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Dragon Boat Canada


IDBF


Canoe Kayak Canada

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[mappingguy]

It also looked like a boat crossed into DH Ultimate's lane during the finals too.

If so, DH Ultimate got a raw deal in the finals.  Slow boat and another crossing into their lane.

[PaddlingPM]

Personally...I don't really buy the "lane 3 boat slow" argument - its pure paddling plain and simple. Throughout the whole festival lane 3 was the one that WON most races, I know every race we raced in 3 we won ours, and we were in both those races mentioned. When it comes to the semi-final and the final DH didn't get the bum and Kai didn't get the bum, they were out paddled pure and simple. What is the point in splitting hairs over what happened in one race from the next, no one was interferred or hit

[mandachan]

Personally...I don't really buy the "lane 3 boat slow" argument - its pure paddling plain and simple. Throughout the whole festival lane 3 was the one that WON most races, I know every race we raced in 3 we won ours, and we were in both those races mentioned. When it comes to the semi-final and the final DH didn't get the bum and Kai didn't get the bum, they were out paddled pure and simple. What is the point in splitting hairs over what happened in one race from the next, no one was interferred or hit

It's 'cuz your team is just that good. 

What team were you on? Were they in even-numbered or odd-numbered heats?

[Wet spot]

Get over it mandachan -  sure BUKs are nice but most of us who have been around for a while will train and strategize for the boats and conditions we anticipate in other venues and not expect those places to change to suit our particular wants. Teak, 6-16, Milleniums, Gemini's, BUKs, paddle tanks, rivers, lakes, oceans etc - the more variety the better - bring it on!! FCRCC does have a 6-16 which can/should be used specifically for training for events like this.

I enjoyed the Portland venue but I do have one squawk - in one of our heats sunday morning the boats in lanes 4 and 5 were nearly swamped by waves just prior to the start - the starter also missed the fact that both steerspeople had their arms up which is normally the "not-ready" signal to the starter...anyway the race started and both teams had to paddle with a few dozen gallons of water in their boats.  When protests were filed and a rerace requested the offiicials asked the winning boat whether they would agree to rerace - of course they didn't so no rerace occured.

Its important that a protest be assessed and any corrections made based on the merits of the protest - not on whether the "winner" want to rerace or not - they are never going to want to rerace particularly if they won under unfair circumstances.

Thats it - keep up the good work!

[ngp]

Personally...I don't really buy the "lane 3 boat slow" argument - its pure paddling plain and simple. Throughout the whole festival lane 3 was the one that WON most races, I know every race we raced in 3 we won ours, and we were in both those races mentioned. When it comes to the semi-final and the final DH didn't get the bum and Kai didn't get the bum, they were out paddled pure and simple. What is the point in splitting hairs over what happened in one race from the next, no one was interferred or hit

I don't think the issue is about which lane was slow, but rather that one of the two boats in lane 3 had an issue.  Perhaps your team got lucky.

[WestCoastFire]

Personally...I don't really buy the "lane 3 boat slow" argument - its pure paddling plain and simple. Throughout the whole festival lane 3 was the one that WON most races, I know every race we raced in 3 we won ours, and we were in both those races mentioned. When it comes to the semi-final and the final DH didn't get the bum and Kai didn't get the bum, they were out paddled pure and simple. What is the point in splitting hairs over what happened in one race from the next, no one was interferred or hit

There was an issue with one of the lane 3 boats.  I believe the race organizers already acknowledged it if I'm not mistaken.  Lane 5 also had a "slower current" so to speak.  Although i wouldn't call it that, but there was a noticeable difference between the 1/4 mark and about 100m left.

These are after the fact and to be tested out by the local teams, then adjusted accordingly if need be.

[sterles]

When protests were filed and a rerace requested the offiicials asked the winning boat whether they would agree to rerace - of course they didn't so no rerace occured.

I need to set the record straight on this. Only one formal protest was filed race weekend and it was resolved via a time penalty to the offending team. There were a few instances where informal complaints were lodged and ultimately the protesting teams declined to file formal protests because the penalty would not have made a difference in the outcome of the race or, where applicable, they did not wish to rerace.

I was notified of only one swamping incident all weekend and that was the second to last race on Saturday. Via radio, the course marshal recommended a rerace and I told him I would allow it if any of the teams actually wanted to rerace (keep in mind, this was at the end of a long day of racing in incredibly hot weather). It was reported back to me that no one wanted to rerace. Maybe I should have gone down to the dock to confirm that myself, but I didn't hear until Sunday morning that at least one of the teams wanted to rerace. At that point is was impossible to do (teams had been seeded into divisions, some not racing until close to 11 and not on site) and long past the time for a team to file a protest.

