Dragon Boat West

I just noticed that the grids are up for this weekends races.

http://dragonboatbc.ca/racing-downloads.html

Kind of interesting to see Team Inbalance seeded ahead of Eye of the Dragon, Sudden Impact and Phat Phish even though these three teams finished ahead of them at the Spring Regatta.

Only other surprise is to see that FCRCC has no teams entered in the regatta. 

I see there are only 70 teams in the regatta compared to 93 last year. That's quite a dramatic decline. Does anyone have any idea how many teams are practicing out of Dragon Zone or Pogue? I think FCRCC has about the same number of teams as last year (maybe one or two more) but is way down from 2006. Is anyone practicing out of DBA or has it become a dragon boat ghost town, perhaps haunted by the spirits of teams that have ceased to exist?

My own team, Banana Fusion, (novice team) is in the same heat as teams like Laoyam and Legacy. Was wondering how they choose to slot people in the heats? or is it just random? Because those are two very stunning teams.  :)

Usually the race organizers seed teams to avoid top teams knocking each other down to lower categories.

In the 7 boat heats for the Sunday AM session that Banana Fusion is participating in...
I will guess organizers are using this formula.

lane 4 - top seed
lane 3 - 2nd seed
lane 5 - 3rd seed
lane 2 - 4th seed
lane 6 - 5th seed
lane 1 - 6th seed
lane 7 - 7th seed

Why?
so the top seeded team is in the middle, and boat wakes are spread out, and lower performing teams are on the outside.... so that the "playing field" is more even for the top teams in the middle, as outside lanes are more susceptible to shoreline currents... and I really think... because it looks prettier.

There is a lot of guessing, speculation on team's performance abilities.  But ideally, you want the top teams to end up in the same final, and the lower performing teams together in the same final.

Sometimes seeding is completely random, depending on the purpose of the race or regatta. 
Sometimes organizers know what they are doing, and sometimes we as paddlers just shake our heads and say "why?"

Wow thanks... it makes sense now. Haha I was like nooo! I didn't know the DZ regatta was connected to Alcan, though.

Unofficial Saturday AM Session Results

D Final
Red Fusion- 2:25.17
Elephant & Castle Booze Cruise - 2:32.17
PCL Centurions - 2:34.61
Dogwood Nothin' Dragon Seniors - 2:40.15
Gift of Life Dragon Boat Team - 2:43.71
Dogwood Nothin' Dragon Too - 2:59.87

C Final
Team Inbalance - 2:16.75
Ready, JET, Go! - 2:18.19
VO2 Max - 2:22.30
Team Storm - 2:23.96
Team Vortex - 2:24.04
RaceFace - 2:32.19

B Final
RGL United - 2:14.20
Scotiabank Dragons - 2:16.89
Team Ruckus - 2:17.27
Team Life Scan - 2:18.09
Swordfish - 2:20.34
Riptide Dragonboat team - 2:20.67

A Final
Sudden Impact Black - 2:08.52
Edgewater Casino Without Warning - 2:08.71
Pacific Reach 2 - 2:09.12
Masters of D'Zone - 2:09.43
Superslim Phat Phish Racing - 2:20.15
Eye of the Dragon - 2:24.03

Results from the Comp & Rec A teams Saturday morning

A Final
1. Sudden Impact Black
2. Edgewater Casino - Without Warning
3. Pacific Reach 2
4. Masters of D'Zone
5. Superslim Phat Phish Racing
6. Eye of the Dragon

B Final
1. RGL United
2. Scotiabank Dragons
3. Team Ruckus
4. Team LifeScan
5. Swordfish
6. Riptide

C Final
1. Team Inbalance
2. Ready, JET, Go
3. VO2Max
4. Team Storm
5. Team Vortex
6. RaceFace

D Final
1. Red Fusion
2. Elephant & Castle Booze Cruise
3. PCL Centurions
4. Dogwood Nothin' Dragon
5. Gift of Life Dragon Boat Team
6. Dogwood Nothin' Dragon Too

Great racing today everyone  :clap: !   

Now I need a nap  msn(s)

Thanks for the recap of results + times =] Anyone have this afternoon's races?

