Dragon Boat West

Get ready for a great days racing, this year races will be filmed using 3 cameras onto our HUGE screen , bring the sunscreen ! Hey even if your not competing Harrison is a great place to come out and spend the day (clean water, clean beaches) so pack the barb-b q  :D

1. Abreast in the Cove
2. Alpha Dragons
3. Canadian Construction Women
4. CC Riders*
5. Concord Pacific Flying Dragons
6. Cultus Lake Dragon Flyers
7. Deep Cove Catch 22
8. Despirit Housewives
9. Dogwood Nothin’ Draggin’ Seniors
10. Dragon Bytes
11. Dragon Hearts
12. Dragon Hearts Magnum
13. Dragon Ladies
14. Elephant & Castle
15. Eye of the Dragon
16. FLCC Chick’s Ahoy
17. FLCC Fort Fusion
18. FLCC Paddle Pushers
19. FLCC Spirit of a Renegade (SOAR)
20. FLCC Sun Dragons
21. FLCC Women on Water (WOW)
22. Gift of Life
23. Gung Haggis Fat Choy
24. Just Draggin’ Along*
25. Mackenzie Mussels
26. Mana Wahine
27. Off Balance*
28. Oar Deal
29. Phat Phish Racing
30. Ready Jet Go
31. Red Fusion
32. Riptide
33. Saints Preserve Us
34. Salt Spring Island Dragon Boat Team
35. Scaly Justice
36. Seventh Wave
37. Shaggin’ Dragons
38. Soul Sisters
39. Splash Test Dragons
40. Sudden Impact – Blue
41. Swordfish
42. Team Fluid Motion*
43. Team Synergy
44. Team Synergy 2*
45. Team Vortex
46. TD Lightning*
47. Twist & Shout
48. Water Warriors

Well, it looks like it is going to be a great day of competitive racing!  Keep the sun shining out there Ian... and let's hear some predictions!  Who has what it takes to make it to the top in Harrison????? 

What does the * beside some teams mean?

please ignore the * it was just used for our administration purposes , nothing to do with racing or individuals ( i just forgot to remove them  msn(:$) )

Yea I was about to ask that same question but Mo beat me yet again!  :lol:

Sure just as I posted my comment here Ian posts before I get a chance to see it! Oh well beat me twice in 2 minutes! Gosh I must be getting too old!  :?

Weather looks to be hot at 32. for the Saturday 21st maybe we`d better move the village into the water??

weather forecast ,, http://www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php?product=weather&placecode=CABC0007&wbRef=www.piratepaddlers.com&link=cityPage&&ref=btn20_city

They're now calling for 19 C and light rain..sorry Ian!  :(

Thats it! We're bailing out! (Literally!) We won't be bothering showing up because I swear Ian promissed me the same weather we've had the past 2 years at Harrison. Sorry Ian but we want our money back ASAP!  :P

Of course I am kidding. I mean its a water sport FFS!  :lol:

Maybe they could switch the date from the 21st to the 22nd..after all, it's supposed to be 31 and sunny on the Sunday! Of course it had to be sh***y on the Saturday!

anyone seen the race grid for harrison?

Exactly my thoughts!  :lol:

i have seen it !! LOL ,, anyway all being well it should be up on www.fraservalleydragonboatclub.com by about 9 pm Tuesday July 17th

Ian, there's no sign of any race rules on the website (race package sz they'll be up two weeks before the race).. hoping you can answer a couple of questions....

Has an attempt been made to seed the teams in the opening heats?

Is the second race determined by the finishing order in the first, or is it already preassigned like last year?

I ask, because you are using a dangerous combination of  1) cumulative race times for advancement for the afternoon finals with 2) a fleet of 6/16's which are perceived to be extremely disparate in performance.

If you are going to preassign the boats for both races and then use cumulative times (without any seeding in mind) with that fleet of boats, I believe you are only opening yourself up for the prospect that people will feel they have been ripped off with a lousy boat, or that other "preferred" have been assigned the fast boats.

Good to see that the registration form clearly listed whether a team was Mixed/Female?Breast Cancer.... and that there appears to be no sign of Drag Queen contest this year.