In hindsight, I am sure that there are things that we could have done better to ensure a fair result in this situation, but there is a formal protest procedure outlined in the rules that would have certainly ensured that this would have been resolved in a timely fashion.

[Bambi]

I was notified of only one swamping incident all weekend and that was the second to last race on Saturday. Via radio, the course marshal recommended a rerace and I told him I would allow it if any of the teams actually wanted to rerace (keep in mind, this was at the end of a long day of racing in incredibly hot weather). It was reported back to me that no one wanted to rerace. Maybe I should have gone down to the dock to confirm that myself, but I didn't hear until Sunday morning that at least one of the teams wanted to rerace.

My team was in lane 5 for this race on Saturday and I know that both lane 4 and us wanted a re-race but the majority (lanes 1 to 3 who were not effected by the swamping) did not so majority ruled and no re-race was granted. By the time we were unloaded from the boats, after being asked to help store them for the night, the race course had been taken down so there wasn't an opportunity to file a formal protest. Could a re-race have effected the overall standings and advancements for the teams in that heat? Quite possibly since some teams do better with 250m dashes than full 500m races and advancements were based on placements rather than time.

I think this is just one of those situations that should be taken as a learning experience for the starter, race officials, and drummers/steers...if the starter feels their boat rocking or the race officials see rollers coming into the race course before a race is started...don't start the race! If at the start line, drummers or steers feel the boat is not ready to start, it is the drummer that should race their arm to catch the starters attention and not the steers. Remember...the starter is looking at the front of the boat for alignment, not the back.

Overall, I thought the festival was very well organized. People were friendly. Competition was excellent. Weather was fantastic. Tax-free shopping was a total bonus! I would definitely race at this festival again. 

Thank you to all the organizers, volunteers and host teams for a job well-done!

[wanker]

I've added my comments at the surveymonkey site and will not repeat them here.  Don't worry, it was all positive.  I like this festival.

One point that I forgot about, however, was that I was able to paddle in the mixed bridge to bridge 2000m-ish race.  The boat our team raced in was quite dirty at the bottom and we were scraping gunge from the bottom of the boat prior to the start, at least as far as our arms could reach.  Not sure if this was a function of having 11 boats in that last race - perhaps we got the extra one that was not used for the regular races and it was simply not cleaned prior to the event.  On the other hand, I never stuck my hand down to feel under the boat for any of the previous 6 or so races that I was in over the weekend, so they could have all been dirty for all I know.  It is possible that some of the boats were clean and others were not.

[rb]

I guarantee that the Orange boat was slower than the others, probably about 4 seconds over 500 m. It was in the Even heats until Heat 70 was cancelled, then it was in the Odd heats (after Heat 69 was Heat 71 so boats 1 thru 5 went from even heats to odd heats, boats 6 thru 10 went from odd to even). The other lane 3 boat was blue and had #8 on it and it was fine.

Look at teams that raced each other head to head in different heats and note the differences, the data is compelling. If you look at all the teams that raced against each other more than once, and one team had the orange #3 boat, and you compare the times, then you can comment on what you see. Sometimes people blame a boat when it's not the boat's fault, but a boat can be slow, it does happen, and they should be identified and fixed or not used.

More examples of teams that raced each other twice, once in the orange boat:

KP Dragons Broccoli 02:01.57
Wasabi GM Mixed 02:01.70

KP Dragons Broccoli 01:58.22
Wasabi GM Mixed 02:01.46


Eye of the Dragon 01:57.99
DragonMax 01:58.36

DragonMax 01:56.56
Eye of the Dragon 02:02.77


Dragon Ladies 01:57.75
Saggin Dragons 02:01.89

Saggin Dragons 02:09.10
Dragon Ladies 02:09.20



 

[dogpaddle]

It was my first time to the Portland festival and definitely not my last! Beautiful venue and the weather was gorgeous! Thank you to both of our host teams, Shibumi and Blew by U. Everyone was so hospitable and provided lots of food and water for the weekend. I didn't mind racing in the 6-16s as we finished sub 2 in all our races. Our fastest times ever!  We won the Corporate division and loved the fact that we received medals as well as a huge trophy that we got to keep. Our sponsor, Quality Foods, is going to love that!               

Just curious if any other paddlers lost any personal items? My jersey went "missing" in between races. A paddle bag also went "missing" with some fundraising money in it. Both in the same area, enroute to the marshalling area by the Honey Buckets. Fortunately, I was pre-warned about the lack of security and I didn't take anything else of value with me! Ahhh...the convenience of staying directly across from the race site! Perhaps some Security presence would be beneficial.

I would definitely recommend this festival! Many great food choices with restaurants and food carts. As most of my friend know, I love to shop! Outlet malls and no tax...I was in heaven!!!