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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[paddleho]

Island teams take note: If you don't go to Alcan....you don't count!

Alcan's huge and teams come from all over western Canada and US - so ya, it's a great indicator of where a team stands in a big arena. But is it the only festival that counts? Is it the only festival teams take their best crews to? Is it the only festival teams gear their training program to peak for? Of course not. The only people who think so are on teams that do Alcan, maybe a few small LML fun festivals, and nothing else. (Fortunately most race organizers look a little further than Alcan when they're setting the grid.) A lot of Vancouver residents are Van-centric. That's the way it is, that's the way it's always been, and it's not only in the paddling world. ARMY, leave these poor souls to their delusions, would ya?  
 
Kelowna is HUGE fun whether you're there to win, or to party, or to see how far you can push one without jeopardizing the other! Have a great time everyone!

[ARMY]

Thanks paddleho....that is precisely what I was getting at.  It seems very
"Alcan-centric" from the LML.  

It is fine to let them all be delusional, as long as the organizers bother to check that is all that matters. Kelowna is usually great at that, they have a record of temas from past years and they look at the current season. Some island teams have even called the organizers to tell them the make-up of their team so that they get seeded properly.

ie) a highly competitive team that has taken on more highly competitive paddlers and formed a mixed team with a new name that would not be recognized by organizers. Sounds like a very fair thing to do. A lot more considerate than it would be to put in a FCRCC + GD team and call them the "Dragon Arse's" or something like that when nobody knows what kind of team it would be.

[tiger]

Not sure how this LML/Island debate started but I think it was the Island people.  They must be getting ansy to get off the Island (you are further away now from the mainland, based on the island sliding west).  

Stop the bashing as it serves no purpose, if you are trying to get the LML teams "angry" it won't happen (I think   ).

Seriously,  there are only 2 festivals that competitive teams go to regularly, Vancouver and Victoria.  Everything else is a fun festival for the more competitive teams.  That does not mean they are not good festivals but for the competitive teams (from both the Island and LML) they go for fun.   I think most people realize there is a part of this sport that is mental and how much there is shows in the finals.  In the end, all the festivals are great for beginner/intermediate teams to build so that they can be competitive with the likes of GD, FCRCC, the Dog team (aka Subaru), or Pac Reach.  To see the best go to Alcan and Victoria.

I am sure the moderators will move this to another thread since it is off topic.

AMO

[island girl]

Van-centric is the perfect term!

The LML teams don't have to do much travelling to get to Alcan so no wonder their focus is mainly upon this Festival.  Glad to hear some other Island Paddlers are on the same wave length.

Alcan has also taken a turn where they are not treating the Breast Cancer Survivor teams with the respect they deserve, for this I say "shame on them".  I know of a few Island teams who have not entered Alcan for this very reason.  

Lets kick it up in Kelowna....

[Steamrollers Moaner]

Alcan has also taken a turn where they are not treating the Breast Cancer Survivor teams with the respect they deserve, for this I say "shame on them".  I know of a few Island teams who have not entered Alcan for this very reason.  

FYI, reason why there wasn't any breast cancer survivor teams in this year's Alcan was due to the World's breast cancer race on the weekend following Alcan.  It is not because Alcan is not treating the BCS teams with respect.

The LML teams don't have to do much travelling to get to Alcan so no wonder their focus is mainly upon this Festival.  Glad to hear some other Island Paddlers are on the same wave length.

And vice versa for island teams...  Can you tell me how many teams on the island make the Victoria festival their main focus of the year???

[island girl]

Well aware of the Worlds Breast Cancer Festival in Vancouver...the issues that arose started the year before.

[woodsman]

I am curious?  The Alcan festival is in June....why would any team peak so early in the season?  My team starts practising in March/April with the view of doing our best in about 5 festivals over the season, but aim to be at our best in August for the Victoria festival (home court, so to speak).  We are thinking of going to Alcan next year but really only because it would give us a good measure of where we are in June as related to where we would like to be in August, and we would like to try for at least one festival per month over the season.  Last year our last races were in Kelowna and we did OK, this year we went to San Francisco and likewise did OK.  

