Dragon Boat West

It looks like the FCRCC Dragon Boat Regatta is coming up on May 3rd.  As the first full-length race for most Vancouver teams in the past, it gave everyone a chance to see how current teams look early in the season. I also hear that they'll be giving free registration for the 2009 race to a random entry this year.

I did notice that there doesn't seem to be many teams on the water these days with some major changes with a number of teams... Synergy down to two teams, FODB, DWW Edgewater and Just Dragon Along on hiatus, RGL United looking to be more Rec... Could be big changes in the High Rec and Low Comp level this year.

So...Who's going to be racing on May 3rd?

     G.D's will be there.

Look forward to racing you guys!

    Sooooo anyone else racing?

Sudden Impact Black will be there...and looking forward to a fun day of racing  8))

I'm curious as well as who will be in attendance?  Is the Race Grid out yet?  All I know is Gorging, FCRCC Mixed, and Sudden Impact Black will be in attendance but there has to be more!  I don't like our chances if it's just Gorging and FCRCC Mixed :shock:. Might have to invest in some anchors and scuba gear if that's the case!

I just remembered that Blu By U are going to be there as well. They looked very good yesterday at Deep Cove.  I was impressed with their times.   

 

Your wish is my command  :lol:

Blu By U Nanaimo
Business Objects (BOBJ)
Dragon Hearts Beat
Dragon Hearts Magnum
Eric Hamber Eternal Dragon "S"
Eric Hamber Eternal Dragon "W"
Eye of the Dragon
False Creek Grandragons
FCRCC Mixed Black
FCRCC Mixed Red
Gorging Dragons
Kitslano Water Demons
Legacy
North Shore Dragon Busters
Pacific Reach 2
Ready, JET, Go!
Red Fusion
RGL United
Rice Rockets
Riptide Dragonboat Team
Saggin' Dragons
Scotiabank Dragons
Sudden Impact Black
Sudden Impact Liquid Silver
Superslim Phat Phish Racing
Swordfish
Team Inbalance
Team LifeScan
Team Momentum
The Eh Team
VanCity Alphas
VO2 Max

Wow ... Talked with a friend from FCRCC and he stated that the numbers were down this year.  32 teams is not bad.  Now if you could direct me to the race grid ... I'm set!

What time does it usually end?  I can't remember...  I may come down after work and take some photos (if its not raining)

wow Hamber has two teams, that's a lot of tiny totter rice munchers...

Race grid is up.

http://www.fcrcc.com/images/stories/DragonBoat/FCRCC%20Grid%202008.pdf

Check http://www.fcrcc.com for latest grid.

I like the idea of using total time to determine seeding for the final... it removes the problems associated with determining seeding at the start of the season... but if 2 sets of boats are being used (BUK's and Gemini's) shouldn't all teams get one race in each set.... it looks like some teams will race there first two races in BUK's, some there first two in Gemini's, and others one race in each.... hardly an ideal situation when using total time to determine ranking.

      Are they using total time to determine the final races? If they are, there could be some upset teams, as we all know that the buk's are considerably quicker than the Gemini's

Cut and pasted from the race grid:

Advancements: Top 8 Adult Mixed teams based on total times to Comp; All
other teams to Rec divisions based on total times

Looks like there could be some upsets ........

Vicpaddler has a point, teams unfortunate enough to have both of their qualifying races in the gemini's may be slotted into a lesser final.

Why again do we insist on keeping these boats within the fleets? The retrofit is substandard and does not allow for proper foot bracing for the rear seats (unless you are over 5' 10"). Sell them and invest the money in BUK's. Take it as a hard (and expensive) lesson learned.

According to the grid, the 4th best team from the morning heats gets into BOTH of the last 2 races...man, are they gonna be tired!
Okay, maybe it's a typo (s/b 1,2,3,4 in the final, 5,6,7,8 in the faux final, methinks)

Yes, BuKs are faster than Gemini's so if total time is used then it should be that each team races once in each boat.

If they change it to the advancement system then I'd suggest seeding Pacific Reach 2 or Eye of the Dragon instead of Swordfish.

Who is Legacy?

If the seeding for lanes is correct and the respective lane 2 team wins their heat they then advance to the same boat for their next race.

