Dragon Boat West

http://harrisondragonfest.com/Harrison2009RaceGrid%5B1%5D(1).pdf

Racegrid so far. It's going to be a day full of racing. Good luck to all teams and I'm looking forward to the intense competition among the top teams. msn(u)

Its going to be HOT, HOTTT and HAWT!

Good luck all! :wink:

Even if you are not competing, Harrison this year promises to be the best ever ! Watch out for the 60ft. boom camera filming the action up close right on to our big screen , The water is still high , so ensuring a great race in every lane, and it`s  ok to swim in it too,, Projected temperatures are at the moment at 31.c , so sun screen and lots of water folks..58 teams representing all classes of paddlers,both from Canada and the USA,  including the ms. team "Off Balance"  , so yes a very full day of racing and fun .
Both Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Club & Waters Edge, as last year, are partnering this event, and we are all looking forward  to welcoming you all. However as stated in the race package the Mayor of Harrison has gratefully declined to give everyone a welcoming "Massage" ( read the package if you don`t get it !! lol )
Good racing everyone , see you Saturday.

Since the advancements are based on times I would have liked to see evenly matched teams race each other in both the qualifiers. The 2nd qualifier has some evenly matched teams racing but not all, and the first qualifier is a grid layout that you'd use for advancements based on placement.

I'm sure FCRCC, Magnum, Masters, SI Black and Pac Reach would have loved to race each other in the 200 metre. The same goes for all the other teams. Why not race against teams in your division right from the start? There's no need to seed the way it is, that's only necessary when you use placement for advancements. This is an opportunity for close races throughout. 

Maybe next year you can consider it.

Also it looks like there's a typo in the grid.

Races 39, 38, 37 have "Slowest Fastest 2nd" and 3rd and 4th respectively. I assume it's supposed to be "4th Fastest 2nd" or else "Slowest 2nd", either way. "Slowest Fastest" doesn't make sense.

But that's a minor point. The other point is the main one. Please think it through before replying  :think:

Harrison just got cancelled due to severe thunderstorms after the C consolations.Wet paddlers making their way home now.

Bummer about not being able to race all the finals.

If the 1st qualifier had teams of similar capabilities then at least they would have had one more race against each other in this case.  :(

How does the saying go...... "to beat a dead horse".

It was definitely disappointing that the decisive battle between FCRCC, SIB, Pac Reach, Masters, and Magnum didn't materialize due to the thunderstorm, I have give this festival thumb up. Great venue, great racing, great crews. It just happened that Mother Nature stopped cooperating. Knowing how they usually hand out medals in case of cancelled final, it kind of sucks to be technically undefeated in all the heats (even against 2nd seed SIB) and still not get a medal, but that's life. Congratulation to False Creek for putting up a dominant performance, and I wish you the best of luck at Worlds.

I'd like to thank Water Edge for their effort to host such a great series of races, Deep Cove, Whistler, and Harrison. :)

Also, an applause to Sudden Impact Black for coming over to our tent after the cancellation of the final for a big team handshake. Very classy of them! :Cheers: Good luck to you guys at Nationals!

See you all next race!

The officials made the right decision to have cancel the festival due to safety concerns. Was hoping that the wealther would calm down and the races would continue. Most of the teams in either champion or consolation finals would of wanted to see how they would rank up head to head with their peers. As cancelled festivals go, i'm sure we automatically finished 4th in B finals. One other thing, i thought that the semis were tallied based on total time combined from the 200m and the first 500m and not by placement. to me, it seemed like some of the math was off, cause i noticed some teams had a faster combined time than another but still ended up in a lower division.

All in all it was a good festival. Swam in the clear water without fear of forming a a third eye, but that would of been cool if that had occurred too. had some local delicacies called "chicken fingers" and played some wet v-ball in that awesome small pond with the weeds on the bottom of it.

Was Team Storm and TD Lightning responsible for the awful weather? :rofl:

Bits and pieces of my thoughts:

First off, thank you all fellow racers and volunteers from Water's Edge!
Awesome work on those FREE ICE cold water...though i missed the free hot dog session.
Good job MC/DJ for the good music. Crappy wind messing up with start alignments.
Pretty hot there for a while (record breaking 31 degree huh? lol) and then the weather turned to sh*t.

All in all, what was shaping up to a pretty good day all went to hell. Having no finals blows (not in Water's Edge control), and pardon my language, but the weather seriously sucked monkey balls...going on the ride back home soaked and smelling like wet dog is not cool.

