Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat comes 2nd overall at Richmond Dragon Boat Festival + wins next year's registration as winner of the challenge course


 
Medals for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in Richmond! - photo by Deb Martin

It was a beautiful day at the UBC Rowing Centre in Richmond, just east of the Dinsmore Bridge.  The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team arrived early and set up their tents and readied their crew.  This year there were only 12 teams entered in the Richmond race, compared to the 30 teams last year.  People kept asking what happened?  Why are there less teams?  My reply is that there are many dragon boat options for teams, with races last week in Nanaimo and Kent WA.  Next week teams will be going to Harrison.  Vernon had originally be set for July 24/25, but was canceled due to low numbers, said the organizers.  As well, last year's race grid eliminated the bottom teams that didn't qualify for finals.  Only the top 16 teams competed for medals + 2 teams for the cancer survivor challenge + 4 teams for the junior challeng.

But the Richmond event went bravely on with 12 teams.

We were warmly greeted by Fred, of the Fraser Dragons teams, who explained to us how tents were being set up on the plastic floor segments that were placed on top of the renovated dike along River Road.  With less teams, there was more room for each team.  Last year there was fresh bark mulch dirt on the top of the new dike that had been raised.  Last year there was long grass along a much lower dike.

The first set of races were head-to-head races with only two teams each.  This meant 6 races.  Teams watched each other race.  Many of the races placed strong mixed teams against all-women teams, that were noticeably slower.  It was a format that was being used to try to find a clear race grid to make  sure all the teams would be placed within their level.  Gung Haggis team raced against Richmond Survivorship.  In the line-up were cheerfully talked with the team of female cancer survivors.  We told our team to race their own race, and to get comfortable with the calls, the Millenium dragon boat, and the paddlers around them, as a few of the paddlers had not practiced with us.

Our roster was filled with many of our team's core paddlers captained by Jim Blatherwick who diligently worked out our lineups.  Tzhe and Christine were our lead strokers with Karen R. joining Jim as mid-stroke.  We also added two new paddlers such as Guillaume who is on a work visa from Belgium, and Chris who had only about 5 practices since joining us after the Rio Tinto Alcan Festival.  Experienced paddlers such as Steve and Cristina joined us from Metro Vancouver 44 Cheeks.  They had raced with our 49+ team at RTA.  Lisa and Dominic are experienced paddlers on other teams, that raced with us last year at Richmond, and join us when they can because they enjoy our team's camaraderie.  Dan first started on our team back in 2004, but joined other teams in the quest for higher competitive levels.  But he always enjoys paddling with us and had also joined us in May for the Lotus regatta in Burnaby, as does Thony, originally from the Phillipine PYROS team, but has now started a team for Phillipine paddlers in Vancouver.

Dominic enjoys paddling with Gung Haggis so much, he turned a tartan sash into a tartan head wrap! - photo courtesy of Dave Samis.

Debbie was our drummer.  Her calls were strong, as we had trained her for the RTA Festival.  Todd was our steers.  As coach for the team, he also looked to see how the team was working together and made changes and critiques where needed.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy had a good start and we quickly out paced the Richmond Survivorship before we paddled under the Dinsmore Bridge from the Finish Line.  Throughout this set of six races, we watched the other team's times to see who were the fastest that we would meet in the A Final.  Three teams had faster times than us.

The second set of races included 3 boats per heat.  Each race featured one of the winning boats from the first set of 6 races.  This helped to further sort the teams.  We raced against two teams that we handily beat.  We now put Keng on the drum seat, and Dave Samis as steersperson.

For the final race, we were joined by our "Buddy Team" Flight Centre, plus Booze Cruise, and the junior team Surgin' Sturgeons.  The river was flowing down faster in the mid-afternoon.  Booze Cruise had the outside lane, we were next.  Flight Centre on our right, closer to shore, and Surgin' Sturgeons closest to shore.  The horn sounded, and we all dug our paddles hard into the water.  Booze Cruise jumped ahead with a mighty start.  We moved into our power series, and started to leave Flight Centre behind.