FCRCC Black wins in Gemini heat they advance to Gemini heat for second race.
FCRCC Red wins in BUK heat they advance to BUK heat for second race.
Sudden Impact wins in Gemini heat they advance to Gemini heat for second race.
Gorging wins in BUK heat they advance to BUK heat for second race.

It should have been race in a Gemini in first heat proceed to BUK for second heat and vice versa.

Maybe the organizers will change this for race day.

I thought Swordfish was no more? Anyone know what they are all about? Lethal are they your guys & gals still?

I'm pretty sure this is Lethal Weapons' Swordfish V2.0 ... a scaled back, one night a week practice version of the earlier model....

Obviously someone at FCRCC knows something about Legacy as they appear to be seeded 1st in their heat...

I believe they are one on the Synergy teams

Howdy BernMan
The Fish are back as a 1X a week team part in due to enviromental changes....Wives, mortgages,kids  :shock:,school,old age (Ok just me)
I am the Assistant coach this year... :lol: and will be a lowly paddler for them as well.
Won't be at the FCRCC regatta but I am sure the fish will do what fish do.

stink up the the joint?  :mrgreen:

 :o       :shock:     :lol:       :twisted:     too funny ... good luck everyone ...

1. FCRCC A (not sure what colour)
2. Gorging Dragons
3. FCRCC B (the other colour)
4. Sudden Impact Black

That's the easy 4... the next 4 are the hard ones.

This is from the Competitive finals

Comp Final
FCRCC Black
Gorging Dragons
FCRCC Red
Pacific Reach 2

Comp Consolation
Phat Phish
Eye of the Dragon
Sudden Impact Black
Imbalance

Anyone have the other results

This is no excuse as we don't make excuses BUT I hate those Gemini's.  For those guys out there with far too much time on their hands.  If the Gemini's are a heavy boat at the front how much weight should be shifted to the back of the boat to give you a 5-10 degree angle above the water at the front.  We had a ratio of 1170 (200 added to the front of the Gemini) to 1315 so I had about 145 more in the back.  Would that be enough?  Should I had more weigh back their?  Does anyone know what I'm talking about?  :shock:

I hate it when we don't live up to expectations  :blasted:  ... BUT we have 8 new paddlers this year so give us a few more races and you won't be disappointed.   :twisted:

One more thing ... GOOD JOB Phat Phish Racing and Eye of the Dragon you paddled hard today and deserved to come out ahead. 

Yup...Phat Phish...you were so phat...and Eye..well you always impress the hell outta me!  Great competition in this final and happy for the opportunity to race you all...can' t wait for a rematch!

Our team found a bag full of bungie cords, along with a rubber mousepad sort of thing.  We don't know if it belongs to some club (maybe equipment to mount drums?)  or if it's somebody's personal possession.

:wtf:

Send me an e-mail ([email protected]) if you think you can help re-unite the bungie cords with their rightful owner.
 

The mousepad is probably someone's ass-pad from the regatta.  ;)  to be sure, you can check to see if there is any raw skin thats transfered onto its surface.  :lol:

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!  :shock:

Hey Digger! Thanks for the nice words man in another thread that you wrote! My crew exceeded my expectations on this day and I am of course very happy with their results. Its always fun to race someone who historically has been a challenge to us and to be able to finally come out of it on the right side of the results for ONCE!  :lol:

But this was only a regatta, with barely a quarter the number of mixed crews that show up for the BIG ONE in June, and I swear most teams probably didn't have their A crew out here for it because it wasn't the BIG ONE. Or maybe they did?  :)

As for your weight distribution I checked your boat out when you went out at the same time as I did today. Once was when I steered for a women's team and you looked pretty evenly balanced with no plowing coming from the front. OR was I wrong there? As for the finals that we both did I again didn't notice anything unusual about your weight. Admittedly though I HATE those Gemi's even since the retrofit. I mean they are a bit better now prior to the retrofit but I still don't enjoy them much as a paddler. As a steersperson I am indifferent. But if you think they are a bit front heavy since the retrofit then maybe moving some of your heavier paddlers back a seat or two might solve your problem. I know some teams try to balance the seating based on the weights of the respective paddlers but then you gotta deal with not only a left/right weight issue but also a front/back weight issue. That to me is a lot to worry about. I have always eyeballed it trying to create some sort of piramid with my "larger" paddlers basically sitting in the middle seats. The rest just either go to the front front half or the back back half seats. I suppose you probably already do that anyway as it seems kinda obvious to me anyway that that is what most crews probably do. But try putting more weight towards the back by a seat or two instead of centered.