Hey i`m just a passer of information , The 6/16`s are not even in harrison yet , so I can`t comment on your perception . Your comments have been passed on to our club president who`s contact info is posted on the club wesite

thanks

Actually Ian I know you are just the messenger and all but I too have concerns about the boats being used. For example the one that my crew practices with is one that sits in the water for the better part of a year. I don't think it has been out of the False Creek water since it was used for another race. For all I know it could have been your festival last year but I don't know for sure. All I do know is that it feels like a friggin' pig even with a full boat of paddlers pulling water. So just last night right after our practice it was promptly removed and loaded onto a trailer to be sent to Harrison. So I concur with the previous poster that these 6-16s are not equal in quality and buoyancy. I don't know how organizers can make all the boats even considering their varying ages and amount of time they are out on the water and the amount of times they've actually been cleaned. I don't know but hey I suppose we all have to just deal with it and put out our very best at race time.

The biggest factor on boat speed is the cleanliness. It doesn't take much of a film on the boat to really slow it down. As long as they're cleaned that's the biggest thing. Weight is next. If they're weighed and then sandbags added to make them all the same then you're pretty good. After that maybe straightness if they've been hit, but like I said the cleanliness is the biggest factor. Tell me they're clean and I'm relatively happy.

WOOHOO! We have a race grid! (The woohoo's for the grid..not for our start time..lol)  :lol:

http://www.fraservalleydragonboatclub.com/documents/Regatta%20Info/Race%20Grid%202007.pdf (http://www.fraservalleydragonboatclub.com/documents/Regatta%20Info/Race%20Grid%202007.pdf)

Quote from the "Prez"

In reply to the people who are worried about the boats not being clean. It is 11:00pm right  now. We had a work b tonight with approx 7 people. Six boats were picked up and have arrived. We managed to pressure wash, scrub, clean and polish three tonight and will be finishing the last three tomorrow. Another boat is being delivered tomorrow morning and will also be cleaned and polished and pressure washed. To the people who are worried about the boats and the shape they are in they will not believe the difference and we have taken before and after pictures.
THE BOATS WILL BE CLEAN

Hi Bern Man, Manfred here.
Was nice putting a face to a name on Monday night.
Your comment about the boat being a slug was correct.
When we pulled it out of the water,
there was an inch thick coating of barnicals on it.
No need to tow a tire for a resistance training practice.
It took 4 people an hour to scrap the barnicals off before we could use a 3000 psi pressure washer to get to the outside of the boat. We scrubbed the surface to find an off white colour under all this stuff.
Some of the other boats were just about as bad, but the one your team was in when you paddled it to the dock was the worse.
No wonder you guy's are so strong after paddling one of these crusted boats.
So don't worry, they're all being cleaned so when you win it won't be because the other teams had slower boats.
It'll be because you were the best team on that day.
Manfred A Preuss
FVDBC PREZ

Geez all this pressure by the prez. FYI Phat Phish is a strong REC team in my opinion but always striving to be better. But it was nice meeting you too Manfred. And thanks for agreeing that the particular boat in question was not something just in my mind!  :lol:  But thank you goes out to you and your crew putting this race on and taking care of any concerns even before the racing begings. All we ask is for fair racing and by the sounds of things it will be. Good luck to us all! And heres hoping for yet another more paddler friendly/spectator friendly weather forecast!

I appreciate all the hard work in getting the boats cleaned... but cleanliness was never an issue for me in terms of the boats disparity.

If the only thing that made a "slow boat" slow was it's level of cleanliness then would we all have had to endure Barney for so many years.... and if it's the same fleet of boats as last year, then I assume we can expect the now white Barney will be used at harrison again.... as well as the FVDBC boats which have not been the same since they were involved in an accident a few years back and allegedly caused such havoc last year in Kelowna.

Looking at the race grid, it is pretty obvious that no attempt has been made to seed teams...given that cumulative times are bing used the only fair thing to do would be to assign teams to heats then have a random draw for lanes while in pre-marshalling (just like they did at Alcan in the old days)....that way no one can point fingers at the end of the day and say their fate we predetermined by their lane assignment.

Yea but who draws first?

You know, as long as the boats are clean that's as much as anyone can ask for... And I hope that this thread won't degenerate into one of those 'its so unfair' discussions.

As for Barney:

I've heard of 'Barney' for a number of years and though I haven't had the pleasure, I am beginning to think that its disadvantage is psychological.

I mean, assuming that it is clean and that it has the same hull geometry, the only undermining factor would be weight. When one considers the total weight of boat & crew, the differential would have to be significant to have any noticable effect.