Unofficial Saturday PM Session Results

D Final
CC Riders - 2:34.36
SAINTS PRESERVE US - 2:53.91
Dragon's Breath - 2:58.98
Off Balance - 3:08.43

C Final
Deep Cove Catch 22 - 2:32.89
The Eh Team - 2:38.95
Dragon Hearts Beat - 2:39.30
Ritchie Bros. Auctionauts - 2:41.70
PWC Paddlers - 2:44.84
Sisters in Sync - 2:49.47

B Final
Up Roar - 2:26.25
Vancity Alpha Dragons - 2:26.87
GVRD 44 Cheeks - 2:28.15
Business Objects (BOBJ) - 2:34.63
OarDeal(1) - 2:35.20
Golder Water Warriors - 2:37.75

A Final
Dragon Hearts Magnum - 2:12.03
Fluid Motion - 2:13.96
TCC Dragoneers - 2:22.01
Saggin' Dragons - 2:22.04
Concord Pacific Flying Dragons - 2:25.63
Splash Test Dragons - 2:29.72

Nice blue streak, you rock my socks.

Unofficial Sunday AM Session Results

D Final
Moscrop Mighty Fish - 2:42.04
Flying Colts - 2:53.59
Super Strokin' Dragonflies - 2:56.68
Surgin Sturgeons - 2:58.12
Hardy Herons - 3:17.03
Edgewater Casino    - DNF

C Final
VT Conquest - 2:39.73
Banana Fusion - 2:40.08
Gung Haggis Fat Choy - 2:47.41
Raging Rebels - 2:49.08
Killarney Cougar Dragons - 2:49.24
Richmond Centre Dragoneers - 2:56.60

B Final
Kitsilano Water Demons - 2:40.45
STM Knights - 2:40.48
CBC Wave Catchers - 2:43.89
FCRCC Grandragons - 2:45.35
Draggin' Riders - 2:46.15
Team Momentum - 2:51.56
Mission VT - 2:53.21

A Final
Laoyam Eagles - 2:17.36
Rice Rockets - 2:24.28
Eric Hamber Eternal Dragon - 2:26.87
Legacy - 2:31.87
TD Lightning - 2:35.53
Strathcona Youth Dragons - 2:36.52

Regardless of placement, the 2nd and 3rd race today was the best races of my life :|

I've never been so proud of my team. *sniff*

Thanks for posting all of that!! Really appreciate it  :)

Here's a couple of videos from the Sat PM session:

B Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG-F4RNY8Ec&fmt=6

A Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G11WpOXDpe4&fmt=6

Thanks for all the time and vids, blue. :D

Hey all!

If anyone has videos of last weekend's regatta (Dragonzone Regatta June 7-8) could you PM me?

I will pay you if you have a good video of Heat 7 of Sunday AM, and C FINAL of Sunday AM.

Thank you very very much~
manda

Here is a rough video taken from a digital camera of the A Finals (AM).  Sorry for the bias cheering! It cracked me up thou  :lol: ... I hope you enjoy.  Very close race that morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HXWvYkHnRA&feature=email

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQnP71eGdGs

Excellent video taken for the PM A finals BlueStreak!

Thanks Digger.

Here's videos from Sun AM.

B Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd_BeNVBtI8&fmt=6

A Final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf7RI6_z-FI&fmt=6

Sorry, no Sat AM videos... we were all busy racing. ;)



Dang... I've got A, B and half of D final (there was a collision mid-race) - but nothing of C Final.... missed out on an great opportunity. :P

I've got some photos of the Sat PM races here. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashmera/sets/72157605493921349/) I unfortunately had to miss the other races due to prior commitments.  :(

Thanks for the pictures, remember every race as if it was just last Sunday  :lol:

I must say that dog sure is smart and cute, if I have to say it myself  :P

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashmera/2559309915/in/set-72157605493921349 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kashmera/2559309915/in/set-72157605493921349)

BlueStreak: Thanks for the Sat PM A Final video, looked pretty good!

kashmera: Thanks for the TONS of pics! Quite easy to sort through considering the files were named by heat numbers or finals.

alcanranker: Unfortunately she will only be interested in you if you have food for her lol
And no she's not mine, her name is Maggie and she's my coach's dog.