Being seeded in lane #1 in your first heat meant you had to contend with a stronger tidal current than the other lanes. Race #8 showed VYPC even overcame this handicap... most impressive! Most teams didn't overcome being seeded into lane #1 in the first race. Why do the top seeded teams need to be given an advantage? (Since the seeding give results as expected, this vagary of the course is nicely hidden.) Blew byU in the Diamond Championship also seemed to break this mold, but of course the tide was flooding in the afternoon, so it's not quite the same.
They should also correct the race package top of page 3: "A trophy will be awarded to the Grand Dragon Team with the best time during the Festival." This is not correct. The Challenge Cup Info states "Highest placement from the Final heats on Sunday afternoon will determine the winner of the challenge cup." Again the seeding becomes extremely important... i.e. luck of the draw. Wasabi Grand Masters probably read only the Race Package, so didn't stay around since they had the second fastest time. Better to have a race; there appeared to be lots of time.
One could call this "sour grapes": If times were used for Semi placement, we'd be in Diamond - okay probably wouldn't have won it. If times were used we'd have the Grand Dragons Trophy.
Mayybe there's some hidden logic: I'm quite pleased at having the Gold Medal but our last two races were not competitive.
And we weren't sand-bagging just badly seeded, IMHO.
Is there not a better way?