Keng called some power series, as Dan called "Push" to the backs.  We dug our paddles deeper.  We reached for the front water to pull our boat up more. 

We came 2nd.  YAY!!!!  Silver medals were headed our way.  Much sweeter than the split-second lost last year when we came 4th in A Division.  But last year being in A was an unexpected treat.  This year we knew that we had to be in A - but where?


The team races during the figure 8 Challenge course.  Debbie Drums and Todd steers - photo courtesy of Karen Ranelletta

Next came the challenge race.  A course was set up, and teams had to make a left turn, then turn right around a far boy, then make a left turn on the far side, then come through the narrowly spaced buoys marking both the start and the finish.   We saw the first teams out-shoot the turns and end up making really wide turns.  We saw some teams disqualified because the turned around the wrong buoys or missed the finish gate completely.

As we climbed into the boat, I told our paddlers that Gung Haggis Fat Choy had been the first Canadian team to do dragon boat barrel races in Seattle, organized by Tacoma DBA.  It was myself and Bob Brinson who brought the concept to the Taiwanese dragon boat races, and it spread to Harrison.  I had steered those races and helped develop the concept, so some of our core members remembered those races and how we paddled to make tighter turns.

We did our start through the gates, banking left.  I steered our boat wider to enter the turn, so we would have a better angle with the river's downstream current hit us.  Debbie and I yelled turn, and our paddlers went into action, using a draw stroke to help us get around the turn.  The far buoy turn was tough.  The river pushed us down stream, and I had to turn us slightly upstream to cross the river and get around the final turn.  I made a great turn, and we raced to the finish gate with the best angle that any boat had done.  Our friends on the shore watching, later told us that the announcer had complimented our turns, as he gave us the best time, setting a record fastest time for the course.  As we docked, lots of the fellow racers and dock volunteers cheered for us.  We had the fastest time by 20 seconds.  Wow!

They called up the winners from each of the C, B and A divisions.  They called Gung Haggis Fat Choy and gave us the silver medals for A division.  They asked us to wait, as they awarded us the prize for the Challenge race too.  - Free registration for next year's Richmond dragon boat race!

Everybody on our team had a great day.  We complimented each other, as well as our friends on other teams.


Great team mates, friends and paddlers - lots of smiles on Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team following the A Division Final - photo Deb Martin

We had our last practice on Tuesday evening, to prime our team for the Richmond Dragon Boat races set for this Saturday July 17.  It was the first time we had 20 people in the boat for awhile, since getting ready for the Alcan Rio Tinto Dragon Boat Festival on June 19 & 20.

The team is looking mighty nice.  We worked on starts and transitions.  We rotated 2 drummers Debbie and Keng, as well as 2 steers - myself and Dave.

Our first race will be at heat 2 @ 10:10 at the UBC Rowing Centre in Richmond, against Richmond Survivorship.

Our 2nd race should be at Heat 8 @ 11:30, 3rd race Heat 11 @ 12:45.
We hope to make it into the Grand Final at 2pm.

Last year we made it to the A Final, and were a split second from the bronze medal.  This year we hope to medal in the A Final.

Read last year's story
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team places 4th overall at Richmond Dragon Boat Races
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2009/7/18/4259565.html

Gung Haggis dragon boat team had their BEST placing at the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival ever.

Parks Commissioner Sarah Blyth was named Honorary Drummer for the 2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team - photo Patrick Tam

We raced for medals in the Rec B Finals - making 6th place.

Our path was paved with friendly rivalries, beating our friends Metro Vancouver 44 Cheeks in the morning semi-finals, and just one second ahead of our friends Flight Centre Dirty Oars in the Rec B Final.

Gung Haggis paddlers were seen sporting silver medals from the Senior B 49+ years age category race.  We put together Gung Haggis Friends including other paddlers from 44 Cheeks, Crusaders, Pirates, Ft. Langley and Swordfish + drummer from Killarney.  We were second to Masters of D'Zone who were 12 seconds ahead of us and a Comp A ranked team.

