Dragon Boat West

That was a  beautiful weekend in sunny HOT Arizona....couildn't beat the wonderful weather they got.....

To help out the Arizona Dragon Boat Festival, could you provide some feedback about this weekend's races?

IE: Did you like the race grid?
    Was the racing fair and equitable?
    What would you change?
    How was the water officials?
    Did you like the marshalling?
    What would you do to improve this festival?
    How was the racer's village?
   
PS Please provide constructive feedback.....


Thanks

Great Race, lots of fun.  The only comments I have were that we ended up racing the same teams over and over again.  Got tired of seeing LARD and BAD, or was that BAD LARD :) .  Great people on both teams though.
Needed a few more volunteers to help out with the docks etc.

Other then that Well done

Oh yeah, they need a new guy marshalling the teams,  that puppy guy,  I don't know about him.        Just Kidding.  Great job Puppy, sorry you didn' get to paddle much.

How did the Canadian team do in the festival?
Wish we could have been there with you  :cry:

As part of the Waters Edge camp that occured the week before the festival 2 teams were entered into the festival "Waters Edge Desert Blue" and "Waters Edge Desert Green"  The green team was quite a mix of paddlers from portland, Nanimo, Vancouver etc etc. the Blue team had 16 paddlers from Calgary 13 from the Calgary Race Club (CRC) and 3 from Crew Yahoo, we also picked some other paddlers from here and there during the weeked to make up the 18 ish paddlers Blue needed to race. 

Team Green won the division C championship (they should have been in a higher division, but lost their steers in 1 race, which seeded them in C)
Team Blue was 2nd in the Div A consolation race.  Not bad for a group that had its 1st water time the previous Sunday.

All in all awesome showings by both teams. Blue and Green.

Oh Yeah.  Special K  We discovered that feeding your coach Coffee with Baileys in it before a practice is a good thing.

I second magicpaddler's suggestion on swtiching up the teams we faced. We ran into the Electric Dragons and Golden Dragons alot, and while they did a great job, it would be nice to paddle against other teams as well.

Also, as a member of the University of California San Diego Team (AND NO, NO USCD  :lol:), it would have been nice to see some more collegiate teams/heats at the festival. I realize that the small turnout of college teams this year made it hard to have more than one heat, but I think some more advertising directed at these collegiate teams might result in more turnout from the college circuit. There are a good number of teams in existence in California, and all are at a pretty high caliber that would prove to show some entertaining races.

We ran into some confusion regarding whether or not we needed a drummer - we had contacted Mitzi on several occasions asking whether or not one was needed. After she said no, we came to the race without one. Only when loading up on our first heat were we told that we needed one, so it caused some unneccesary headaches before our first heat. Maybe clean up the communication on the rules beforehand?

Other than those minor details, our whole team had an amazing time in Tempe. The weather was beautiful, just like home in San Diego. Also, one of our teammates - she is in love with the line marshall who lined up the boats...her voice is so soothing and friendly.

Thanks for a great time!
Kwanzai

PS: who was the crazy MC guy at the marshalling line? We are all in wonder of how he didn't lose his voice after 15 minutes of yelling like that. And thanks to him for helping UCSD get some free food by "praying to the noodle gods" :D

Thanks Kwanzai for the awesome feedback.

The Line Marshall is the wonderful and amazing Kim Tompkins. If you ever come to Vancouver, she's the voice that starts the ALCAN DB Festival Race. The MC Guy is me....I will reveal a secret that keeps my voice strong...I don't yell from my throat, however, from my diaphram &  drink a special mix that was made for me. The drink consists of Vitamin C liquid, mixed with Robatusium Cough Syurph.

BTW, how much free noodles did you get? I was laughing at your group, because when I saw your group sitting there and staring at that noodle booth, it look like your team has never eaten.... :)  I hope to see all of you again soon. I will be at the San Francisco race this year...hope your group can make it.

Kerry aka PUPPY.....

paradise noodle guy gave us the rest of the food in the wok!! at first we were shy and only the bold ones in our team went up - but the hunger from not eating the entire day got to most of us and we cleaned it out. he gave us the vendor sign that AZDBA supplied him - maybe we should stick it on the bow of our boats now.

SF? not sure if our UCSD team will go, since we don't practice over the summer because school is out! but, some of our team mates paddle with the adult teams in teh bay area, so maybe you'll see some of us there.

until then, thanks kerry!
Kevin aka Kwanzai :D

Only one real suggestion

BEER GARDEN



Other issues are not in control of the organizers (need more teams, need masters teams).


Nice race, great weekend.

Kerry,

BAD really liked the festival -- definitely keep the 250m and 1000m in there, it makes for a great tuneup race.  I actually would have liked to see an expanded grid for both of these distances (especially the 1000m), but I know that is difficult given the scheduling and time constraints. 

I also got confused on the drummer requirements but it seemed weird for it to be optional, so I brought some anyway.  Some clarification there would have helped. 