So....why just train and practice for a high point of the season that is in June?

Having said all that.....there are a lot of incredible teams from Vancouver...and it is always a pleasure racing against them, even though we usually lose  But then, we lose to some great teams from the island on a regular basis as well.

I have only been paddling for 3 years, but, wow, what a sport!

[Rossifumi]

b/c Alcan is the Main Event.  The biggest and best DB event on the westcoast.  

I think Kelowna has the potential to surpass the Vancouver race.  But it all depends what people want out of it.

If Kelowna wanted to started attracting all the A Teams around, start offering some cash purses.  That'll make a few eyeballs sticky.

[island girl]

Alcan might be the biggest, but the best is open to interpetation....wasn't that the jist of this discussion to begin with?

[Why Me]

You know some of these statements make me sick.

 Please stop whining about respect us and this and that and just go out there and race  ! Real racers don't care about these things and are just happy racing in any race

 Silly rec. paddlers !

[turtle_turtle]

You know some of these statements make me sick.

 Please stop whining about respect us and this and that and just go out there and race  ! Real racers don't care about these things and are just happy racing in any race

 Silly rec. paddlers !

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... i am SO sick of STUPID people telling others to stop whining.  THIS IS A FRIGGIN' FORUM... IT'S A DISCUSSION BOARD.  LET THEM DISCUSS!!!!!!!  STOP MAKING US FEEL DUMB FOR SPEAKING OUR MINDS.  And stop assuming that everyone that is smart enough to express what they're thinking is a "rec. paddler"

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, everyone, please feel free to continue your ramblings and share with us your thoughts so others may see things from a different perspective.  

I think that Alcan is THE big event of the West.  You gotta participate in that if you're seroius about this sport (Rec AND comp teams can be serious.)  If not, you're missing out!

[DBWTim]

I am sure the moderators will move this to another thread since it is off topic.

Done

Alcan has also taken a turn where they are not treating the Breast Cancer Survivor teams with the respect they deserve, for this I say "shame on them". I know of a few Island teams who have not entered Alcan for this very reason.

Sorry for the rehash but Moaner beat me to it while I was typing and working and having lunch... In defense of Alcan, it should be noted that the reason there were no Breast Cancer Survivor races this year at Alcan was that the organizers created the Breast Cancer 10th Anniversary Race and Celebration that took place on June 25th and 26th. This event attracted around 64 teams from across Canada and 8 countries including Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the US. I attended this event and was rather impressed with the setup. Would these teams get as much attention and respect if it were part of the Alcan Festival? Considering that many of the paddlers (LML and Island alike) consider the festival-side of Alcan, to put it lightly, a complete mess... I would say it was a very respectable decision for the organizers to devote additional time and effort towards this event rather than plugging in a couple more heats within the big festival. Don't get me wrong, Alcan has its issues especially when you consider the festival-side.

Also... those same race organizers of Alcan were the same ones that the Kelowna festival went to after the festival departed ways with F2000 to run their races. What everyone needs to keep in their mind is that festivals are run by one organization that contracts out another organization to run the race portion. When people complain about festivals, think about what you have a problem with.. the racing itself or the actual festival.

Alcan is held in June because it originally was a festival that celebrated an important time of year in the Chinese culture. As it was the only race at the time, I would only assume that this race was where the teams concentrated their efforts and over time the attraction and the budget grew. Even with all the races sprouting around the LML lately, this is still the one that has the biggest budget, with the most history, attracts the most competitive level teams and the one that most people off the street knows about. I think it's probably a prestige thing as well. What team doesn't want to say that they did well at the oldest and biggest festival on the West Coast.

If Kelowna wanted to started attracting all the A Teams around, start offering some cash purses. That'll make a few eyeballs sticky.

