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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[Angus]

Retrofit the geminis?
Won't that reduce the local teams' chances of winning at Alcan?

I still remember the shocked expressions from visiting teams when then hopped into a Gem for the first time   ...not to mention how badly some of them floundered when they tried to paddle the stupid things!
At least the local teams knew what to expect and have had the opportunity to practice on them... which gives us an unfair advantage... but I'll take it!

[paddleboy]

We talked about this last nite and it  would be to big /costly  an undertaking to make it worth while .You would have to replace the top section , you can't just remove the seats as they are moulded into the top half . You could cut the bottom of the seats to give a bit more leg room but thats about it ......... too bad

[tiger]

So some discussed last night, I gather this was amongst your team?  Do you have boat builders (on your team) who would be knowledgeable in making the assessment that it would be too costly?  Did your team come up with other ideas (sinking is an option but that would be costly also)?  What is too costly?

Here is my idea...I'll contact the builder, Gemini, to see what a new insert would be (of course the 10 seater version)?  I'll start up a website called www.saveourlegsandbacks.com where I will accept donations (through PayPal).  I'll buy the new inserts from Gemini,and donate the inserts to the festival, FCRCC and Victoria (get a tax receipt for charity purposes).   The old inserts (the 11 seaters) I put on Ebay and auction off to the Europeans who have to sit in 12 seaters now and then everyone will be happy.  We get seats that will still be too close compared to the longer 6/16s but at least we will get 2.5 inches more (and every inch counts now doesn't it   ).

So would you donate $10-$20 for something like this?

I think I'll go work on a business plan for this over a coffee.

[paddleboy]

Hmmmm...........you obviously don't know what I do for a living. I write damage appraisals  for cars,boats,motorhomes,motorcycles ,semi's ,heavy equipment ,you name I do estimates on them to fix,change,repair,replace ,whatever .

 Anyway back onto the topic . Ok lets say we can purchase the upper halves .......great now the problem is how to get them here from europe ....hmmm I assume the transportation from europe to Vancouver will be cheap ....yeah right .We just shipped a 80 lb small container to europe w/ some mountain climbing gear and the cheapest rate was $835 dollars canadian .Ok now how many tops do we need and how big are they ?? Ok ....now we got them here lets find someone to replace the tops ,what do you think that would cost ?? Whats a good shop rate now a days in a boat building shop ?? I bet most are well over $50/hr . So now consider how many hours it would take to change the tops .

 I bet your into each boat for over $5000 by the time the new tops are finally installed .You have the parts,duty,taxes,shipping and the labour to change them .I doubt they will be retro-fitted unless we get 1 hell of a deal and shipping is free and we can find someone to do it at a very good price . Best bet would be to sell them and recover some of the cost and buy better boats with the difference it would cost to retro-fit them . The problem would be selling them since thats already been tried on the island and w/o success

[tiger]

I an see someone has very little sense of humour.  Some people are a little too serious about things.

So just to clarify the rumour (since I heard the same), the retrofit idea came from Victoria.  The G boats are owned by the fellow who has been involved in making OCs and kayaks (aka CurrentDesigns).  I would think he would have a good idea about costs etc so if he says he can do it then great.  I don't think he will put a lot a money or time into them if he did not think it was doable.

[Lethal Weapon]

Enought already!!!!!
I say put  the "Kai" team in the boats
Make it a 250 meter sprint (in Whiterock!)
Hope for some Wave action and then we can have it sink naturally when it swamps!
No fuss no Muss!
Doesn't anyone remember the NY races last year......

[paddleboy]

  Sorry..........you know how the "G" work affects me  

 Yes ,he could do it in house .He would have to make a new mould and design the seat placement the way he felt it should have been done and then he could sell them to all the other poor people that own them and make his money back and maybe even a profit off it or even a new sideline business "GEMINI'S -POOR-US " (say it like toy-r-us) your retro-fit specialist !!

[Guido]

excuse me....that's ......Toys"R"US.....and it was just sold for $6.6 billion US......Thanks for the idea Paddle"boy"......I think I will call Brian on the island and see if he wants to start up Geminis "R" Us and see if wants to incorporate it!!!!!!......Then we sell it....by then it should be worth...$13.0 billion US!

Really folks....what's all the fuss about paddling in a Gemini?  If people only knew how to paddle in them....and knew how a boat works on water....then we wouldn't have a problem.  It's obvious a lot of paddlers are spoiled here in Vancouver with the 6/16's.  Many have never paddled in any other kind of dragonboat, and there certainly are many shapes and sizes out there.  It's such a shame.  I feel for you all.....

[LARDCore]

that LARD crash in long beach a few years ago was very fun. wasabi was either trying to ride our wake or had an inexperienced tiller.... i was in that damn boat - talking about slow motion.... we have video of it and some of our paddlers were still paddling as the boat went into "ski mode".  wasabi was VERY cool about it though, they profusely apologized and got us a few cases of beer.  feel free to slam into us again....

i wasn't at the portland tournament when the pink phoenix steerer lost control of our boat, but i heard it was pretty crazy - just a few meters from the finish....

sorry for replying to such an old post, but had to try and set the record straight since i'm one of the only paddlers from LARD that is on this site.

[Colossus]

I've heard discussion recently about the geminis being retrofited with one less seat.  is one seat just getting taken out, or are they removing a seat and putting a bit more space in between the rest?

[BlueStreak]

FYI, see http://www.dragonboatwest.net/forum/index.php?topic=2149.0 for some past discussion on this topic. 

Although I'm not in any position to know about any supposed refitting, I don't think just taking a seat out of gemini is a practical possibility. For one thing, everyone would be still be just as crammed (with the exception of the drummer, coach and/or steersperson), so there's no realy point in doing that. As mentioned in the past thread, it could be possible to take off the top molding of a gemini and replace it with the top molding of a 10 seater model.... but that would cost a lot of money.

[tiger]

All I can say about a retrofit, waste of money regardless if they move the seats.  Once a Gemini always a Gemini.

 

[Colossus]

FYI, see http://www.dragonboatwest.net/forum/index.php?topic=2149.0 for some past discussion on this topic. 

Although I'm not in any position to know about any supposed refitting, I don't think just taking a seat out of gemini is a practical possibility. For one thing, everyone would be still be just as crammed (with the exception of the drummer, coach and/or steersperson), so there's no realy point in doing that. As mentioned in the past thread, it could be possible to take off the top molding of a gemini and replace it with the top molding of a 10 seater model.... but that would cost a lot of money.

thats why i was putting forward the question, cause i wasn't sure which they were doing.  i heard talk about fibre glass work, but i was on my way out with a marathon canoe so i didn't hear everything. 

Once a Gemini always a Gemini

BUK and gemini share hull design, the difference is the seating inlay.

[tiger]

And the first time a seat falls apart or something goes wrong in the retrofitted Gemini, what will be the first thing out of a person's mouth?  F__king Gemini why did they waste their money on these things.  Once a Gemini always a Gemini regardless of what they do to one.

My 4 cents worth.

[Colossus]

And the first time a seat falls apart or something goes wrong in the retrofitted Gemini, what will be the first thing out of a person's mouth?  F__king Gemini why did they waste their money on these things.  Once a Gemini always a Gemini regardless of what they do to one.

My 4 cents worth.

  point taken, but we're already saying that about the Gems