Other news:  The Killarney Cougar Dragons won Bronze medals in Junior C Division, coached by Gung Haggis paddlers Todd and Steven Wong.  Killarney's teacher sponsor is Gung Haggis alumni Stuart Mackinnon.

Congratulations to all racers!

GREAT DRAGON BOAT RACING
BY GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY TEAM ON SATURDAY

our rookies performed well... thanks to Jennifer, Gena, Adam, Evan and Carson.
Nobody can tell they are rookies anymore, as they are now experienced at North America's biggest and best dragon boat Festival.  Great kudos to Captains Jim, Keng, Steven and drummer Debbie.

We welcome Parks Commissioner Sara Blyth as our honourary drummer for 2010.  Sara came out to cheer our 2nd race, and hopefully will be there for our race final tomorrow afternoon.

Congratulations to our senior B racers in the 49+ years category.
Todd, Keng, Joy, Georgia, Steven, Joe, Gayle, Dave Samis + friends from Pirates, Chilliwack Crusaders, Metro Vancouver 44 Cheeks, Ft. Langley all raced to 2nd place.  Yay paddlers! 

Our first race is 10:10   REC B/C Final

2nd race will be determined by our placment in the semi-final.
We would love to be in the Rec B Medal hunt,
We are seeded high in lane 4 - so we are a favored team.

1st and 2nd go to B Medal Final     2:03pm
3rd and 4th go to B Consolation   1:52pm
5th and 6th go to C Final                 1:41pm

Join us afterwards, and we can watch the Comp team finals, and the Guts & Glory Race, 18 boats on the course, doing 2 laps with 3 turns.

Dragon Boat Festival Race times for Gung Haggis dragon boat team on Saturday

Gung Haggis dragon boat team practiced hard on the last Sunday before the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival

Here is video from out last Sunday's practice.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/4701299995/



Everybody who came out is paddling hard. 

Our final practice before Festival is this Tuesday - tomorrow.

The June 19/20 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival is the largest dragon boat festival in North America.

Last Tuesday we had a great race winning against GVRD 44 Cheeks - who usually beats us, and the previous Sunday, we placed in A Division for the first time at Dragon Zone regatta, and on May 1st, we placed in the top division at Lotus Regatta... which leads me to think this could be our best Gung Haggis dragon boat team ever.

We've worked hard to develop this year's team.  We have amazing rookies.  We have wonderful veterans.  We are looking to improve on last year's results.  We have been working hard to prepare the team for technique, endurance, strength and working together. These are all things paddlers said they wanted to improve on.

We are also applied to enter extra races in Dragon Zone race, and age category race, so our paddlers get more races and opportunities to have extra medals.

Gung Haggis dragon boat team goes to Burnaby and places 5th in the top final at the Bill Alley Memorial Dragon Boat Regatta.


Gung Haggis dragon boat team gets ready for their first race of the season, as they paddled to the start line.   photo T.Wong

It was an exciting day of dragon boat racing, as the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team opened their race season at the Lotus Sports Club's Bill Alley Memorial Dragon Boat Regatta, Saturday, May 1st, 2010, at the Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby.

Weather threatened rain in the morning, but sunny periods turned to full sunshine by mid afternoon.  Winds and tides picked up in the afternoon to make racing more challenging.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team won both of their first heats to advance to the top division final - The Bill Alley Division, above the gold, silver, bronze and jade divisions.  This was the first time the Gung Haggis team has advanced to the top division.  As well, the team competed in the Mixed Adult A Challenge race.  Gung Haggis came 5th in both race finals.

Great racing, and Great team work!
Everybody worked well together off and on the water.

Lots of challenges for today's weather, waves, and new team mates. 

Gung Haggis paddlers line up for the first race of the day!
See more pictures: click here

Congratulations to our ROOKIES!
you havenow been baptized by the waves of Barnet Marine Park.
Jennifer, Gena, Adam, Evan Resnick, Evan Pownall.
Great racing - all of you!

Thank you to our steers people Dave and Steven - keeping us on track as usual.

Thank you to our captains Jim and Steven - making the line-ups, getting us into the top 5, and the wonderful leadership on and off the boat.

"One finger lift to the sky" - Gung Haggis paddlers lift rookie lead stroke Jennifer up into the air, in a Gung Haggis dragon boat team tradition. - photo D.Martin

Special thank yous to our paddlers who helped with the dragon parade, and the lion dance.  Over $300 was raised for the Lotus Juniors "Bill Alley Memorial scholarship fund."  I did know Bill - who was one of the founding members of Lotus Club.  A few years ago, he was hit by a car on Barnett Hwy.  His widow Barb helped us load the boats. 

We are grateful and appreciate our long time friendship with Lotus Sports Club.  Steven's uncle and brother were founding members.  Dave Samis is a club member and has brought Nancy, Debbie, Walter and Christine to paddle outrigger canoes with Lotus.  My first dragon boat coach in 1993, is Grace Morrisette - one of the race organizers.

Grace and Jane - event organizers sent us this message.

Gung Haggis dragon boat practices are back in action for 2010

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in June 2009.  Red team shirts and a variety of kilts.  This is a team with a diversity of personalities and ethnicities to match our penchant for promoting cultural diversity through tartans and dragon boat racing.

First timers are welcome - Experienced paddlers are more welcome!

Sundays 11am - starting March 7th.
Tuesdays 6pm - starting March 16 (after the time change)

Meet at False Creek Yacht Club - underneath the North end of the Granville St. Bridge
See map: Click Here

In April - we will move back to Dragon Zone @ Science World/Creekside Park.

After an exciting 2009 season, where we had many exciting races!

Lotus Sports Clubs' Bill Alley Memorial Regatta @ Barnett Marine Park- Fastest time for a Gung Haggis team 2:03.12.  It's a fun way to start off the season.  Barnett Marine Park is a beautiful location on Burrard Inlet.  The race helps raise money for the Bill Alley Scholarship for junior paddlers of Lotus Sports Club.


Dragon Zone Regatta @ Dragon Zone - 1st in B Final. Highest finish for a Gung Haggis Team. This is a good cheap race.  3 races in 3 hours.

Rio Tinto Alcan @ False Creek/Creekside Park, Vancouver - Fastest time for a Gung Haggis team in False Creek at 2:16.33.  For our medal race, we heard bagpipes being played and it really pumped us up.  It was an army bagpiper, who just happened to be Japanese Canadian.  Alas, we didn't medal.

Richmond - 4th overall! This was the first time we entered the Richmond Dragon Boat Festival.  We only had 10 Gung Haggis paddlers, but supplemented with friends from other teams.  We made the A Final, and missed the bronze medal by 10ths of a second



Vernon Dragon Boat Race @ Kalamalka Lake - Fastest 200 for a Gung Haggis team at 0:53. Our final time was 1 sec behind the A Final Bronze.  This is one of our favorite races, and we enjoy spending time on the beach, in the water, in the hot tub, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, dancing, drinking, eating... oh... and... dragon boat racing.

Last Gasp Regatta @ Dragon Zone.  The Taiwan Dragon Boat Race was canceled, so we did this regatta.  The 200m was the warm up race and we came 3rd, pushing us out of the top half Finals - but we easily won our next two 500m races easily as we . Very exciting for the team to have such big leads.

UBC Day of the Longboat @ Jericho Beach, Vancouver .  We ran 2 mixed teams + 1 mens team.  Our teams were competitive - getting an early lead on our arch rivals friends.  Unfortunately, the Gung Haggis Fat Choy team hit the Gung Haggis Friends team at the beach and was DQed.  But we still almost caught our arch rival friends. 

Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Canoe Regatta @ Ft. Langley's Fraser River Arm.  is always one of the most fun, that we have entered 2 teams for the past 3 years.  1 team made the A Final - our first time ever!  Our other team came 1st in B Final.  Everybody had incredible fun.

