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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[paddleBOT]

Wake - The wake of a vessel is the disturbed water and waves around and behind the vessel that are set in motion by its passage.

Wash - Wash is the broken or churned water left behind a boat as it moves along and includes the water thrown aft by the propeller (i.e. propeller wash).

Both types are inevitable in dragon boat racing where the lanes are very close and you have good/bad steersperson.  If your team is relatively good, and you have a good steersperson, you can ride the wash of a leading team.  If your steersperson sucks and your team is weak, then you end up eating wake.  Every team has ridden wash to a certain degree, without knowing they're actually doing it.

[Guido]

Mo... (sorry this one may be lengthy) if I may make note of the following two rules taken from page 9 of the 2003 Official Rules and Regulations of the Alcan Dragonboat Festival book....

8.1.6 It is forbidden for a crew to "wake ride", that is, to gain an advantage from the wake of another boat by paddling across the angle its bow wave and gaining an increase in speed by riding the forward face of the wave. The referee following the boat shall decide if wake riding is taking place, signifying a foul and calling the offending crew.
8.1.7 When one boat is in a position to overtake another boat during a race, it is the duty of the boat overtaking to keep clear of the boat being overtaken at all times; similarly, the boat being overtaken must not alter course to make difficulties for the overtaking boat or boats.

I do believe they will call this more often at the higher level.  Very very experienced flatwater paddlers are able to do this very well.  A team must know when they are wake riding and thus must reduce their power output  At a very precise moment  the drummer and steersperson must  call a power series so their boat may explode to the finish line.  It was rumoured or shall I say the FCRCC team from 1998 accused  the reprensenting team from Toronto that came out to challenge from the east for the right to represent Canada at the CCWC in Nottingham that year of wake riding. It was never called.

Just going off topic for a second.  I do get a lot of questions about paddles....and what you can do to your own paddle....here is the rule....

4.1.4 Paddles. Competitors in CIDBF Championships shall be permitted to use their own paddles provided that they conform to the IDBF PS202 Racing Paddle specification (carbon fiber paddles will be allowed). Competitors found to be using paddles that do not conform to the published ‘paddle’ regulations will be warned accordingly and if the warning is ignored they face disqualification.
4.1.5 Paddlers are not permitted to alter the supplied paddles in any way, including -- but not limited to -- applying sticky or waxy substances to the shaft, roughening, or taping the hand gripping surfaces. Friction tape and wax may be used on your own personal paddles only.

[DBWTim]

So we're teaching people how to cheat now eh? You know.. I'm slightly confused... the rules says that it's forbidden to ride "wake" but in moturismo's diagram the wake is the disturbed water behind the boat. So does that mean technically we are allowed to ride "wash"?  

Has any team actually been called for wash/wake riding though? If so, what happens? I'm guessing a time penalty? I don't see them throwing the book at them and DQing the team since it's so subjective to the referee following the boats and it's probably more of a headache to the festival if they do.