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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[pum]

Hello all,

Congratulations to everyone on a great 2006 season!!!

For those of you who are going through paddling withdrawal, here's your chance to join us for the Dragonboating trip of a lifetime!!

We are well on the way to putting a team (or possibly two) to compete in the Australian National Dragon Dragonboat festival to be held in Sydney over the Easter weekend, April 6th-9th, 2007.

We still need a few more paddlers....

• Get a jump start on 2007: practices start right after New Year's...
• We will be billeted by a host team from Sydney, so hotel costs will be low...only $2050 CAD including transportation and accomodation;

• Only take 6 days of your precious holidays: Departure Saturday, March 31st, from Seattle, return Tuesday, April 10th;

• There will be 200m & 500m races and, maybe even 1000m races, all on the same weekend!

• Dryland practices start in late October: return to your "home" team fit and well prepared for the 2007 season!

• Paddlers of all abilities are welcome: this trip is not to be confused with the World Championships to be held in Sydney in September '07.

For more details, contact Paul Boileau before October 13th, 2006 at my email: [email protected], or by phone: (604) 340-3553 [/list][/list][/list][/list][/list]

[pum]

A little update on the Australia trip:

Thanks to all who have written and called in the past 2 weeks. The response to date has been phenomenal, with over 35 people expressing interest in this excellent adventure so far. Responses have come from all over the Lower Mainland!

* There is still plenty of room on the team: we may consider sending a 2nd squad if interest warrants. This would also allow us to enter a more competitive team and a more social one.

* There will be an information and Q&A session at our 1st team meeting, in less than 2 weeks. For those who confirm their participation on the team (with a deposit), we will be creating committees and planning a training & practice program.

* Please act quickly to contact me if you wish to attend this first team meeting by either sending me an email at: [email protected] or by calling me at (604) 340-3553.

To all those who are coming: we look forward to meeting you and getting started on our dragonboat trip of a lifetime!

[pum]

Hello & Happy Thanksgiving to all!
 
As promised, the information session is upon us for the team that will be going to Sydney, Australia next spring to participate in the Australian National Championships.
 
Over the course of the past 3 weeks, I have received more than 45 inquiries related to the trip. Now is the time to gather everyone so I can present my ideas and take your questions, and get started with our voyage Down Under! To all Managers and Captains on Dragonboatwest.net, please feel free to pass along this information to paddlers on your team. I expect all paddlers to be back to their home team as of April 11th, in plenty of time for Alcan.

Everyone is welcome at Sunday's session. It is not too late to jump on board!

The meeting will be comprised of 3 parts, as follows:
 
Part 1. 6:00 p.m. to 6:30: Trip presentation. This will cover the general plan for the trip. There will be an outline of the team's approach, goals, organization, expectations, and next steps.
 
Part 2. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Q&A Session. There's no guarantee to have all the answers, since some of them will only come from us as a team after we get started, but I promise to do my best!!
 
Part 3. The first team meeting will follow the Q&A session and a 15-minute break. This meeting will be limited to those who have put down their deposit to join the team (more on this later on). Each team member will each be asked to participate in at least one committee and get started on our training plans, financial organization, etc.
 
Here is some general information you may wish to consider prior to the meeting:
 
* there will be a dryland training program starting shortly after you join the team. All paddlers will be expected to follow a fitness and a dietary program (created by your fellow teammates) up to and including the regatta.
 
* we will start on-water practices immediately following the New Year. There will be 2-3 practices per week and several paddling clinics. We want our paddlers, (of all ages) to be in the best paddling condition and ability of their lives by the time we hit Sydney! Your 2007 paddling season is guaranteed to start off strong!
 
* team members will be expected to play an active role in the preparation and organization of the trip. This is not a project for people who want to sit back and let others do the ground work. Each and every member will be expected to play a working role. Besides, we're pretty sure you'll get more out of your experience that way!!
 
