Gung Haggis dragon boat team opens racing season at Lotus Sports Club's Bill Alley Memorial dragon boat regatta and receives special community spirit prize

2009_May 065 by you.
The team is ready to head out for their 4th race, assisted by Barb Alley.

The 2009 team roster had 14 paddlers returning to Lotus: 
Drummer Todd
1 - Tzhe & Alissa
2 - Wendy & Nicole
3 - Jane & Christine
4 - Ernest & Debbie
5 - Steven W. & Jonas
6 - Jim & Stephen M
7 - Adam & Joe
8 - Dan & Karen
9 - Marion & Raphael
10 - Nancy and Dave S.
guest steers Harvey.

Saturday May 2nd.
Barnet Marine Park

2009_May 011 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team waits on the beach before loading the boat.  Tzhe wears his new desert camoflage kilt.  Wendy is wearing Tzhe's blue kilt.

Great racing by the Gung Haggis dragon boat team on Saturday at the Lotus Sports Club Bill Alley Memorial Regatta held at Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby

We improved steadily with every race.  Refining our techniques, efforts, team work, and race strategies.

race 1 - 4th
race 2 - 2nd
race 3 - 3rd  BRONZE FINAL
race 3 - 3rd   MIXED ADULT B FINAL

2009_May 067

Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in red boat Lane 4 - closest to shore

We were never last in any of our races.  Definitely exhilarating.  We addressed performance issues after each race, corrected and improved.  Everybody looked after their area of responsibilities, and our performance improved with each race.  The last race was our BEST race, in rougher waters, and we can be proud of our improvements, and efforts given.

In our first race we were beaten by both SOAR and Lotus Junior Team B.  But we were able to improve and beat the Lotus Juniors in the Bronze Final by 4 seconds. SOAR had beaten us by 3.31 seconds in our first race, but in the Mixed Final B, we beat them to the finish line 3.29 seconds faster.

2009_May 063 Team SOAR (Spirit of a Renegade) poses on the beach before our final race in the Mixed Adult B Final.  I asked them to pose for this picture, then jokingly asked them to step back 10 feet.  They obliged during the race finishing 3.29 seconds behind us.  I guess we will have a showdown at our next set of races when we meet.

We faced our arch rivals and friends The Pirates a total of 3 times in our 2nd, 3rd and 4th races.  With each race they improved beating us initially by .56 seconds, then 3.48 seconds in the Bronze Final, and then a whopping 8.12 seconds with a final time of 1:52.44 to our 2:06.56 minutes.  We'll have to make sure that our friend and former Gung Haggis paddler Tony Lim isn't doesn't paddle for them next time we meet.  And hopefully both Gayle and myself will be paddling in our boat too!

2009_May 075 Captain Ian Paul, of The Pirates, collects his teams "just rewards."

Special Thanks to Jonas for stepping into the empty seat., Dan for joining us on short notice, and Harvey for steering.

Congratulations to our rookies Nancy, Christine and Karen for performing well.

Important Thank yous to Stephen Mirowski and Tzhe Lam for organizing and managing our team, and race rosters.

If we get everybody out for consistent practices, we should definitely give the Pirates a good run, the next time we meet them. 

MOST IMPORTANT - we met and accomplished or team goals of FUN, FITNESS and FRIENDSHIP.  Much more important that finishing first, or finishing 2nd and yelling at each other for not coming first.

2009_May 080 by you.
AND our team... received special poster prints of the 1st Vancouver Mens dragon boat team practicing at Barnet Marine Park - This is the first team that would go to Hong Kong dragon boat festival to represent Vancouver. Todd holds the print, while standing with Lotus Sports Club's Grace Morrisette, who was Todd's first dragon boat coach when The Headliners team practiced out of Lotus Sports Club in '93 and '94.  These prints were gifted to our team for our "Team spirit and community dedication" as we performed our second annual "dragon & lion dance" as a fundraiser for the Bill Alley Memorial scholarship fund, given to a paddler on the Lotus Junior team.

2009_May 026 Todd coached and drummed.

2009_May 040 Harvey steered for us!

See more pictures and videos posted on Flickr.
Gung Haggis Dragons @ Lotus 09

Gung Haggis Dragons @ Lotus 09