Thanks Bernman - we usually do.

I know that FCRCC, Masters of the Dragon Zone and other "top" teams spend time looking at weight distribution in the boat; especially on a regatta weekend.  In fact I spend too much time looking at weight balance in the boat.  We are usually a very balanced boat with only a 10-20 pound difference to one side or the other.  Although I wonder if I should not look at body weight of a paddler and more on top half as they lean out ... anyone got a sharp saw  :twisted: 

It was good to read that you saw our boat before the final and noticed that we were not too front heavy.  In fact I moved most of the weight back a seat. 

No - the question is trying to figure how much weight should be shifted to the back of a Gemini to give you the best degree/angle to maximize boats glide and acceleration through the water. 

Is there a difference?

i remember last year, when we made the switch to Geminis, we moved one of our heavy rows back one bench, as the Gems do seem to be front-heavy. 

I would like to see some pictures from this weekend for the 2008 FCRCC Spring Regatta.  Any ideas out there?? Where can I find some or can somebody post some??

thanks in advance!!

The best way

......... to maximize boats glide and acceleration through the water. 

is simply "put yer paddle in da water an' pull the Billy Bejeezus outta it"

let me guess...   Rec C paddler?  perhaps Rec D?  with sore back, arms, and shoulders. 

That was a Hugh Fisher quote.....not that I'm anywhere near his league....but a few rungs higher than you suggested.... and no I don't have sore arms today, but a sore leg from the pipe in the retrofitted Gemini...

Do you plan on policing the streets the same way you police this forum?  Shoot/taser first ask questions later?

YOU GO GIRL!  :lol: You know I am teasing you now Colossus!

ZING!  got me good, there.   :lol: (no sarcasm, and 100% sincerity)
Neh.  You obviously don't understand my humour, which is cool, cause most people don't even after years of friendship.  :)  One of my friends and I joke about technique vs brawn all the time - he's huge, and I'm not.  that comment was me typing my thoughts while thinking about our convos. 

Tsk, you never cease to offend, Colossus ;) even whist packing for the plains.

If i wasn't surrounded by controversies because people didn't understand my humour, i'd be pretty boring.  my humour is really to make me smile.  if others smile too, great.  :lol:

Offended... not me... it takes more than that to get under my skin.... it's all good... good luck in Regina.

Sigh.....Aside from our odor producing performance, Good job on all for some great racing
I missed the whole regatta except for the last races..
Looks like there will have to be some reseeding depending on how the Alcan regatta results pan out.
5 weeks to go!

Take the blue pills.......

A thought on the front heaviness of the Gems...Maybe a whole bunch more weight in the front would help...Perhaps add a couple of holes too? :wink:

Does anyone have the times for the final race?  We were racing for the ferry and missed seeing them.

Some photos from the regatta

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4799.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4830.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4845.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4857.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4877.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4920.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4928.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4961.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_4970.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5054.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5081.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5082.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5099.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5125.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5142.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/IMG_1532.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/IMG_1533.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/IMG_1535.jpg)

(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/moturismo/DSC_5016.jpg)

Nice pics superduper! Anyone else got any more?  :lol:

Gorgeous pics. I can see my hair! In fine detail!!

What beautiful photofinishes everyone. So many of the races were close! and those are some crazy lens. I gotta get me some stalker lens so I can stand across the street and see who keeps banging the walls of the apartment at night.

I believe many of these pics are photo"starts"; not photo"finishes".

In one picture we were in lane 4 and FCRCC Mixed were in lane 2. Let me assure you, there was lots of water between us at the end.

Any word on whether a full set of results complete with times will be posted either here or an the FCRCC website?

Thanks.

Results have just been posted on fcrcc.com

Well done Legacy!

The team that is never talked about and never photographed quietly walks away with another great performance.

That makes a lot more sense. Man it's been a long week.

For someone that walked quietly away... that was one loud back pat.

Haha.  Dude, we win some, we lose some.  I love my team because we've been together for a long time and I'm just showing some pride.

For someone's first post, that is quite a first post. Welcome to DBW.