Dragon Boat West

Not sure if anyone saw this story yet. It's basically the same story we've heard the past week about the future of the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival except for this new development...

Apparently the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society is seriously considering moving the festival to a yet-to-be-decided Richmond location. The Society is eyeing three key locations in Richmond: on the North Arm on River Road, near Vulcan Way; at the oval; or in Steveston.

Full story can be found here (http://www2.canada.com/richmondnews/news/story.html?id=cef8c332-109a-426b-9c2d-e64e964cee96).

This would be great for out of town teams because they would stay so close to the airport.

I hope that it stays where it was this year - It was my first YVR race, and I really enjoyed the stadium style finish line, with the crowd up above and surrounding the finish line. Man, it was such a boost when we were paddling the final 500m in the G&G, hearing the crowd get louder and louder as we neared the finish!

Plus, the downtown Vancouver location would result in larger crowds of spectators?

Richmond a site for Alcan? Steveston? Politics only. Have you ever paddled in Rip up the River? Currents, logs, dog bodies, and assorted submerged obstacles. Not on your life. The tides in False Creek cause enough collisions and accidents can you imagine the carnage with a river running at 6 knots with an outging tide?

That would be just AWESOME!  :shock:

Hearing that crowd was amazing. I'll never forget it. It gave me a whole new burst of energy. Would be a shame to lose that.