We are looking forward to another wonderful season of fun, friendships, fitness... and some medals!!! We deserve it!

Sundays 11am - starting March 7th.
Tuesdays 6pm - starting March 16 (after the time change)

Meet at False Creek Yacht Club - underneath the North end of the Granville St. Bridge
In April - we will move back to Dragon Zone @ Science World/Creekside Park.

Please RSVP to confirm you are coming... First timers are welcome.

email:   gunghaggisdragon at gmail.com
Todd's cell phone 778-846-7090

Olympic Torch carried on Dragon Boat and Voyageur Canoe on Final Day

Olympian Hugh Fisher carried the Olympic Torch on a dragon boat on part of the final leg of the Olympic Torch Relay that has traveled from sea to sea to sea and all across Canada.  He passed it on to Olympian kayaker Kamini Jain in the middle of False Creek, as she stood on a voyageur canoe.

I was part of the 6 dragon boat and 6 outrigger canoe accompanying flotilla, that followed the torch bearing boats.  We all stood for a photo op with torch bearers Hugh and Kamini, after it was over.

Pictures and more stories coming later 

Todd stands with Kamini Jain, Olympic torch bearer for 2010, Olympic kayak racer in Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000.

Alwyn Morris won gold and bronze partnered with Hugh Fisher in the Mens K-2 events in LA 1984.  Alwyn is the first and only gold medalist Aboriginal Canadian, and he held up an eagle feather when he ascended the podium in 1984.

Geo, Lisa and Todd hold the Olympic flame with torch bearer and gold medalist Olympian Hugh Fisher (LA 1984).

Gung Haggis dragon boat team paddles False Creek and takes in pre-Olympic sight-seeing.


We have a dragon boat team of keeners.... who wanted to paddle in February.  It was our first paddling practice since early November, when we had a few practices after paddling in the Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Canoe Regatta.  Fifteen people jumped into the dragon boat for 11am practice on Sunday Feb 7th,

And... I think... I really needed to paddle to get myself warmed up for paddling in the dragon boat flotilla that will accompany the Olympic Torch Relay on Feb 12th, for when Gold medalist Olympian Hugh Fisher will pass off the Olympic Torch from a dragon boat to Olympian Kamini Jain in a voyageur canoe.

I only paddled for half the practice. if that... I also coached some of the paddlers a bit for some 1-on-1 coaching  for only half the time.   I steered for the remaining half, after switching with Stephen Wong, who started off steering for the team.

The team met at the parking lot for False Creek Yacht Club for 11am, then had a quick warm-up, then headed to the boat for 11:15am, headed over to Alder Bay to pick up Debbie, then back to FC Yacht Club to pick up a paddler named Tony who arrived late after his morning meeting.  Next we paddled towards and past the Burrard St. Bridge to show paddlers where the lights are for the from the nightly spectacular light show.

I pointed out where the boat launch for the Burrard Marina is, where dragon boat paddlers for the flotilla that will accompany the Olympic Torch Relay will organize.

Next we paddled Eastward to Granville Island to identify the Ferry dock at West Side of Granville Island, where the torch will be handed to torchbearer Olympian Hugh Fisher.  We looked over at the bright yellow building, formerly known as Bridges Restaurant, that is now being transformed into the Swiss Pavillion.  At the North end of the Granville St. Bridge is a floating hotel lodge that has been towed down from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) that is normally lodged at Langara Island.

We took a little stretch, then switched sides.  I took a turn at steering, and let veteran paddlers Stephen Wong take his turn for paddling.  Just East of Granville Island is the Spruce Harbour Marina, where nearby, is the area where Hugh will pass the torch to Kamini Jain in the middle of False Creek.    Hugh will be in the dragon boat, and pass the torch to Kamini in the voyageur canoe.  There are great viewing areas from both the North and South sides of False Creek, so it is perfect for cameras and television crews to set up for a unique photo opportunity.

