The event itself was run very well. Darryl Hol, the director of the regatta who posted the original topic, is pretty on cue about everything and is great at communicating and ensuring the races went smoothly. A great leader.
My team had a great time after the first race.
Here's a background story:
8 members of my team volunteered for this event. That meant putting in 10-18 hours on a weekend morning anywhere from 8am-5pm teaching hundreds of non-paddlers, how to paddle in about 15 minutes. This is followed by 15 minutes of getting lost somewhere in the ocean with people who don't know how to steer, will not learn how to steer, and people who want to "visit Granville Island". Granted, not all teams were like that - in fact I was fortunate enough to teach a number of teams who had so much fun and wanted to learn all there is to know about paddling.
Food was pizza, which half of us didn't know about until it was almost gone. But I think that was my fault, because I was daydreaming. They recruited far too many volunteers for the Sunday shift, leaving us to bury a poor Hamber kid in the sand to stay busy. Some people who stayed for the full 9 hour shift got the same food as someone who was there for 2 hours. All REC volunteers had a pile of snacks and drinks. Most REC volunteers stood there for the better half of the clinic sessions.
So anyway. Come race day we arrive in our little group and were made to sign waivers again (2nd time), then when we plopped down our IDs and tried to register, the REC volunteer couldn't find one of our teammates' name. So he asked his superior, who insisted that she doesn't remember him ever being on the list.
She proceeded to tell us that since he's not on the list, he can't paddle. If he does, we can't advance. He was never on the list. He will never be on the list. He is NOT ON THE LIST.
I tried showing her cell phone evidence of an email that clearly stated that she and I confirmed, a week ago, that he was indeed on the list. She says that she would not take evidence that isn't hers. So she flips through a binder. No email. Then she goes off somewhere for 20 minutes.
We are dragonboaters... and I don't plan to not let someone race for a reason like this.
It was cutting into our warm up time. In fact, we had to marshal in a few minutes. So one of her REC colleagues radio'd her to come back. The colleague also refused to read the cell phone evidence, but only because she believes us and thinks the supervisor is a joke.
She comes back in the nick of time, says "yeah you're on there" with a "why are you making such a big deal out of this" attitude, and goes and sits back down to watch others do work.
My team goes and does about 5 arm circles together and we go off to do our first race.
After that, it was all fun and games.
The whole ordeal took half an hour of time we would've spent watching races to strategize.
The races themselves were punctual. The inconsistent timing/reffing wasn't an issue as long as we finished the races, with or without Hamber being attached to us for 50 meters.
We stuck to the rules like glue, as always. Music was good, games were fun to watch. Hot tubs were a plus.
I may be irrational... it was one of those things you had to experience to feel. And, it was only one REC volunteer who did it for us. I'm sure others will have a fantabulous time (apart from those who are also boycotting) doing this event. I like to give things a second chance but I have to agree with that girl... it was a joke to start your racing morning like that.
This is my 2nd time volunteering and paddling in this event. The last time was quite similar. Like I said... NEVER again.