* The financial risk and burden of this kind of group venture is not without its hazards. As such, if you wish to reserve your spot on the team, please come prepared to make a $300.00 deposit at the end of the information session. The first 25 people who make their deposits will be guaranteed a spot on the team. I will spend considerable time at the information session explaining the budgeting and financial aspects of the trip. But please remember, if there are 25 people who beat you to the bar, you risk crying in your Fosters!
 
* The location for practices has been a keen point of interest for many of you. I have received replies from the entire Lower Mainland: from North Vancouver, to White Rock, from Chilliwack, to Richmond to Vancouver. The best location for our practices is a difficult question. We will all need to be flexible if we want it to work! We need to consider travel time, access, cost and availability. For these reasons, I have made a tentative choice to locate some on-water practices at Fort Langley. It is central to all areas of the Lower Mainland, it is free of almost all charges for mooring and storage, and besides, it's a pretty town! However, this choice is not final. We, as a team, may and will consider alternate locations if we can prove it to be workable and cost effective. We will have approximately 2.5 months to make a final decision about this question.
 
* In order to check out the practicality of this location, I have decided to hold the information session as close as possible to the Fort Langley site. As such, we will hold the information session in the basement at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Sunday, October 15th, from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Then, the first team meeting will continue in the same Hall, from 7:45-9:00 p.m.
 
Directions:
For anyone who has ever been to Fort Langley, you will have no trouble finding it. For others, the Community Hall is a big yellow mansion, a heritage landmark building in town, built in 1931. Follow the road signs to Fort Langley. The Community Hall is located on the left (west) side of Glover Road (the main road into Fort Langley). Allow 45 minutes for the drive from downtown Vancouver. If, due to transportation reasons, you're worried about making it on Sunday, please email me before this Friday. I will be happy to put you in touch with others in your area that are coming so you can carpool together. We may also be willing to pick you up at the Skytrain station in Surrey. If you have questions about how to get there, you may email me at [email protected]. But please, if you have any questions about the trip itself, save them for Sunday, or I'll have no time to prepare my presentation!
 
To judge based on the enthusiasm many of you have expressed, I am expecting close to an entire contingent to reserve their places on Sunday. So, if you are serious about coming, the time is now to make your decision. Once we have 25 deposits, you'll be put on our waiting list. If, at some later point, we collect more than 35 deposits, we may consider sending 2 teams.
 
Hope to see you Sunday!
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
Paul Boileau.

[pum]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to the 36 people who came out on Sunday night to attend the information session.

For those of you who came and stayed: you know already that WE'RE GOING TO AUSTRALIA!!!![/

That's right: 27 non-refundable dues were collected on Sunday night. We have split into 9 Committees and our exciting journey to Syndey is underway.

One never knows what to expect when organizing a trip of this magnitude, but we made it and I know we'll have fun!!

To those of you who missed the boat, we are still accepting 5 spares (priority reserved by cheque in escrow). If we collect at least 15 more cheques in the next 2 weeks, we will consider sending 2 teams.

So, before you miss your chance again, I have two things to say:
1. Don't wait anymore, get off your tush and get us your dues so you can be part of the fun.
2. Attach your tuques: Canada is soon to meet Australia in round 1.

Cheers,


Paul.

[pum]

I have had 4 more sign ups as spares or for a 2nd team. We are now over 30.

We are getting dangerously close to launching a 2nd team...

[Skygirl]

Just saw this and am very interested. Please let me know what I need to do to be involved.
Sandi

[pum]

Hi Sandi,

Thanks for your email. Right now we are actively building a spares list for the trip. If we get enough spares, we will go to Australia with two teams.

Please call me at (604) 340-3553 in the evening of Monday, Oct 30th and I'll be happy to provide the date, time and location of our next Team meeting (probably Nov 1st).

Cheers,


Paul.

[pum]

Hello to all,

Our next Team Meeting will be held Wednesday, November 1st:

- at 7 p.m. in the Fort Langley Community Hall for Team members and
- at 8 p.m. for potential spares or for those who would like to form a 2nd team.