My upbeat 2 cents :wink:

It was by total time (from what I was told), care to share what teams you noticed getting the short end of the stick.  I can ask the grid people to double check, mistakes can happen and if they are they should be highlighted at the time noticed.  Pretty sure they could have fixed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kibC27AD0-Q
Heat 1

I'm guessing that boat 3 is FCRCC mixed? lol

The planks competition was awesome, I thought the Dragon Lady was going to win.

Too bad about the races being cut short.

What's worse is that I missed the free dogs :(

Hey Swordfish, did you beat your wife this weekend? Or did she beat you? Or was spouse-beating postponed due to inclement weather?

hey look, Sarah Palin just resigned...

Way to go, Mo!  Too bad there's no hardware... but that's not new for Swordfish and Harrison.

I noticed FCRCC Mixed steersperson used a microphone in the races. I thought it was odd, but someone told me it was allowable in the rules.  And they were right. This is from the
IDBF Members Handbook, PART C: IDBF COMPETITION REGULATIONS and RULES OF RACING (http://www.idbf.org/documents/IDBF_Competition_Regulations_08.pdf), effective 1Jan08. Blink, and there's a new rule.

Blink again there is a new hot team. Blink three times, and before you know it, you qualify for the Grand Dragons team. I am feeling so old right now.

(http://www.idbf.org/images/idbf_logo_100.jpg)

13. ADDITIONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT.
13.1 Generally additional equipment designed to be added to the boat or personal or miscellaneous equipment designed to enhance the performance of the boat or a crew member shall not be permitted in IDBF events. (See also 7.10.1) The exceptions to this are on board communications systems that operate purely between crew members and seat cushions for individual paddlers, provided that they are made of a soft material, such as sponge or foam, which does not effectively raise the height of a seat or seats in a boat – see Regulation 13.4. The Chief Official shall decide on additional and miscellaneous equipment not specifically covered by these Competition Regulations.
Note: It is not the intention of this Regulation to exclude equipment enhancements such as, strapping to a paddle to assist grip, Velcro fasteners for seat pads (see Regulation 13.4), sponges or boat bailers, foot pads for competitors comfort or other items that are not performance enhancing or a safety risk to members of the Crew –see 13.3.
13.2 Water Pumps. The carrying of any type of pump in the boat, during a race, which is designed to clear a boat of water is prohibited.
13.3 Straps and Strapping. In the interest of crew safety no additional fixtures or fittings, such as straps to fasten a paddler into the boat or onto a seat are permitted. The Chief Official may relax this rule for physically disabled competitors, if adequate safety systems are provided to ensure that such crew members can easily be released from the boat and rescued in the event of the boat capsizing.
13.4 Seat Pads. Dragon Boat Seat Pads (cushions) as described in Regulation 13.1 shall be made of a soft material, such as neoprene, of a maximum thickness of 15mm that will compress easily when squeezed between finger and thumb. The width of the seat pad shall approximate to the width of a paddling seat in the IDBF Standard International Racing Boat (12.5 cm) and the length should ideally, not exceed 33cm. (Sep 02)

Results are posted:

http://harrisondragonfest.com/Harrison2009Results.pdf (http://harrisondragonfest.com/Harrison2009Results.pdf)

It's too bad about the weather. Going home smelling like wet dog, while scraping off chunks of sand from your eyelids and arm pits and between the toes... all while predicting it'll be a hot and sunny weekend and not bringing any rain gear whatsoever!


Congrats to all teams, for many this is the grand finale of 2009 (those who aren't going to Harrison) so I wish you the best of luck for 2010. See y'all there!

I wonder if they're going to count the time-calculated finals for the ranking. Mmm.

It's a shame that this had to happen, but after seeing the continual lightning strikes after the races were cancelled, it became clear that race management made the right decision.  This is the second festival in a row where my team and others were unable to paddle in their final race, so it was tough to swallow.

Sorry to those who could have had an opportunity to place higher than their calculated result, if their final race would have been run.  Still, it was a fun festival while the good weather lasted & we'll probably be back next year, assuming this festival continues!

anybody knew how it was used? (I mean for what purpose etc.)

It was a good call by the officials indeed, though that doesnt change the fact that having no final sucks. I need some closure :rofl:

  This song   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4L4CPfQY8   is played down the middle of the boat ,the steersperson then beatboxes to it .......it keeps us motivated ,lol :dance:


 ( didn't that motivate you too ?? , I know you watched the whole thing,didn't you ..lol... and you probably even did the running man )


 In all honesty ...it just looks cool and distracts you !

One of my team mate emailed already to ask them to look into it. Well that team in question... that would be my team, not sure if any other team got miscalculated. I was sure that we got into the A division cause it looked like our combine time was better than both riptide and how wet can you get and they both got into A heat. oh well, most likely not gonna change now since we already raced our B semi heat.