Another suggestion -- replace those steering oars with the meatier versions.  I imagine it can be frustrating for newer teams to lose control when they really just want to put in a good race.  Imagine how shocking it is for experienced teams like BAD who thought they knew how to drive a dragon boat  :shock: 

All in all, outstanding job by Water's Edge and the race organizers.  Thanks again for racing with us for one heat -- hope you didn't get in too much trouble...

Steve from BAD

Actually, from my understanding, the old race organizers in Arizona, allowed teams to race without a drummer....however within the IDBF rules, a drummer is required. Water's Edge endeavors to follow the IDBF rules....


http://www.idbf.org/5_1_._IDBF_Comp_Regs_06.pdf

3.1 Crew Numbers. Dragon Boat Crews competing in World and Continental Championships will
normally consist of a minimum of eighteen (18) and a maximum of twenty (20) Paddlers; one (1)
Steerer and one (1) Drummer; giving a minimum total of twenty (20) and maximum total of twentytwo
(22) Racers in a boat. For other Championships the numbers can be reduced to a minimum of
sixteen (16) Paddlers, for a minimum total of eighteen (18) Racers. Variations to these numbers
can only be made with the approval of the IDBF Executive Committee.

Just wanted to mention the nice hospitality that our team received from the Town of Tempe. We received sandwiches, fruit and water from the local teams during the festival. Special mention to Louise, the president of AZDBA, who looked after us.  The only thing that would have made the festival better for us is not losing our steersperson in the water....OOPS!  :shock:

Feel bad for those of you who are home! We're still in sunny Arizona!! 8)) Vacations suck! :lol:

Wanted Dead or Alive.....

If anyone recognize the names of these culprits in this video, please provide their name and address....A hefty reward (BEER) will be given for each person, captured in this video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ewIcJSfavo


BTW, USC TROJANS ROCK!

Haha, if you wanna capture me alive, you’ll have to fight me first.  Our team had an amazing weekend, and our crew’s appreciation must go out to all the organizers of the festival.  The race schedule was smoother than the previous year with little deviations, and we felt that we had enough time to warm-up for the races as well.  The water officials were fantastic, and it seemed that every team had a fair start.  The only area of improvement that I would suggest for the future is that when teams are marshaled down to the dock, the announcement should be carried over to the tents, since we like to warm-up away from the water.  And of course, the challenges were loads of fun, and Puppy got what he deserved (for all the world to see).

Btw, I believe some team owes USC Beer after I won that plank challenge.  Where’s the love for us deprived college kids?

-Brian
(Can't wait to head north to San Fran in the fall)

Given the location, it is not too surprising that many of the teams are the same as those you'll find in the Long Beach race.  But the start line was much better run than the Long Beach race.

Other similarities are the Champion dragon boats from Dalian Qian Long (a company in China, http://www.dragonboat.cn ).  Though the ones at Tempe are a newer model, made to IDBF specs for weight and hull shape (not sure if the ones at Long Beach were), and have carrying handles indented in the inside (don't recall the ones at Long Beach having the handles).

Regarding the steering, the Champions come with short steering oars and the steering box where the steersperson can stand does not extend as far back as in the BuK boats that you may have seen in San Francisco.  That probably surprised some steerspersons who expected more steering response than they actually got.

One comment on the race grid versus number of boats is that four boat heats with six total boats meant that two crews went out early, while two crews had to wait for boats to come in (no shade anywhere near the dock), then race out to the start line to get to their race.  Seems like it was slightly advantageous for the early crews, who could leisurely wait in the shade under the bridge until the late crews arrived.

Overall a much better race than it was two years ago.

Overall, I thought it was great, I had alot of fun, and it was a great way for us prairie folk to kick start the paddling season. Great job by Waters Edge as always. Room for improvement, yes. More boats as has already been stated. If they are going to run four boat heats they need a total of 8 boats so people are not waiting around so much. A big thanks to the volunteers but they needed more of them, especially on the dock. At one point I was working the dock by myself and was really wondering what would have happened if I hadn't gone down there. It also seemed strange to me that the last teams on the water were responsible for bring the boats out of the water. Not a big issue but our team ended up pulling a number of boats up out of the water. Most festivals I've been at the organizers take care of this. A beer garden would also have been great but I understand thats a non-starter down there for some reason.

I must also give a big thanks to the organizers of the festival, there hospitality was really outstanding. We were fed and watered by them all weekend. A big, big thanks.

I hope to do it again next year.

I had a blast at the AZ festival.  My favorite part was getting Puppy totally wet on camera.  Score!  See you in Vancouver!  I'll be with the Killer Guppies this time.  - Trinity

Puppy, you're a cool guy, but the USC quote is utter nonsense.  you do not fall into the mold of a SUC follower.  You are not pompous, conceited (for no reason), and don't seem to be burning away mommie and daddie's money while acting as if somehow you are entitled to it. 

USC athletes are cheaters, murderers and criminals.  some that have made the honor list: OJ Simpson, Cole Ford, Reggie Bush, the list goes on.

I'll give you a mulligan....   :lol: