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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[zephyrantes]

I enjoyed the entire weekend.  

Too bad the "brain" behind the organization of the guts and glory reminded me too much of a Dilbert comic strip.      

It really doesn't help when everyone hears the DJ saying that we'll be going clockwise, and then shortly after, we're told that we're going COUNTER clockwise.   Seriously.. come on... especially after having to do a RESTART due to POOR communications.   Especially after some teams had done at least 500-1000m of the race.   If given the chance, I do have some choice words to say to whoever was in charge of that one (and I think that those who know me enough, know that I'm serious).   That was not professional in any/way/shape/form.

Otherwise, I have to say that everything went really well, despite the downpour and the aquabus incident near the end.   Very impressed.

[baoser]

Alcan was great! I had a blast. Organization on the water was superb! Great job hosting a festival for 100,000 people or so, and much dibs to Starbucks, Old Dutch, Sun Screen people, and Sunrise Tofu for having the best samples of the festival.


Two things to mention:

First, what is the point of Dragon Dollars? I find that they stifle the free market and make it a hassle for people to get food. What's wrong with letting the vendors take care of their own cash flow?

Second, what is up with no speakers near finish line? It's almost unbelievable that they would spend so much money and energy to get people to come out and then not provide speakers at such a central location where a majority of pepole are watching (speakers were near the announcer in the yellow tent and near the Starbucks Van, but nothing in betweend). A lot of people come to watch their friends... and to have a good communication system compromised by a lack of speakers is a waste of resources.

Otherwise, great job Alcan peeps. Looking forward to 2006 already!

[Sun]

2 questions:

what is the guts and glory race? sounds like dragonboat derby...

what is the difference between comp and rec? is that like corporate and community teams?

guts and glory is a 2000m race on a 500m "track".  start on one side of a rectangle (three buoys on each side of the 500m), run counter clockwise there, back, there, and back to finish in the fastest time possible.  18 boats at 10 second start intervals this year.  you have to turn around the 3 buoys as fast as possible (maybe 25-50m from one end to the next??).  VERY cool to watch!


rec is recreational, for those that are there for the fun of paddling, not too into it.  sort of a once or twice a week type deal.
comp is WAY more competative (where "comp" comes from), turning out much faster times and practicing multiple times/wk.

nice! i did my first 2000m earlier on this year and it's like auto racing, gotta find the fastest line going into the corner and passing on the inside.

ok we dont have comp/rec here in the east. we just clump everyone together and that's why there is W division. there used to be corporate and community at the island, but this year we all race against each other.

anyway, alcan sounds awesome!

[Photog]

First, what is the point of Dragon Dollars? I find that they stifle the free market and make it a hassle for people to get food. What's wrong with letting the vendors take care of their own cash flow?

i am guessing it is so Alcan can track how much money is spent at the festival, or so Alcan can get a cut of it.

[BlueStreak]

what is the difference between comp and rec? is that like corporate and community teams?

rec is recreational, for those that are there for the fun of paddling, not too into it.  sort of a once or twice a week type deal.
comp is WAY more competative (where "comp" comes from), turning out much faster times and practicing multiple times/wk.

ermm.. I think that is a little misleading as it implies that teams themselves choose to race in either comp or rec.

All adult mixed teams start out in one large division. After the first two Saturday races, the teams are ranked. The top 27 teams go into the comp division, the next 27 teams go to Rec A, the next 27 to Rec B, and so on... The difference from this point on is that the Rec divisions are then further divided into championship final (medal), consolation and tail final races, whereas the comp division is divided into Comp A, B & C championships. All of the Comp finals are medal races.

[Rossifumi]

you're both right really.

These days most people generally label a team rec or comp. to reflect how seriously they approach their training.  If your team runs A/B squads with timetrials, cuts etc, well generally you only see that on competitive teams anyways.

You also see certain things done on some (not all) competitive teams, like parachuting in paddlers at the last minute, or sandbagging a qualifier to get the lane you want for the championship final.  Last year I think they went with random lane assignments to cut that out.  I don't think they did this year though did they?

[tiger]

Looking at the schedule the lanes were preset this year.  Not sure it was better or not but based on the finals (Sunday afternoon) the lanes that placed well were all over the place (and not necessarily the middle lanes).

[Guido]

You also see certain things done on some (not all) competitive teams, like parachuting in paddlers at the last minute, or sandbagging a qualifier to get the lane you want for the championship final.  

LOL...this kills me when I see people talk this way...it's called RECRUITING.  It's called knowing individuals that have the talent in knowing how to move a boat in the best skilled manner.  If these other (so called) competitive teams spent more time on the water in smaller boats and in the gym they too could be in the same class as these teams that can recruit and put together a team of talented individuals at the last minute(ie the Bald Eagles).

And I don't believe any of the competitive teams have ever sandbagged a race in the last 10 years or so to get a lane they want.....it's pride man....why would a comp team want to risk it....I've only seen sandbagging at the lower levels.....where it's easier to do.  I'm sure some know what I'm talking about.

Other than calling teams to pre-marshall HOURS ahead of time.....and the starter NOT being aggressive enough (ie asking them for another stroke over and over again) with some of the heats I'd say it was decently run.

