We had a wonderful practice tonight....
Paddlers said it was one of the best.
The sun was out... the wind was up, whitecaps in False Creek - YIKES!
All our paddlers rose to the challenge. Waves hit the sides of the boat, and sometimes came in. People got wet... some the wettest ever at a practice. But it was a great practice. 20 paddlers in a Gemini boat. We started with a warm-up paddle to Cambie St. Bridge. We did a 500m race piece to prepare for the May 19th Bill Alley memorial dragon boat regatta organized by the Lotus Sports Club.
We raced practice starts with a team that was Rec B last year... And we stayed right with them for a start. After the start we were about 6 to 10 feet behind. This was the closest we had been to them all Spring... up to now, they usually left us way behind. And we had 3 newbie paddlers + 3 rookies on the boat! Last year we were Rec E. We want to be Rec B this year... and we are well on our way.
After the race pieces we looked at correcting things that needed improving such as our timing, and technique. We did some speed drills, some small group work, then worked on our starts.
We have a good dedicated core crew who come every practice on Tuesday 6pm, and Sunday 1pm.
Some of the paddlers have been with us 3 years. Our drummer/steers will have her 5th year with us. Ex-paddlers still come to race with us. It's good to have friends.
Last year we raced 9 dragon boat race + 2 voyageur canoe races. We love to race... and we travelled to Seattle, Victoria, Vernon, Cultus Lake, and Burnaby. We raced in teak, 6-16, and Gemini boats, Dynasty boats in Vernon, Millenium boats in Victoria, and Taiwanese Cedar boats in Vancouver.
And we love to eat... We have a Tuesday Night Food Club after practice. Each week we try to go to a different restaurant. Usually we go out for Chinese food... we like Foo's Ho Ho and Hon's Won Ton House in Chinatown... Sometimes we go to Congee House on Broadway and Main St. But tonight we went the The Clubhouse Japanese restaurant, and were promptly greeted by the manager Karen. She remembered us from last year and welcomed us back.
Join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat food and social club.
Todd Wong
coach and clan chieftain
gunghaggis @ yahoo dot ca
778-846-7090