We might of called for the rain clouds to come, but i swear that whole lightning thing wasn't us! And where were things free hot dogs i keep hearing about? Side note, was it free black belt day? Seem like every one of those tae kwon do'ers were black belts!

I don't think the hot dogs were "free", but I am sure it was by donation. As for the black belt day, you were watching the Sun Hang Do Black Belt Demo team. My wife is part of that martial art (Abbotsford chapter - she is a 4th degree black belt) and keeps me in line on a regular basis. They have 9 schools located throughout the Fraser Valley and Vancouver areas (shameless plug).

I will ask them also

On behalf of Fluid Motion ~ I would like to put out a big thank you to Dragon Hearts Beat for great racing on Saturday and to everyone else that was on the water with us!  The last race is really what we all wanted and who knows what the outcome would have been!  I think that we had the closest times between our two teams - maybe that was just me thinking that as we were in a dog fight both races with you!  Wonderful racing out there!  and a big thank you to the young lady on BMO for letting me christen her with a motor boat!  ;) good times, good times!

Great racing and a HUGE thank you to WE for keeping us SAFE! 

Sure was krysee ! I was in lane 4(The EH TEAM)and I'm sure they could have pulled a skier !

ROFL! yes I watched the entire thing..and no to the running man haha

Seriously though, what was it used for? was there an earpiece attached to it? was the president's daughter on the boat?



Well that was TD Lightning's specialty haha



wow, i totally read that bit in the wrong way...until i read the post after. LOL

And on behalf of DH Beat, thank you for the great racing, Fluid Motion, and all other teams!  Every time we race together it's down to the last stroke, very exciting indeed!  Our entire team was really looking forward to having one last great race with you guys, but Mommy Nature said no :'(

Until next festival :D

I wished I could have been at Harrison, it sounds like most people had a good time, until the Storm with the Lightning came. :shock:
Hope to do it next year!

NFW, the mike has a purpose, Paddleboy just tunes everything else out while racing, hears his own tune and just imagines he is doing the running man.  :lol:

 We find it hard to hear calls in races, especially in worlds, because of all the noise from the other crews.  The mike is hooked up to speakers throughout the boat so we call hear the calls from our steers. In 2000m racing it is of upmost importance because, unlike Alcan, if you touch another crew you will be DQd, so you need to know when to back off, hold the boat, etc. 

 We use it so we can all clearly hear the calls/commands that are coming from within  .During intense close competition it can get very busy and very noisey so it helps keep the focus and allows us to all react at the same time when asked

Now I know why I should have stolen Lethal Weapon's camera. I should have taken pictures of lightning. Photographic proof would have shown that the lightning originated from TD Lightning AND not Team Storm.

(http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20090726/600_bc_wild_weather_090726.jpg)

Backward Rowing,
that's some solid evidence right there.

Thanks Fluid Motion for the great races!

Now that everyone's finally noticed that FCRCC's been using speakers, I hope it won't escalate into a 'Who has the loudest speaker' arms race. The teams are loud enough as it is without every single boats packed with boomboxes blaring offkey tunes. :lol:

Lets leave the speakers to the pros, while we try to figure out what this rotation and burying the blade business is all about.

Just hope it doesn't distract other teams during races. Its already hard enough to hear your own caller if you sit at the end of the boat. Last thing we need are paddlers following another teams race piece (paddlers should know their own race piece) and throwing everything out of sync. Good thing most team won't get messed up as fcrcc is already 8 boats length ahead.

All national level teams use these systems, it's just like a cox on a rowing team. I  raced against FCRCC in the semi right next to them and only heard the speaker as we lined up. After that I never heard it again, then again they were ahead of us ;). But seriously I did not hear them on the start or anytime during the race, mainly because my focus was on the calls in my boat where it should be :).

I like your answer.  :D

lol, now I know what goes on Paddleboy's head during races.
I think the mic/speakers are kinda cool actually haha
Is it time consuming for the set up/removal of the speakers process every race?
Now if only 'U can't touch this' can be played as victory music after the finish line HAHA!



Nice shot! Damning proof indeed LOL

Hahaha I laughed out loud, just imaged all of FCRCC mixed wearing HammerPants.

It takes a few seconds to set up and remove the speakers. They go on seats 5 and 8 I believe. They're attached by velcro onto the middle shaft between the paddlers, so those seats are responsible for setting up and removing the speakers. It doesn't take longer than the crew loading on :) sorry to barge into your conversation there  :lol:

Its all good..as long as the questions are answered  msn(u)

I think hammerpants are pushing it, those can be awfully tight for some LOL

hammerpants > manda tights

debatable

Finally!  My damn computer was out of action.  So I apologize for these late comments. 