If you would like to attend this meeting and you are not already a Team member, please call me at (604) 340-3553 or email me at [email protected] PRIOR to attending the meeting.

Cheers and see you Wednesday!


Paul.

[DiggerPig]

WE NEED GUYS!!! That doesn't sound right. 

The Australian team male members are extending an invitation to those fellow dragon boat brothers to come out as we strive for a second mixed team with 12 or more male paddlers.  Much better.

Digger   

[pum]

Hi folks,

UPDATE:
Here's some exciting news about the Team headed to the Australian National Championships at Easter 2007.

1. The organizing Committee of the Nationals has decided for the first time ever to add a third day of club racing. The race schedule will thus look like this:
Friday, April 6th, 2007: 1000m club races
Saturday, April 7th: 500m club races
Sunday, April 8th: 250m club races

Three days: three race lengths!

2. There has never been a Canadian team participate in the Australian National Dragonboat Championships before! We'll be the first ever!

3. And there's more: there is now a better chance than ever to enter not one, but two Canadian teams! Race organizers will allow us to rotate some folks between a mixed & a women's team rosters. This will allow us to go over with less than the 45 people we thought necessary to enter two full teams.

Therefore, I am happy to announce to those who still wants to join us: you will be guaranteed full Team membership (until we reach 45), provided of course the financial, practice and Committee participation requirements are still met! Voluntary on-water practices and a dryland training programme are now underway, with full on-water practices starting in December...

Contact me at the co-ordinates below if you have any questions or would like to know more.

Paddles up!

Sincerely,


Paul Boileau
Tel: (604) 340-3553
Email: [email protected]

[pum]

The next Team meeting will be held on Thursday, November 16th at 7 p.m. at the Fort Langley Community Hall.

There is already one full team with spares, but please be invited to join us at the meeting if you want to know more about the trip: due to the number of races, you will be guaranteed to race every day!

Sincerely,


Paul Boileau (604) 340-3553

[paddleboy]

 Just wanted to say train hard & good luck people !

 You realize in order to do well you need to be pretty much as good as a team that went to the worlds this yr .The ozzie teams are very very good and no slouches . You will have to race the Sloths,Brisbane and other top ozzie teams .It will be like taking on teams like False Creek ,so don't get your hopes too high of a top 3 placement as those teams have alot of world racing and international level experience and are fast .

 If you are going just have fun and don't go with huge expectations but do it give it your best shot

 again good luck .......

[Colossus]

agreed...  not to pour more rain on your parade, but one of my friiends in sydney, his team is racing too.  they were qualified for the CCWC in TO, but didn't go due to funding. 

for everyone going, best of luck to you!  enjoy the weather!

[pum]

Hi again folks,

Welcome to new members on Team Go Australia! We picked up four more paddlers at our last meeting! Three days of paddling different lengths certainly has raised interest!

As Team members know by now, we've purchased more than half of our plane tickets already for the second leg of the trip: we'll make a pit-stop in Honolulu along the way to Sydney. A few days on the beach to reflect on the trip...

To those that couldn't attend our last meeting: it was decided to keep open Team membership to newcomers until December 31st! We have enough paddlers to field two teams, but with our current numbers, several people would paddle on the women's and the mixed team, so please feel welcome those who want to jump on board.

The next Team meeting will be held at the Fort Langley Community Hall on Wednesday, November 29th at 7 p.m. One of our Team members is from Burnaby, and says that the drive is 30 minutes from his place.

We are also holding open practices every Sunday.

Cheers,


Paul.

[pum]

Hello,

To those who were interested in joining the team: please be advised that our Team meeting scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, November 29th has been POSTPONED.

It has been rescheduled to be held on Sunday, December 10th at 7 p.m. at the Fort Langley Community Hall.

Sorry for any inconvenience, sincerely,


Paul Boileau.