[soaker]

Best run festival ever.  Everything on time, marshalling and race starts great, dock personnel great, race times dispatched quickly - technically excellent festival.

I agree about the danger of Guts and Glory.  I had a great time this year and last year, but you just know that unless the event is directed more effectively and some issues get looked at (like Gemini's being set up as hurdles for 6/16s), things are going to end badly.   Slow teams in front in Geminis!  Talk about incentive to make Comp A.

On the subject of Dragon dollars, they should be refundable to paddlers.  If they were, I would fill my pockets on Friday night and fill my belly all weekend without going through frustration and resentment over the present ordeal of staying nourished.

ATMs breakdown, dragon dollar sales people go on breaks and cause long lines, causing a frustrating challenge between races and whatnot.  Having to buy dragon dollars to buy a beer ticket to buy a beer was enough to make me drink somewhere else.

Could there be refundable PADDLERS DOLLARS, in recognition that we have all worked hard, paid good money, often travelled at considerable expense and generally committed substantial parts of our lives to getting a team to ALCAN so there can be a festival?  One kiosk, in paddlers village, and you need to show your registration card to buy and use them and to refund leftover on Sunday afternoon.  I know that if my DD were refundable I would have bought much more at the festival.

I guess I should write this to adbf, but I have a feeling they'll see it.  Any thoughts?

[StraightLine]

Other than calling teams to pre-marshall HOURS ahead of time.....and the starter NOT being aggressive enough (ie asking them for another stroke over and over again) with some of the heats I'd say it was decently run.

Pre-marshalling hours ahead of schedule??? I was keeping a pretty close track of when teams were being called to premarshalling and for the most part it was 40-50 minutes before the scheduled race time which I think is pretty reasonable.  Do you have specific examples of excessive lead times Guido?

As for the starter, I would have to agree for some of the races.  The men's consolation and final races on Sunday were experiencing some significant drifting due to the fast current that was generated by the incoming tide.  The starter was taking forever trying to line up the boats at the start line and ended up waving off the men's consolation (after having the boats back down off the line a couple of times) and the men's final started at least two boat lengths past the start line.  At that point, how can the starter even tell if the boats are in a straight line?  It should have been called as a running start and the boats that were screwing around by taking it easy approaching the line would have started behind the rest of the heat.

StraightLine.

[DuckMan]

Specific example? That would be saturday afternoon when they started marshalling heats 30-35 about and 1 1/2 before the scheduled time. We were still out for lunch when they marshalled our team, after scrambling we get to the pre-marshall area , without our steersperson no less, and they tell us to Go Away, come back 20 mins before the original scheduled  time...

Apparently their batteries had died in some of the radios so communication broke down.

[grifter]

The starter was taking forever trying to line up the boats at the start line and ended up waving off the men's consolation (after having the boats back down off the line a couple of times)

The men's consolation was brutal.  First there was a mishap with the staging buoys (I think an aquabus caught one of them, not sure though), then the misstarts....but to top it all off, they decide to run the Men's Championship first and that stupid 'Abitibi' cruise boat has to do a u-turn in the middle of the race course.  We baked out there for 45 minutes.  Why that boat was even allowed in past the Cambie bridge is beyond me...Stupid .  It was the only real rough spot in the festival.

[StraightLine]

....but to top it all off, they decide to run the Men's Championship first and that stupid 'Abitibi' cruise boat has to do a u-turn in the middle of the race course.  We baked out there for 45 minutes.  Why that boat was even allowed in past the Cambie bridge is beyond me...Stupid .  It was the only real rough spot in the festival.

In all fairness to the race organizers, they probably don't have any options when it comes to allowing the Aquabuses and vessels like Abitibi passage through the race course.  It's either let them through your race course or find a new venue.

StraightLine.

[Lethal Weapon]

Overall I though it was a pretty well run festival.
There were a few glitches and a few waits and delays but the Marshalling group kept everything moving pretty smoothly (even with Carie doing it...)
Results for the most part were up quick and schedules were posted in advance as well. and the paddlers party was a nice touch
(no charge and a free beer!)(Plus Awesome Vera burgers!)

Things to fix next year... .....(not all race related)
Keep the beer tent open a little later so the guts and glory competitors can have a frigging beer.
Maybe have the entertainment a bit earlier (Chiliwhack band members are getting too old to stay up that late.. )
More speakers in racers village
Letting people know where there tents are beforehand (nothing like lugging a cooler for 20 minutes)
Photog was rigth about maybe some bleachers at the finish so spectators can watch
Get someone who knows a little more about dragonboat racing to announce besides the 2 yokels that are there every year.
And of course the Guts and glory format should be changed. 10 seconds is maybe a bit too close together. And giving the faster teams faster boats isn't that great an idea either if you want to even the playing field so it could be more excitng in terms of times.

Aside from that. Great job Waters Edge! looking forward to next year as well!

[paddleboy]

My only complaint would be the paddler party afterwards...........compared to other years it was really lame . It was like a last minute throw together and the price of booze was crazy.Did you see the size of the $6 wine glass. ...........It was a mini glass (almost shooter size) and $5 a beer for draft ...get serious .

 In future I would like to see a better party to go to .Last yr was way better and the year before that was awesome . It seems to be going downhill every yr .