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Dragon Boat Canada


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Canoe Kayak Canada

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[butter]

Hi everyone,

Many of you know who I am, and to those who don't, well, I am the Executive Director of the Victoria Festival.  I'm also a paddler (for the last 9 years) and a former Gorging Dragon.  

I'll likely have something more official to say later, but for now, please just know that the Board of the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival Society is taking all of the "incidents" from this past weekend VERY seriously and we will be discussing ALL of the matters over the coming weeks.

As a paddler, I do feel your frustration regarding these events.  I just want everyone to know that I will be doing everything in my power to ensure they never happen again.

Thanks to those that have commented with good spirits, it's nice to know that many of you took the events in stride and still had fun.

For the record, in case anyone is curious, the Saturday and Sunday (Friday too, but we weren't racing) were the HOTTEST August 14th and 15th on record in Victoria.  I'm thankful that you all survived the heat and stayed hydrated throughout the weekend.

If anyone has any specific (and constructive) comments they'd like to send me please e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll be sure that I and the Board take them into consideration as we discuss these very important issues.

All for now.

[Garbage Miles]

Good to see the GD's pull a sub 2 minute time in the finals.  Very impressive for a team put together for this race. 

Congratulations to Dragon Hearts Magnum and Ultimate on their 1st and 3rd placements.  I expect Magnum to dominate in whatever races they continue to attend this year.  Could have some money going on this. 

[angrygirl]

Mad props to the volunteers who baked themselves out in the sun all weekend.  It was a hawt one!  You all handled yourselves very well considering the circumstances. 

I think pretty much everything has been said about what could be improved upon.  Even though I haven't attended this festival in about 3yrs, it's definitley still one of the more beautiful/interesting race sites out there in North America.  What other festival, out there, can organize around float planes, ferry passenger boats, private vessels, a ferry ballet and dragonboat heats all at the same time?

Is anyone else's body parts sore from paddling this weekend? 

[NavyRob]

Butter, I feel your pain too.  Most people don't realize that some of the major problems were caused by third parties outside of your control.  For example, it was the Harbour Master, not the Festival, that stopped all racing after the boat-swamping incident.  I couldn't understand why Heat 12 didn't go out and then just have Heat 11 race once all racers were dry, warm, and ready to go again.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this issue yet.  We were squeezed during two of our races so I imagine it happened lots of other times during the weekend.  Could giant, evenly-spread lane numbers be hoisted up on the pilings in front of the Empress and/or buoys placed in the water shortly before the finish line?  Obviously with the ferries you can't have buoys over the majority of the course but east of Ship Point should be clear of very large ships.  Helping to keep that breathing room between crews should help calm the adrenaline-fueled anger that sometimes slips out at the finish line.

By the way, the steers from the Thunderstrokers came over and apologized immediately after the first race (he was looking at the wrong spot to finish in his lane).  I admire this team; they put up a hell of a fight and they've got plenty of class!

[rb]

I heard that lots of steers had a hard time seeing where they were supposed to finish. Big lane numbers at the end would help. Maybe mount them on the seawall.

Lots of teams were in the boats at the dock waiting to go but the water officials would hold them there until the previous race crossed the finish line  . That wastes lots of time! At Alcan and other festivals the teams in the next heat are paddling towards the start while the current heat is racing. If that's a festival decision then they should send them on their way.

[LittleSchrodinger]

To be fair to the festival organizers, the Victoria Harbor was a lot busier than most venues with the unmarked lanes and all. I can understand them trying to keep the other boats out of the way of the races and the ferries simultaneously. Like others have mentioned additional lane marking would help make it smoother, but the business of the harbour just won't like it happen.

[Backward Rowing]

Some stuff















More non-racing photos at this link: http://s102.photobucket.com/albums/m92/gingersnaps1969/Victoria%20Dragon%20Boat%20Fest%202010/

[Dan Hebert]

Diamond Semi 2, a very close race

Tao Ti Phat Phish Racing 2:10.29 Lane 3
Eye of the Dragon 2:10.42 Lane 1
Blu By U 2:10.48 Lane 2
Hot Sake 2:10.61 Lane 4
Crusaders 2:13.21 Lane 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di-yTyed-eQ

[Dan Hebert]

Diamond Championship

Paddles of Fury 2:09.47 Lane 2
Tao Ti Phat Phish Racing 2:10.54 Lane 3
Blu By U 2:11.27 Lane 5
Eye of the Dragon 2:11.44 Lane 4
Save On Foods Dragonslayers 2:11.63 Lane 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGfaZp2UeLM

[dogpaddle]

Wow...those were close races! Thanks for sharing, Dan! It was great racing Eye of the Dragon in Victoria. I can't remember...are we going to have the opportunity for a re-match in Kelowna?

[NFW]

Thanks for sharing pics and vids!

Good to see the GD's pull a sub 2 minute time in the finals.  Very impressive for a team put together for this race. 

Congratulations to Dragon Hearts Magnum and Ultimate on their 1st and 3rd placements.  I expect Magnum to dominate in whatever races they continue to attend this year.  Could have some money going on this. 

haha, can I get in on that action?

congrats to all the teams and magnum for winning platinum.always a pleasure watching your team race.=)

Thanks! Our secret recipe for an entertaining race is paddling hard and yelling out like insane paddlers when we know we've got an audience lol

TO EVERYONE: This kills me.  I just discovered that due to a recording error, our third race, one of the most important in our history, was not filmed!  Did anyone film Platinum Semi 1 (Heat 46), hopefully with us in frame??

I dont have a video for this but I saw it and you guys had an awesome race to edge out GD near the finish!

[Illuminate]

Diamond Semi 2, a very close race

Tao Ti Phat Phish Racing 2:10.29 Lane 3
Eye of the Dragon 2:10.42 Lane 1
Blu By U 2:10.48 Lane 2
Hot Sake 2:10.61 Lane 4
Crusaders 2:13.21 Lane 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di-yTyed-eQ

This one was awesome to watch live

[taeccool]

Diamond Semi 2, a very close race

Tao Ti Phat Phish Racing 2:10.29 Lane 3
Eye of the Dragon 2:10.42 Lane 1
Blu By U 2:10.48 Lane 2
Hot Sake 2:10.61 Lane 4
Crusaders 2:13.21 Lane 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di-yTyed-eQ

This one was awesome to watch live

it was even more awesome racing that semi.. =)

[Seawolf 1]

I was sitting on the bleachers right behind the guy who gave the "Braveheart" oratory. Funny, I thought he ended it with: "You can take our wives...."
Was it just my ears? or my head space?

[NFW]

lol, you are correct sir! I had totally forgotten about that haha

I've edited it to reflect that oversight