(1) Hats off to Water's Edge for safety and running another great event
(2) Great racing by all and I want to acknowledge the starting official for doing her best with that wicked drift.
(3) For the finals a few of us were going to run out to the boat (ok 3 as the rest of the team laughed at us) and try to paddle the boat 500 m before getting sizzled by the lightening.  That way we raced the final race!  Oh Well

We would also like to acknowledge the Comp A teams for a hard fought season - every A final was fought down to the last second and we usually all finished within a second - exception was FCRCC - Team Canada that will do all of us proud in Prague!

SI Black wants to acknowledge the following teams

- Master's of the Dragon Zone, Layoam Baldies, Pacific Reach, and of course Dragon Hearts Magnum


To Magnum: Congrats on solidifying yourself as a very good Comp A Team - you worked hard and it showed in every regatta.  We raced each other at Dash, FCRCC Spring Regatta, 2009 Dragon Zone Regatta, Alcan, Whistler, and Harrison

Each time there was respect and mutual understanding it was going to be a dog fight from beginning to end.  You pushed us and hopefully we pushed you.  Damn young people!  :lol:

I'd like to as well thank those teams we've been battling all season (SIB, Masters, Pac Reach, FCRCC, Laoyam Baldies). Without u guys, we'd just be training without purpose, i cant imagine how many would have burnt out if it wasnt for those tight races we had. You guys have always pushed us harder than we thought we could achieve.

And SIB, thanks for coming over after harrison to shake hands as the dark clouds were approaching, it was a grand gesture and great sportsmanship.

Good luck to both SIB and FCRCC in Montreal Nationals! I got some friends down there that ask how dragon boating is in the west. Go out and show them!

 Thx but the only team going to montreal for the Nationals is SIB and it will be a great experience for them as there are some very very good crews back east .

 As for FCRCC , we all will be heading to Europe ( Prague) for the 2009 World Championships. Nothing else even compares to what we will be up against there , its a totally different level of racing and something I hope some of you will work hard for and get to experience in your paddling career's .It's worth all the hard training , time trials and every penny it costs to go ,very very exciting

We are getting off topic, but I need to give thanks:

 I would like to wish Diggerpig and the SI team all the best in Montreal, you will have a great time! It is a real party town and teams are friendly, last Nationals there, we went to one of the late paddlers party...I don't seem to remember much, except I had a great time.

To Dragon Hearts Magnum, great job! Please stay paddling! Look what happened with Without Warning, they lost some paddlers after having a great year.  I hope you guys will take it to the next level, decide to race at the national, and international level, you have the youth and the talent to just keep getting better. The sky is the limit.

I would also like to thank all the teams for letting their paddlers race with FCRCC over the years. Our team is made out of primarily west coast Dragon Boaters, not outrigger paddlers, not flat water paddlers, not eastern paddlers, but you guys.  I would like to thank the local Dragon Boat community, including coaches, race organizers, team managers, and volunteers, for doing such a great job.  FCRCC would not be strong without the local community.

*breaks out the tissue box and puts it in the virtual table* :rofl: jk

Man..reading all these comments gives me the 'feel good' goosebumps lol


LOL, funny thing is, a bunch of us was thinking of doing the exact same thing! HAHA!
In any case, It was a class act coming over to our tent!
It's always fun times racing with you guys. Good luck at Montreal and represent the West well!


Just reading it makes me wanna go haha, one day I hope I get a taste of that. Good luck in Prague, show them that Canada doesnt just dominates them on the ice, we own DB! :rofl:


Words to live by! Hopefully our core can stay together in the next few years to go to Nationals, etc.  msn(u)

 Thx ............ I'll be wearin my " Hammer pants "   :mrgreen:  

 Hmmmm...I'm thinkin Amanda probably already has her's laid out  


 here's what its like ...the premier men's 500 meter video from Australia
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8MJUmT6jFQ&fmt=18

Intense video!

So the hammer pants is the lucky charm eh haha

Amanda prolly wears her 24/7 lol jk

I was pretty much born when that song came out! but shh... nobody's supposed to know my secret life. Bring me my Brown Hammerpants!

Holy sheist my heart beat faster after watching that race.

Major props to the Worlds' steerspeople. They don't let this happen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRhbl8PSMSQ which I still find incredibly intense.


I'm thinking the day before I leave for Toronto (this week) I might wear my Brown Pants uniform to practice.