Beg to Differ but I have experineced Barney first hand as a daily practice boat and during MANY races
Not an engineer or such but To say Barney can affect an outcome of a race or performance of a team is an understatement
I've seen Barney drag Competative teams down to Rec level due to its inability to have ANY glide what so ever the teams not adjusting to him/her
The only way to make it move was to up your rate considerably to compensate for the lack of Glide and Leave your lungs and other vital organs in a tupperware container so u can find them after a 300 meter finish (required to keep Barney in the pack)
That being said I do not know what makes a boat a pig but being around a bit I can recognize the bloodline of Barney no matter what color they paint them.....
Otherwise I predict SUN Bernman in this weekend!
And THANK Goodness for no Mz Dragonboat, My womens team threatened to shave me....
(more than I am already shaved...Doh! TMI)

barney is old, it's splintering (watch your ass when you sit down), and there's multiple layers of paint over it.  i doubt it's even the same weight class or hull shape as when it was brand spanking new.  no wonder it doesn't glide.

it's a slug boat... great for resistence training. yes no?

Indeed, if a team wants a great resistance training tool, look no further than the ghostly white, formerly-purple-thus-known-as-"Barney" boat, it is second to none.  Definitely not psychological.

having said that, if its in the fleet, then deal with it.  that would be unfortunate, but unless you plan on packing your own 6/16 up there, you paddle with what you get. 

I'm a Harrison festival virgin.  :lol:  Is there anything that I should know about the venue? Is there good sight lines for spectators? Any vendors? Bathrooms? Shelter? etc...

Thank you Mana Wahines for inviting me to paddle with you this weekend!

Looking forward to seeing you all on the water!  :Hi:

there are excellent sight lines from everywhere along the beach as the course runs parallel to it.  many spots within the paddlers village will work as well, and last year they had a giant LCD tv in the paddlers village (hopefully will again) so you get lots of views of the race

The wind pushing the boats towards shore can make starts a bit of a gongshow... hopefully you'll get some calm winds on saturday, otherwsie be prepared to be up close and friendly with the boats around you.

Jeez guys, you'd think there was some bad juju left over from last year.  We've all ( well most of us) paddled a race or two and we all know that, boats notwithstanding, there are a number of things to influence times and placements; winds, rain, how my hair looks, lanes, pre-seeding, if there is any, etc.  Let's get serious:  Last year was a real learning experience for those who hosted Harrison.  They race in 6/16's.  You can't tell me that there are any more fair conditions that exist among the many disparate fleet of boats out there..  We all have issue with the 6/16's along with those lovely retrofitted Geminis...or any other boats we don't regularly practice in.  C'mon folks...this is a regatta, not a blueprint for world peace.  Get over it and get in the damn boat and paddle.  And, by the way, have a little bit of fun...for the sheer joy of doing something that involves 20 of your friends, a day of freedom on the water and the fact that you can move at all!  Clean boats,dirty boats, branded boats...  Leave the esoterica for the monks or the saints or those with an appetite for the arcane.  I just wanna race...

 

I think the only thing in question is that why is Barney still around? Every time the 6\16's are used here comes Barney. Why don't they just get rid of it and race one less lane? I've had the experience to race in it unfortunetely in a final race and I will tell you in a concellation race maybe I don't mind but you race hard to get to the final and then Bang Barney.

easy fix for ya my friend.  if you call up Mr. Lo, the maker of these boats, and pony up the cash for a new one to replace Barney, I'm sure whoever claims ownership of him (currently docked at DZ) would be happy to saw him in half and dump the remnants out in fort langley :lol:

Hallelujah, brothas & sistas!

Is their going to be a paddlers party after the festival or anything ?

It'll be interesting to see how the day goes tomorrow... for a relatively new festival they've definitely had their share of controversies and problems... slowly run races with large delays (massive would be a better word for last year)... protests about borrowed paddlers, collisions galore last year and more protests and complaints about re-races and accusations of preferential treatment for an elite team.

Given the history, one wonders why go back.. and the simple answer is that it's an amazing race site and cooling off in the lagoon and lazing/playing  on the sand between races is a great way to spend a hot summers day and has more than made up for all the issues around the racing.

Unless the weatherman is wrong (and it's been known to happen) all we got this weekend is the racing......Good luck all....

Great news! It's not going to be 100% POP tomorrow! It's only gonna be 90%! Woohoo! Does that mean 10% sun??  :lol:

No




 :Hi:

Please? :D