubs had done better research then they would never have bought the 11 seat gemini's in the first place .Seems some people were a little too rushed to get some new boats and in the end it was an expensive learning mistake which I am very sure will never be made again

Hindsight. Always sounds great. As Kamini says "SHUT UP AND PADDLE"

complaining about the complainers gets people nowhere either. ;)

Complaining about complaining about the complainers is equally silly. Enough already.

Where is Guido when you need him????  Hey boys why not continue your  msn(:'() on the Hammerhead website, they'd love to have you!

Can we please talk about the new races, hint hint...

Been trying to drag the topic in for the last 3 posts.

So, any of them sound enticing?

Hmm. Any further information on what is meant by "demo sprint"? Is it small boats or OC6? Is it open or by invitation only?

Speaking of OC sprints, FCRCC will be organizing an OC6 sprint competition April 28th. I don't know how many teams they'll be able to handle but I suspect the event will fill up pretty quickly since cross training OC seems to be the current fad. FCRCC could probably field at least 12 teams by itself and will probably win in almost every category but with some close races and near collisions.

i know a bunch of us will be up for that...  training for sacramento has technically already started. 
i'd like to get more info about the sprints in whistler too...  distance, boats, etc

so the rumor goes, WE is waiting for CORA to sanction their event, it might be the last one of a sprint series

there will be demo race for DB teams and maybe CORA sanctioned races, worked into the DB festival, as well as a rock concert near by

OC6/OC1 500m/1000m, depending on boat availability

no 250m oc1?  1min of paddling balls to the walls is fun!!

oh yah....   what kind of boats will these be?  are they provided, or do you bring your own? (if thats the case, i hereby put my name down for one of the c-lions right now)  will they be rudderless?

The Whistler festival is on the same weekend as the Lotus Iron race and CORA has a policy against sanctioning conflicting events.  It's too bad Whistler wasn't scheduled just one week earlier.

He is ALWAYS absent when you need HIM. Just don't get too frustrated... :lol:

hmmmm I guess I heard wrong

White rock was fun at that time of the year , but if weather is a concern, then maybe this event would be better at Richmond?

Who knows, they could still get it. It's just not a slam huli.

slam huli?

I was thinking "dunk".  :)

I have been reading the last 2 weeks of spam about the WE DB's and the sprint program.  Here are the details

The Whistler Sprints are going to be running regardless of CORA.  Most distance paddlers are not sprinters, so it may not have a huge impact.  CORA will support the event as it is needed to promote the 2112 IVF sprints.  WE is running a competitive sprint program out of Pogue Sports Canoe Club and will be using these boats for the Whistler Event.  OC 1 will be bring your own, unless you are member and you can use the club boats.  You might not see FCRCC walking away with everything over the next year or two

The BUK's will arrive in Spring and will share the responsibility of ALcan.  They will also be used at the WE race series.

Hope this clears up any questions.

is that directed towards OC or DB?  either way, competition pushes EVERYONE to work that much harder  msn(u) :Cheers:

good to hear about Alcan...  do you know which boats they will be replacing?  or will we be running 3 types of boats?

please say the gemini's............................. pretty please  :lol: