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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[BernMan]

Perhaps you have proved your point that a photo taken at a different angle will reflect a different result.  However, posting this photo does not assist in anyway to solving the root of the problem - the lack of finish line photos/recordings.  This photo is also not a finish line photo.  It only adds to the argument that the race organizers should be the ones responsible and accountable for providing accurate results.

Agreed here too! Wow I am starting to get a tear in my eye fellas! Good way to share our beliefs I tell ya!

[Ronnie]

hmmm, I think I will unregister. I find the negative comments such as above about the Richmond race just plain silly and childish, and think that perhaps these people need to refocus and breathe for a second or two. This is only a sport, we should always expect to win some and lose some!

Some of us believe that the comptetion [sic] is exciting, but above all this sport is dedicated to Breast Cancer Survivors and the message that the ladies are trying to get across to us....which is about SURVIVING AND REMAINING POSITIVE DEPITE [sic] ALL ADVERSITY. Enough said, and I'm outta here, I enjoy the sport too much to be brought down by this place! Ciao! 8)

Perhaps some of the comments are childish and silly.  However, there are some very legitimate concerns being raised on this forum.  That's what you should take away with you if you are going to leave the forum.

We are aware that this is a sport and we have all won and lost some.  It is not the winning or losing that is the problem here.  It is the lack of organization and accountability of the race officials.

FYI, dragon boating is an ancient Chinese sport, it did not grow out of North America in the past few years.  To say that the sport is dedicated to Breast Cancer Survivors may be a bit misleading.  The fact that the sport has been a positive for breast cancer survivors, transplant survivors, blind paddlers, etc. is what makes dragon boating a great community sport.  My hope is that the sport will grow through fair and just racing.

[Colossus]

Perhaps you have proved your point that a photo taken at a different angle will reflect a different result.  However, posting this photo does not assist in anyway to solving the root of the problem - the lack of finish line photos/recordings.  This photo is also not a finish line photo.  It only adds to the argument that the race organizers should be the ones responsible and accountable for providing accurate results.

Agreed here too! Wow I am starting to get a tear in my eye fellas! Good way to share our beliefs I tell ya!

somebody is following me around the forum....   lol!

[tiger]

This photo was taken by someone standing right next to the right side of the finish line tent.

Since we can't see the other buoy then it is hard to judge anything with this picture.  It is rather funny how the other picture posted earlier has lane 1 and 2 very close to the orange buoy and lane 3 & 4 have quite a ways to get to that outside buoy.  In the most recent shot posted, 3 and 4 have passed the buoy and lane 1 and 2 have not even come close.  If I did not know any better there looks to be be some doctoring of pictures somewhere since the distance is not great for the differences in the 2 pictures (I feel another poll coming on   ).  Or Lane 1 and 2 are well past the other buoy already so they may have been well past the finish line where as lanes 3 and 4 just crossed.

Nothing proven with this pic either, ah to have an official finish line photo  

[Colossus]

looks like the buoy is sitting right in front of the strokes for boat 3 (IN the boat)

[Backward Rowing]

If anyone cares, this is a partial of what i sent to go row and paddle organization:

hi there,

there is some controversy over the blue final race at the 2005 richmond dragon boat festival.

it all stems from the race package.  in the maps provided, you show the bouys as the finish lines in map one, which would be difficult as they change locations over the time of the races.  in map three, you show the finish line as over the park bench (where the officials tent is located), but no line of sight to the other side.

furthermore, there was no photofinish equipment and the time differences between boats of the same heat seemed very questionable.

the maps i am referring to are found at the race day package:
http://www.gorowandpaddle.org/programs_events/richmond_festival.php?id=4&press=1&draw_column=3:3:2

also, the park bench (south side) does not exactly line up with the wood pilings (north side).  unless go foundation clarifies what they used as a finish line, all this is academic.

i would have to say that the last few races of the day were pretty tight (regardless of the posted times). job well done to those crews.

having added fuel to the fire, i also want to finish off by writing that i liked the organization of the event.  as a fun fest, i had a great time. participants were friendly, the volunteers nice.  my crew paddled together for the first time in the first race that morning, and they sure paddled their guts out.    AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, there were only two ambulance calls during the event AND there was beer still flowing after the last race.
overall, a pleasant experience.

[Dee]

The race is over. The results are in. The winner has been declared. Stop whining and move on. There is no conspiracy here!!! The judges did their level best. Have you heard yourself?!?! Do you know what you sound like?!?! Let me take the time to educate all of the

cry babies

out there on the meaning of "sportsmanship". Merriam Webster defines sportsmanship as:  conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport. All of you whiners out there would do well to internalize this meaning. Sour grapes and complaining won't win races. Hard work, determination and commitment do! You shame yourself and look like sore losers when you bemoan the judges rulings. Show some dignity for christ sakes!!! Next time try harder and stop b****ing!!!

[Steamrollers Moaner]

*sigh*  another poster that doesn't understand the situation... and you probably just signed up on this forum for this one post.

Majority of the posters here ARE NOT being unsportsmanlike, nor bitching or wanting to overturn the results from Saturday afternoon (if only you know some of the goofs here on this forum... things might be a bit different   ).  We are just merely asking for fairness in judging/offciating a race!   Yes, hard work, determination and commitment do win races.   But when you have 3 pairs of human eyes judging the race from different angles, it doesn't give a lot of credibility to the final results.  And no matter how hard you train, or how determined and committed your team is to racing, winning might fall short if luck is not on your side when you lend yourself to this type of crude judging.

[DBWTim]

I've merged all the threads relating to Richmond into one thread since it's apparent that you guys still think the dead horse hasn't been beaten enough yet...

[BernMan]

The race is over. The results are in. The winner has been declared. Stop whining and move on. There is no conspiracy here!!! The judges did their level best. Have you heard yourself?!?! Do you know what you sound like?!?! Let me take the time to educate all of the

cry babies

out there on the meaning of "sportsmanship". Merriam Webster defines sportsmanship as:  conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport. All of you whiners out there would do well to internalize this meaning. Sour grapes and complaining won't win races. Hard work, determination and commitment do! You shame yourself and look like sore losers when you bemoan the judges rulings. Show some dignity for christ sakes!!! Next time try harder and stop b****ing!!!

Are you really this condescending in person Dee? I would tend to agree with Steamrollers that maybe you just signed up just so you can say what you did and probably never come back again. I would like to think that you are not an arrogant condenscending person because if you are then gosh I hope you don't come back here no more. Not if you are going to be saying stuff like that! FFS!

Dee and all you islanders out there. Why don't you please open your eyes and minds and read what the guts of this is all about? Its about proper race management and proper finish line documenting. We don't give a rats ass who won so long as it was legitimate! So long as the proper teams were awarded their due kudos and medals. All the beautiful accolades. Need I say more?

[Ronnie]

Ditto to Steamrollers Moaner's last post.

You are missing the point if you think we are just bitching and being sore losers.  I personally have experienced being dead last in a race.  That doesn't bother me.  When that happens, I work harder, get my teammates to work harder, so that we would improve in the next race/festival.  

I am guessing that some of the ill feelings on this thread can be avoided if you realize that this is not a thread about Lower Mainland teams vs. Victoria teams.  Daring us to come over to the Island to rematch will not solve the problem.

We are not questioning the calibre of the Victoria teams.  We are cognizant of the fact that some of the best teams in Canada train out of Victoria and surrounding area.  We are simply asking for officiating that is accountable to make this sport fair and just, so our hard work won't go to waste.  In the end, all paddlers will benefit if positive changes are made.

[grifter]

[Continuning to beat the dead horse]  
Medals are cool (but after a few days of collecting dust, does anyone look at them again?), prizes and purses are almost non-existent for db racing anyway....so all that is left is the racing.  It was mentioned earlier but I think the point got lost.  If we don't have proper officiating, then all we might as well just hold races with other teams during our practices.  We'd save a few hundred bucks in registration fees, have beers at a nearby pub, and more likely than not, be more gracious to our fellow teams that we raced against.  Please also note that most of the people being described as crybabies, whiners and such, are not even necessarily on the teams that raced in the final.  It is just that they feel that there should be some effort by the organization holding the event to justify the fees paid by all the teams.
[/Continuning to beat the dead horse]

[paddleho]

The photo most recently posted (with only one buoy showing) is pretty much the view I had. (I got myself into a position as close as possible to what the timers would see.) The photo shows what I saw, which is that it was a good close race, and Extreme Reach won it by a seat or two. The buoy closest to the dock side would be to the left of the shot - it was 'way short of the true finish line and the far buoy was past the finish line. (Comments about drift and current and logic and physics have assumed that the buoys ever started out lined up with the timer's line. Maybe they were never that close.)

I completely agree with a requirement for accountability by officials. there wasn't enough of that in Richmond, but that's in the past and I hope future events are an improvement. The results may not have been precise to 1/100 of a second, but they were accurate. Congratulations everyone.

[chilipepper]

Possibly as a final weigh-in on this topic, I think the notion that teams will not compete in events run by a certain organizing group based on controversy is ludicrous and indicative only of sour grapes.  Can anybody honestly recall ANY festival that has been completely devoid of controversy of one type or another?  Has anybody seen the finish line photos from Kelowna last year, which I remember was extremely contentious?  I know I asked for those photos.  That was a Water's Edge event.  Alcan has, every year, whining and moaning about the swirling current and the advantages and disadvantages of certain lanes.  Victoria last year had allegations of wash riding all over the place.  The list goes on and on.  So maybe we should all just boycott every festival based on the potential that there may be some controversy, or that we may not win a disagreement with the organizing group.  Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't, but this is true of anything.  I have been racing DB for five years now and it is rare that SOMETHING doesn't go wrong SOMETIME during a festival whether it concerns your team or not.   No matter how wonderful an event was, there is always at least one thing that culd have been better, but the event on the whole was well run and generally satisfactory.  This is the case with Richmond.  From my point of view it all depended on where the finish line was in determining who won.  And for the record, I saw the finish line tent early in the day, and they did, in fact, have video equipment there.  I also saw a member of Lil Boat yelling at the finish line guy after the race when the video gear had already been taken down.  That leads me to believe that there was video of the finish, but that the finish guy was confident enough in his decision to weather the storm of criticism.  At any rate, making a decision to boycott a particular organizing group based on some controversy is ridiculous.

[paddleho]

Indeed.

We have to remember this isn't exactly Olympic-calibre competition here - oh and by the way there is controversial officiating and bitter disappointment at that level too.