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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[magicpaddler]

Well while all you guys were obviously going through some pain in Harrison some of us were in Vernon at their 2nd annual festival.

Comments from that festival have been nothing but praise except for the smokin 38 degrees.  Races were on time, there were no collisions (even in the 1000m race with the turn in the middle).  The starts were perfect.  The water skier challange was way too much fun. All in all it was one of the better run festivals I have been at in the past 9 years.

And oh yeah I almost forgot.  Pac Reach didn't post the fastest time in the 1st run of 200m heats.

[luigi]

Vernon was GREAT this past weekend.  Festivalwise, it was kinda like a smaller version of Kelowna.  Phenomenal venue, good racing, and a great atmosphere.  The other thing that was a refreshing surprise was to see how all of the people in Vernon (at least the ones I ran into) went out of their way to show us their hospitality.  The folks at our hotel and at the stores across the street went above and beyond the call of duty to make our stay pleasant and enjoyable.  The only bad thing that happened this weekend was forgetting to put sandals on before walking on the beach - sand gets VERY hot!!!

All in all a great festival that will only get better.

[DBWTim]

This was a rather small festival that was run off the beach into Kal Lake in Coldstream (close to Vernon). When I mean small, I really do mean small. There were 12 Mixed teams and 12 Women's teams registered for the event (In the end two mixed and one women's didn't show up, leaving a field of 10 and 11).

Dynasty boats were used for the event and if you've never seen them before, just imagine them to be something similar to a 10 seat marathon canoe if there ever was such a thing. Stability-wise, I would place them as less stable than the Geminis & BuK's and well behind the 6-16s. You definately can't steer them like you would a 6-16 since they react in a very negative way if you do. Some of the steerspeople were "green" with some even never having steered before. The organizers had spare qualified steerspeople for those teams that needed them.

Loading of the boats was done straight off the beach without any docks. Considering the weather, this was a great idea since the paddlers can cool off in the water as they loaded for their races. Marshalling was well performed and the only time they were behind schedule was the first couple of races.

Beer garden was good, although I did not spend much time in it. Since Budweiser was a sponsor of the event, you had your choice of Budweiser, Bud Light and some kind of cider. They had a stage with live performances throughout the day.

I'm guessing since Vernon's a small town, the dragon boat races are a big thing since there were at least two television camera crews during the weekend and several newspaper reporters.

And here are the semi-official results from Vernon...

Mixed - A Championship
1 Pacific Reach - 2:01.330
2 Crew Yahoo - 2:06.740
3 Extreme Currents - 2:06.910
4 Dragonize - 2:23.070

No big surprise here. Pac Reach came out on top with a clear victory. Biggest story here is the tight tight race between Crew Yahoo from Calgary and Extreme Currents from Kamloops (I think?).

Mixed - B Championship
1 Team Sun-Rype - 100% Juiced - 2:18.640
2 Hot Knots - 2:21.070
3 Scotia Spitfires - 2:23.820
4 LIFT WHAT'S DRAGGIN - 2:25.620

Womens - A Championship
1 Extreme Curves - 2:21.320
2 Just Add Water - 2:26.000
3 Twist & Shout - 2:28.130
4 Dragon in the Drink - 3:06.220

Womens - B Championship
1 GoodLife Vernon Vixens - 2:35.380
2 Bust'N Loose - 2:39.180
3 Sistership Spirit - 2:41.720
4 Buoyant Buddies - 2:45.590

Breast Cancer Cup
1 Bust'N Loose - 2:33.150
2 Buoyant Buddies - 2:37.320
3 Sistership Spirit - 2:41.860
4 Pink Piston Paddllers - 2:51.270
5 Abreast In A Boat - 3:32.120

1000 Meter Adrenaline Rush
Heat 1
1 Extreme Curves - 5:04.250
2 Scotia Spitfires - 5:23.940
3 Bust'N Loose - 5:38.260
4 Gung Haggis Fat Choy - 6:14.830
5 Dragon Riders - 6:18.830

Heat 2
1 Pacific Reach - 4:31.540
2 Extreme Currents - 4:46.590
3 Crew Yahoo - 5:12.270
4 Hot Knots - 5:24.960
5 Dragonize - 5:31.920

For the water skiing challenge, Extreme Currents won the event when their skier was able to pop himself up in the skiing position for about 7 seconds and then was pulled for another minute. Pacific Reach, the favorite for the event wasn't able to get their skier into position

There were also draw prizes for the teams that attended...
- 2007 Vernon Dragon Boat Festival entry
- 2007 Calgary Dragon Boat Festival entry
- 6 hour Water's Edge paddle clinic
- White water rafting trip
Pacific Reach won the rafting trip, but I can't seem to recall the rest of the winners.

All in all, the event went off without any major hitches and I can see this event growing bigger next year. I agree with luigi in that we can consider Vernon as a mini-Kelowna. Congratulations to all the teams that attended the festival.

[Secret Weapon]

From what I've been told this is the next up and coming festival, but how many teams can this venue hold?  Kudos to Waters Edge and the Calgary Dragonboat Club for a superbly run festival.

Also it should be noted that team Sun Rype and Crew Yahoo also pulled their water skier quite a distance, though they never got up.  Pac Reach did get their skier up for about 10 seconds though his butt hit the water halfway through thus stopping and restarting the clock.  Skiers were not provided at this event so if you didn't have a light experienced one you were S.O.L.  I'm not sure how each skier compared to the others.  A great event to add to the festival.  I believe it was sponsored by Bud light though I don't think the winning team got any.

[stine]

the extreme currents/curves are from Kamloops..and while it may seem like there was no collisions, during the 500m Womens A Final, one of the other boats hit the back of us..not so much fun in those boats, but it was a good race anyhow.. no hard feelings, that's for sure 

[luigi]

The Red Bull Girls in Vernon.   8)