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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[Powerstroke]

"and YAY for the Eh Team...
they are my FAVORITE Seniors team, and when I become a senior, they will be my first choice to race with!"

Thanks Gunghaggis ! The EH TEAM is my FAVOURITE too !! I have to admit that I'm a bit biased though. I paddle with them. Hopefully, I'll still be around when you get there !

[madcap]

The Gemini boats should have been cleaned the day before the races. With the hot weather we have had over the last three weeks, the growth on the Geminis (and the BUK's) will grow very fast. The FCRCC boats were cleaned by the Grandragons the day before the FCRCC regatta and the times in those races reflect that.

[threesea]

It looked good for the documentary crew though so thanks to random chance for that.

...So you sandbag the semi, get into a lower division, then smoke the competition.  Yeah, that works too.

[mo]

...So you sandbag the semi, get into a lower division, then smoke the competition.  Yeah, that works too.

isn't sandbagging when a team deliberately loses?  i don't think that's what EOTD did (i can think of many teams that may have tried this and Eye definitely isn't on the list) and this thread's topic is discussing why some boats resulted with significant difference in times. 

[threesea]

and this thread's topic is discussing why some boats resulted with significant difference in times.

This thread sort of went that way, but someone did mention that the Eye should have been in the "A" final...

Except maybe Eye of the Dragon. I would say they belonged in the A final as their time in their B Final beat the 6th place team in A Final and they were in a gemini.

And the coach of EOTD did respond to that query...

EOTD didn't make the A finals because we weren't top 3 in the semi. There's no problem there. The B final was the right place for us to be.

So I'm thinking that my comment is still applicable to the thread.

isn't sandbagging when a team deliberately loses?

Yes, that's what sandbagging is.  Now, just to clarify here, I have paddled with the Eye for seven years and this year, the team went into a new direction that I didn't fit with, so I was asked to resign (I did, but I'm not the only one).  Sour grapes?  Yup, that's me, 100%!

  i don't think that's what EOTD did (i can think of many teams that may have tried this and Eye definitely isn't on the list)

I would agree with you on that, but did you see their semi race at Deep Cove?  Can we say leisurely-paddle-on-a-sunny-afternoon?  It was appalling.  They didn't even try.

Now, a respected member of the dragon boat community notes that maybe they should have been in the "A" final in a subsequent regatta.  See a pattern here?  I am.

Let's look at their options (remember that the cameras are rolling...!).  You're in the semi final for top division.  Option one is you go all out, advance to the top finals, and end up getting spanked by False Creek and company.  Or, you go one down and win a nail biter (or a smoker).  When this documentary goes up on the screen, which is better?  Visual, they win their race?  Or a big long voice over explaining why finishing last in a race against some of the top teams is a good thing?  I'm thinking the first option is the way to go.

When I paddled with the Eye, it was about being good.  Now, I'm thinking, maybe they are about looking good.

[paddlecwazy]

It seems there are more than a few people on this thread with sour grapes....

As for whether EOTD sandbagged the semi to get into the B division is clearly a non-issue... only the top three boats from each semi qualified for the A final and for the past several years EOTD have not been in the same class as their semi's 3rd place team, Sudden Impact Black.

[Dan Hebert]

I think I'll let the previous posts be and get back to the original point.

It finally makes sense to me why the red Gemini in Lane 2 was about 10 seconds faster than the others in the regatta.

Here's another example from Sunday in case you aren't already convinced. 

Heat 4 BuK
The Young and Foolish beat VT Conquest by 0.4 seconds.

Heat 7 Gemini
VT Conquest in Lane 2 red Gemini beat The Young and Foolish by 12 seconds.

C Final Gemini
The Young and Foolish in Lane 2 red Gemini beat VT Conquest by 10 seconds.

Anyone that got the red Gemini had a faster boat. And madcap solved the problem (thanks madcap!). The Gemini’s were cleaned 3 weeks ago, all but the red one were put back in the water. The red one was left on the dock for a couple of weeks to check out the scratched bottom. The other boats were already collecting a thin film. I didn’t realize that a few weeks was enough time, but like madcap says, in the warm weather it doesn’t take long. A thin film is enough to make a big difference. Mystery solved.

The boats have to be cleaned at the same time and as close to racing as possible.

[LittleSchrodinger]

Sandbagging definitely isn't an issue if we're dealing with a boat that gives 12 seconds advantages, consistently for most of the weekend. No offense, but Lifescan isn't in the same class as Without Warning either, but it shouldn't take until the end of the final to realize that a team's being put in a division far too tough for them. I would say it's a serious issue for the competitive scene where the differences between divisions can be less than ten seconds, especially when it can wreck the fairness in division-deciding and medal races.

I hope there will be plans to re-clean all the Gem and BUKs before Alcan, and I'll volunteer gladly if you need hands. Any know if there's such plan to do it?

[deedub]

Red Fusion will be cleaning the boats over the next week. The BuKs will be tackled before the weekend, while the Gems will be handled on Saturday afternoon. This should ensure that the two types of boats will be evenly 'clean' for the festival.

Our team does a good job of cleaning the boats with nothing but our arms and a bit of elbow grease. If anyone wants to help, we'll be on the docks on Saturday.

[Swordfish]

EOTD sandbagging makes about as much sense as donkey foreclosure restaurant.

[Merlin_fan]

What time are you going to be cleaning them Saturday?

And I'm sure that whoever said EOTD was sandbagging was kidding.

[deedub]

We will start cleaning the boats from 12 PM onwards.

[Olde One]

The 3 FCRCC BuKs will be cleaned on June 18 by the Grandragons. They were last cleaned on the Thursday before the Regatta.

[mo]

I had no idea that boats were cleaned by dboat volunteers.  i thought boats were cleaned by a hired company or barnacle-eating magical unicorns.

thank you to all the volunteers for your time and labour involved in scrubbing these boats. 

[Olde One]

You are most welcome, Mo.   But we are not completely altruistic.

For years the Grandragons have cleaned the six FCRCC boats monthly, and before races. In return, FCRCC waives the "Senior's" charge for the second boat that we use in practices.

Everyone benefits; FCRCC gets their boats reliably cleaned in "non-prime time"; and we save a few $$.