Kelowna does attract "A teams". The issue is that Kelowna is viewed as a winding down festival where teams have done their "Big Race" already and are looking for a good time. There's definately "A Teams" but it's safe to safe many of them haven't brought their "A Game" to the race. Kelowna needs to remove that stigma of being a wind-down fun race before teams will take it seriously. Considering the division between the Mainland and the Island, maybe we could talk to the organizers to setup a year-end race between the top three placements in Alcan vs. the top 3 from Victoria. The festival where the winner of that race gets to be called the "Big Race" for the following season. That should bring some "A teams w/ their A Game" to Kelowna

In regards to the "Van-centric" comments.. This forum started in Vancouver before word got to the other regions. And considering that many of the users are still in their first or second year (see here.) With little or no experience outside their region, of course they're going to be "region-centric" with their comments and see Alcan as the big prize and skew their perceptions. I'm pretty sure new paddlers that only race on the  Island see Victoria as the big race. One of the main reasons the admins created this website was so we could share information across the different areas and making generalizations doesn't help the sport.

I for one would love to see more voices from the Island, Alberta, and even down south (other than Hans and his comments on his Canadian Jinx. Expect my team to be back next year... we've got some unfinished business to attend to. )

Sorry if this post sounds scattered but it was written over various sessions  throughout the day.

[Lethal Weapon]

Having the pleasure of racing in LML and the Island with LML and Victoria teams, I believe the biggest obstacle in racing in Alcan is the cost (entry Fees, Travel accomodations etc.) and know that most VI teams peak for the Victoria festival rather than Alcan. I think it is funny the Islanders have a VI championship the week before the Victoria festival and no LML teams go. I heard they were allowing LML teams this year? (woodman? do u know?)
As for being the biggest and best (Alcan), the number of teams entering make it the biggest but I would not classify it as the "best" festival by a long shot. It is a good measure to see where your team ranks against the top comp teams in the west but once again that is a snapshot of your teams performance for that time window only.

Please stop whining about respect us and this and that and just go out there and race ! Real racers don't care about these things and are just happy racing in any race

Silly rec. paddlers !

Thats not nice! Silly rec teams make it to comp one day! And there are a lot more Rec teams than comp  Be nice or they'll drink all the beer before you get off the water from your final race....

[island girl]

Good to hear Rec paddlers are entitled to an opinion on this forum too!
Not everyone wants to be a Comp paddler even if they have paddled for several years.

As for the 10 Years Abreast Celebration, it was exactly that and just what the doctored ordered for the Survivor teams after Alcan tried to raise their fees for these teams only.   I too was there and had a fantastic time!

I appreciate the comments on the fact that the work is contracting out for the actual Festival end of things.  This sport has now become 'big business" and we gain and lose with that.

Keep that discussion coming.  For those of you who are "sickened" by a different point of view, don't read it.

[woodsman]

This actually is one of the best discussions on this board for some time...imho.

The VI festival was started several years ago, initially to give stew teams from the GRPC (The Gorge, as we know it....a more than equal club to the FC! ) a taste of what would happen the next weekend at the Victoria Festival...it was so successful that it has been expanded....BUT, there are only so many lanes, and so many races, in one day...so, yes, I think teams from outside the island could get in (and would be welcomed!), but it is just one of those things....How many slots do you have, and what is the purpose of the festival?  On the same hand, we go to Richmond....how many teams try to come to Victoria?  Why is Alcan better than Victoria?

I don't think, personally that there are many differences once you get in a boat.  Also, Nanaimo is awesome!

I find this thread to be very interesting....when our team goes to a festival, we paddle as hard as we can...and each festival ranks equally.  We are not a big club, that may make a difference.

I am sort of looking forward to going to Alcan next year, not that it is the best, but that it is the biggest.......do not confuse the two.

Again, I think that a festival in June just gives good indications of where a team is.....so comp teams disband after Alcan?  I think not.   My team will never go to the worlds (except as spectators), so I would think that would be some sort of chalice?

All festivals are good.....paddling is just awesome.   It was suggested in our boat that we sell a t-shirt that said "Shut Up and Paddle"

Not a bad sentiment.