We spotted the big black pontoon floats that are being used for security to block off the boat traffic in the East Bay, that are positioned along Cambie St. Bridge.  We paddled along beside it and waved to the officers in the Police Boat, guarding the perimeter, that includes the Olympic Village.

Next we paddled near the Yaletown ferry dock, where Kamini will hand the torch to a runner, after she climbs out of the voyageur canoe.   The torch will then proceed up the streets towards Georgia Street, where it will arrive at the First Nations Aboriginal Pavillion where there will be a blessing ceremony.  This will be one of the final stops of the Olympic Torch before it travels to the Opening Ceremonies about 2 blocks down the street to BC Place Stadium, later in the evening.

It was a good paddle, and our paddlers were happy and pleased that I would be a part of the dragon boat flotilla accompanying the Olympic Torch Relay.  But most of all, the paddlers were all happy to be paddling again, and in friendly company.  Many times I heard somebody say, "I'm just here for the social aspects" as we paddled back to FC Yacht Club.... by about 12:30pm.

The next plan was to have lunch.  I promised that I would treat everybody to dim sum lunch, if they came paddling.

We were at Floata Restaurant for dim sum, at 1pm, at least my car was.  Other people got re-routed by traffic diversions.  By the time they arrived, there were lots of dim sum selections on the table.  Haw-gow shrimp dumplings, Siu-mai pork dumplings, Lo-bak-goh pan-fried turnip cake.  We also tried a special appetizer plate that included jelly fish,  crispy pork skin and bbq pork.  There was also shanghai style dumpling with shrimp meat and green vegetable, steamed pork bun, sliced-almond covered shrimp balls, fish cakes, and more!  I also ordered house special chow mein with crispy noodles, and Geurng-chow-ngor-hah flat rice noodles with sliced beef.

This was Katie's first time having dim sum in Vancouver.  She's originally from Ontario, and only been in Vancouver almost a year.... and somehow never found her way to dim sum yet.

Georgia pronounced that the meal was "heaven"

GREAT LUNCH!!!  and we finished off with Chinese egg tarts for dessert.

Cranberry Festival is a big fun and important event in Ft. Langley. Every year the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team attends. In the above picture our Gung Haggis Hot Chili team is caught in a boat jam, as a team pushes our stern forward, preventing us from turn the boat to go left.    more »

Our paddlers on the Gung Haggis Bacon Explosion and Gung Haggis Hot Chili teams proved their competitiveness, team spirit and sportsmanship. Gung Haggis has 2 teams: Gung Haggis Fat Chili in the B Division, and Gung Haggis Bacon Explosion in A Division. One team wins their division...    more »

UBC Long Boat race is a tough challenging race. Lots of strategy is important. Steering plays a big role. Experience makes a big difference. Strong paddling from everybody today - at points in both races Gung Haggis Chop Suey MENS team and Gung Haggis FRIENDS were in the lead.   more »

I am paddling in Kelowna with "How Wet Can You Get"
- formerly known as Scotia Dragons for the past decade, they changed their name this year.

I last raced in Kelowna in 2001 with GM Team (also known as Canadian, and later Roli), and in 2002 we raced a Gung Haggis Fat Choy team supplemented by paddlers from the 39th Brigade Army team.

The race site is on Okanagan Lake, just north of the new Bill Bennett Bridge and beside the Grand Hotel.  There is a small beach that is used for the loading and unloading of dragon boats.

There are many people I know and have paddled with over the years o this team.  I was invited by my paddling friend Lisa Venables, who joined the team this year after paddling the previous 8 years with O2P.  Steers William Cheng and I last raced together in 2001 when I coached the Civil Serpents and we brought him on as steers.  Back in 2000, Manley was on Dragon Hearts novice team, when I drummed and coached the Dragon Hearts Rec team.  Cal Kelly joined the Gung Haggis team for the Taiwanese Race 4 years ago.  And Connie Pan works at the Vancouver Public Library with me.

On the first day of this Kelowna Festival, we raced two times, and came 2nd in each race.  Our morning race time was 2:20 - losing by 4 seconds to RGL United

In our afternoon race, with increasing winds and rough water, we raced 2:26 - losing by 10 seconds to Without Warning - where Dan Seto is paddling.

But... we made it into Diamond Division - the second highest tier - so we are in the top 20 teams of about 80-100 teams (I don;t know what the final total is).  We are in lane 1 - so we probably had the slowest combined time,  (they always seed the fastest team in the middle eg. 3 for 5 teams).

But we have 5 or 6 "borrowed paddlers" - so with each race the entire team improves as we learn the race calls, adjust to the stroke and pace, and help bond as a team.  But the other teams have borrowed paddlers, and are adjusting too.  Also in Diamond Division are SFU Scaly Justice Bytes with Stuart Higginson and Ron Chin + Booze Cruise with mercenary paddlers Manfred Preuss + Carolyn Jeffries & Alex Kwok from CC Riders.

The weather started off raining this morning... but cleared up for our first race.  Sunshine actually happened.   But winds blew up after our 2nd race - causing a boat collision - but they kept going.  Sun and heat arrived in time for beer garden time after the races.

I chatted with lots of dragon boat friends. 
Manfred Preuss is here with his wife Kathy, paddling on Booze Cruise,  Manfred paddled with Gung Haggis at Rio Tinto Alcan this year.

Carolyn Jeffries from CC Riders and the CC Riders Coach Alex Kwok are also on Booze Cruise.

Maggie and Harvey are racing with Dragon Hearts Beat, as is James Yu (coach of Metro Van 44 Cheeks)

Allison Adachi and Wade who came out to practice with us on Tuesday are here with a mixed Chilliwack team.

Guen from Shaggin' Dragons is wearing her bunny ears on the drummer's seat.

Lee who paddled with us at Taiwanese last year is here with her Sudden Impact team

Lots of paddlers from Kelowna, including the Blazing Paddles who insisted on buying me a beer for steering for them in Vernon.

Gung Haggis dragon boat team posts two big 1st place finishes in Vancouver's inaugural Last Gasp dragon boat regatta.

The Dragon boat racing season isn't quite over.  With the cancellation of the 6 year old 2009 Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Race, held in conjunction with the Taiwanese Cultural Festival, the new Last Gasp regatta found it's place on the Vancouver Labour Day weekend.

Gung Haggis team after the 2nd race, first 500m race of the day - photo T. Wong

10 person dragon boats were incorporated into the race grid alongside traditional 20 person dragon boats.  The race format featured one 200m. sprint + two 500m races with an optional 1000m. race.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy team was a competitive 3rd place (by 1/2 sec) in first race, a 200m sprint.  Facing tough competition from Starbucks Waverunners and Phat Phish who came 1st by 2 seconds, Gung Haggis was slow off the start, but picked it up for a strong finish.  Finishing so close to more traditionally stronger teams was a big boost to the confidence of our paddlers.

For our 2nd race, I sat off the boat, as a 10 person crew needed a steers.  We had brought in former Gung Haggis paddlers/drummer Julie - so she drummed our regular races.  Steven Wong and I shared steering duties, so he took over for the 2nd race.

Our 2nd race had a strong lead from the start.  After the first very tight race, it was hard to believe that Gung Haggis had such a big lead.  Our team kept up the pressure, calling power series and a strong finish. 

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team crosses the finish line in our 2nd race. - photo T. Wong

The final races, were ranked in order of combined times from the first two races.  We ended up in the D division, even though we were just .23 seconds slower than one of the teams going into C division. But that's racing.  We would have liked to have raced our friends The Pirates from Chilliwack. 

For our D Final race, we were lined up beside Aquarius Aqua Divas - a women's made up of paddlers from Shaggin' Dragons and Speediatrics.  I've known their drummer Guen since about 2006, and Charlene from 1999.  Also lined up beside us was Twisted Hips - a rookie team that was developed from the Paddlers Up public paddling program, that we helped start up back in 2006.

From the start, we took a slight lead.  The team paddled steadily.  We could feel the surge of the boat with each stroke.  I could hear veteran paddlers Tony and Dan calling "Backs Push" - keeping the backs strong and steady.  By the mid-point we had a comfortable lead, so Julie didn't call any more power series. 

"Finish Now" yelled Julie. And the team dug their paddles deeper.  "More" I called from the 4th seat.  And we all paddled harder.   We crossed the finish line, as Julie yelled "More!"  Next she called "Let it run" and we collapsed in fatigue, turning our heads to see the other boats approaching and crossing the finish line, following us by 5 seconds.  Our final race time was 2:25, very close to the 2:24 times of the C final above us.

There were 5 finals altogether. In the A Division Final Race -  A and B had four teams racing.  C, D and E had 3 teams racing. We were happy that our final time beat two teams in C and B divisions.

Masters of D'Zone prevailed, with the addition of our paddler Gayle, who used to paddle with them many years ago.  Gayle is the strongest and most experienced woman paddler on our team, and we feel very fortunate that she likes us and paddles with us for two years in a row now.  We nicknamed her "The Goddess".

Gung Haggis team passes under the Science World dock after their 2nd race of the day. - photo T. Wong

Gung Haggis did NOT race 10 person boats... just 20 person boats + 1000m race.

I also steered a 10 person boat for the joint Banana Fusion / Race Face / Dragon Z team -  We came 1st. for their final Mens team heat.  The 10 person boats also raced heats for womens and mixed as well.

This was my first time in a 10 person boat.  It is  very sensitive.  I needed to brace and balance a lot.  It would have been fun to do a barrel race in them!!!!

Our 1000 m was fun. We had a good start and caught up to the team ahead of us at the turn. But... they slowed down spiking the turn - where I steered a wider course to keep our speed up - trying to cut behind them, as they turned out.... BUT THEY SLOWED DOWN TO MUCH. I told our team "Slow Down" I clipped the outside of their stern... I should have yelled "BACKS HOLD!" We got forced to go outside around the ADD (Shaggin Dragons/Speediatrics) team.... Damn.  we will have to practice turning maneuvers with multiple boats as we prepare for the UBC Day of the Long Boats (Sep 27) and Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Regatta (Oct 12).

If I made the turn, we would have sling-shotted past the 3rd starting boat, and quickly caught the 2nd starting boat. 1st starting O2P was left behind on the first straightaway. 5th starting Strathcona Storm came behind us on the turn, caught up, and powered to the finish.

I am Very proud of our team's performance and that they are all wonderful good-hearted people who like being friends!

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team - Last Gasp edition:
l-r Dan, Sean John, Todd (front), Jim, Christine, Nancy, Joe (back), Stephen W., Tzhe, Walter, Carly (front), Raphel, Julie (almost hidden), Stephen M (back), Marion, Danielle, Karen, Devon (back), Debbie (front), Steve (back), Hillary, Tony, Georgia, Michael, Marshall - photo D. Martin

It's the final dragon boat regatta of the 2009 season in Vancouver

Last Gasp dragon boat regatta Sep 5 Saturday @ Science World/False Creek
This will be the first public dragon boat race in Canada that features 10 person dragon boats.  These boats were first used in Vancouver for the World Police and Fire Games in August.

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team started their racing season with practices in the last week of February, the first race on May 2 in Burnaby's Barnet Marine Park, the Dragon Zone regatta on June 7th, and the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival on June 20 and 21st. 

We entered the Richmond Festival for our first time, and came 4th in the A division.  We traveled to Vernon for July 25/26, as it is our favorite race of the year on beautiful Kalamalka Lake.

We will next enter the UBC Day of the Long Boats and the Ft. Langley Cranberry Festival Regatta, to race in voyageur canoes.

But first.... we have to race Saturday Sep 5th at the Last Gasp regata.
Dragon Zone beside Science World, at Creekside Park, Vancouver BC.

Please come cheer us on!



Here's the message from our magnificient manager Tzhe Lam: