Hello All,

We wanted to let you know registration for the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival begins November 1st, 2007 at 12:00 AM online at www.dragonboat.net. If you have any questions or require more information plaese see the website or call Stephanie Robinson at 613 238-7711 ext 226.

I hope everyone is having a great fall and we look forward to seeing you in June 2008.

John

Damn that's early.

There'll probably be a waiting list already come December... most likely.

This is becoming the best and most competitive race in the country. Dragonboat Canada should make this the Canadian Championships.

What is the race date ?

"This is becoming the best and most competitive race in the country. Dragonboat Canada should make this the Canadian Championships."

I do agree that this should be considered - based on competativeness, and how well it is run.

Two issues with the festival are:
1) Not good for spectators
2) Would need help with a better more professional starter.

The Festival takes place June 20-22, 2008, with racing on the 21st and 22nd.

And here I thought Toronto was the centre of the universe! jk

Okay, the Ottawa regatta is nice, but Canadian Championships? That's a bit much. It has attracted a number of good teams especially over the last few years, bu there are several other large, well known regattas in Canada at around that same time. What do we want to do, kill those off or reduce them in order to build up Ottawa? It's also too early in the season. A true national championships should be outside of the festival-heavy month of June where teams wouldn't have to decide on Ottawa vs Toronto vs Vancouver vs Pickering, etc, and at a time when we've all been able to fully prep.

But the location is a good compromise for Sudbury, Toronto and Montreal based teams, and REALLY good for Ottawa teams, of course. It's even not that far from the east coast, i.e. Dragon Beasts. West Coast teams would still have a long, expensive trek, but that's always going to be the case for anything east of Calgary.

So the location is fine, nice wide open water, central location, etc. But timing should be in August.

Not terrifically friendly to out of town teams, weird rules and spectator problems hardly makes for a great championship venue

On the other hand, with a new venue, this fall's GWN was just about perfect.

Canadian Championships should be moved around the country (including Vancouver/Victoria and Halifax). Ottawa is certainly one of the few venues in Ontario capable of holding them (along with Welland, and M. Bell park.

"Not terrifically friendly to out of town teams, weird rules"

Geee, are you from the team that didn't bother to read the rules and then had a hissy fit about them being inforced.

I assure everyone out their that Ottawa is very friendly to out of town teams.

Good and fair racing is the most important element for the Canadian Championships and this can be accomplished in Ottawa.

Another starter can be used if the championships are held in Ottawa.

The effect on other races would be minimal.

Championship caliber teams should be ready to race in June as well as August and if they are not ready to race that is their own fault.

Spectators are primarily racers, family and friends. It is always nice to have a venue with convenient views for spectators but good and fair racing is more important.

Direct competition for Centre Island? Will be interesting to see who goes where. This is a great location, as someone previously mentioned, for Eastern Canada crews to compete in. Sudbury, Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec teams and Maritimes. WOW! Will have to wait yet another year...

I don't think it will be an issue. I don't know of any teams that did the Island, then did Ottawa last year.

People would have picked just one anyways.

"Championship caliber teams should be ready to race in June as well as August and if they are not ready to race that is their own fault.

Spectators are primarily racers, family and friends. It is always nice to have a venue with convenient views for spectators but good and fair racing is more important."


My point is that we should have a healthy festival circuit in addition to a National Championships, not a really great National Championships instead of a healthy festival circuit. You don't think one would draw attention away from the other? Hmm, that sounds either innocently naive or a blatant lie.

I'm sure the Ottawa group is thrilled that someone is trying to pump up their festival, but I think we leave well enough alone and build something up without tearing something else down.

Yeah, I know that sounds extreme. But I still don't see why we need the national championships in June right in the thick of our festival-heavy early summer. Championships usually come at the END of the season, don't they? August isn't the end of the season, but at least it's not the beginning either.

Last time I checked, Ottawa sells out on the festival side.

The sport racing teams that will attend the national championships will not dilute or impact the existing circuit of races. If they do, then those events need to create environments that are apealing to teams. Ottawa has clearly done this and should be rewarded with the National Championships.

It only makes sense to combine the national championships with an existing event. In Ottawa's case, this means June.

you just want to call your favourite festival the national championships. that's all.

Actually I think it's just the organizer who wants it to be. GWN, Sudbury, Welland, even the Island are better Ontario choices IMHO.

I agree that Ottawa puts on a great festival. I am not sure if they have the expertise to host the nationals. I guess DBC will decide if Ottawa submits a bid to host the event.

This has been interesting to follow. We are not hosting the Nationals. We spoke to DBC about it as they did thier due diligence and spoke to many festivals and locations about six weeks ago. We concluded it would have to be a separate event and that we are not interested in holding two events in one summer. I imagine it will be in Welland. I hope this helps you all.

Take Care,
John

The Nationals will not be able to be held at the same time as the Ottawa festival. Can you imagine world class teams having to wait around for 190 other teams, mostly corporate and rec teams, to fart around in the water before they have to race?

The Rideau Canoe Club could host the Nationals. After all, they were the hosts for the Canoe and Kayak Nationals this year. I wouldn't expect the festival organizers to host something like the Nationals.

But why would they want to?

No doubt RCC could host the nationals, they are one of the two Ontario locations that host CKC nationals.
It would not likely be spectator friendly as I doubt they would want to go through the hassle of securing the traditional festival site and would opt to using their own facilities. And if that is the case be prepared to check your boat as soon as the head crosses the line.
If you are holding a national championship separate from a festival you can probably dispense with the extras (beer gardens etc) as the only teams there would only be interested in the racing.

The only reason I could see RCC wanting host would be for potential financial benefits.

My vote would be for Halifax. World class facilities (which will be even better after the work is done for the 2009 ICF worlds)

Wow! 180 teams x $1200 x 8 months of interest. Somebody in Ottawa has their finance hat on.


Attention Dragonboaters:
Registration for the 2008 Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival starts this November 1st, 2007 with an Early Bird Fee of $1,200 + GST.
After January 31, 2008 regular registration fee of $1,300 + GST applies, so get your team registered early.


Payment must be made by January 31, 2008 to qualify for the Early Bird fee.

Contact Stephanie Robinson at (613) 238-7711 ext. 226 for more information.

Important information about our new fees:
Due to an increase in the operating costs of the festival, the entry fees for the 2008 Ottawa Dragonboat festival have been increased from previous years. The Board and Dragon Boat Office of the Festival continually strive to improve the quality of the event and the services offered to the paddlers on an annual basis. At the same time, our costs for running the festival have been going up every year. For many years, we have resisted any increases in entry fees, and even reduced entry fees in 2004 for the corporate sector in an effort to treat all teams fairly. The Board has made this difficult decision after engaging in a careful consideration of the impact this decision will have on the festival and its participating teams. The Board is committed to keeping the festival financially accessible to as many crews as possible while continuing to provide excellent racing conditions.

Public Meeting
The Race Committee of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival invites you to a public meeting on the evening of November 12th , 2007. This is your opportunity to share your questions, comments and ideas with the race organizers.

Limit of two members from each team. Location to be announced.

Please RSVP to team@dragonboat.net by Wednesday, November 7, 2007 .

uhhh...that's 190 teams...

increased operating costs = raises for all staff! Yeehaaaaa

180 x 1200 = $216,000
Add interest and that's a nice business plan.

Hey Yall,

I just looked at Quickbooks for our fiscal year and we made $ 52.72 cents for all cash that went through the bank in the year in interest. We also paid almost 5K in service charges in order to be able to accept credit cards for team registrations. If you do have any questions or concerns about where and how money is spent, please call me directly. I am more than happy to speak at length about this. Just today I paid all the deposits on the tents for the entire festival weekend. Can you believe it is only November? Crazy eh!

John

Find another tent company or at least tender your needs. Do your bosses know you are revealing FS info on a public forum?

John,

I wouldn''t bother with some of these people. It's obvious someone or a company is trying to undermine your successful event. Keep up the good work, word is spreading, more crews will come. There is nothing wrong with making money on your event, it means that you'll be around for the following year. No event is going to have any sustaining power if they continue to lose money year after year.

This is the best race of the year - no question.

Ottawa's a good event but for the first time I give the edge to GWN. A better course for racing and viewing and the depth of competition is way above what goes on in Ottawa. At least they're at opposite ends of the season. We've put both on our calendar.

Ottawa has way more than any other festival to offer beyond the racing.

Ottawa is very well organized and there are lots of things to do there. But in terms of actual racing, it's crappy for spectators. The course is too wide, you can't hear the starter. The officiating is a joke. So it's not all this thread has it cracked up to be.

Whatever it lacks in spectator friendliness it more than makes up for in unnecessary rules.

Stuff like the paddle 'guide' is just stupid.

Ottawa eliminated their old paddle rule. Get educated before you speak on this forum. Have you read the rules?

"and the depth of competition is way above what goes on in Ottawa."

Really. Read the competativeness indicators yet?

http://www.dragonboatcanada.org/rankings/2007_byFestival.htm

Looks like you just made that up!

The GWN competitiveness indicator is artificially low, since the winning team (MDG) was essentially Mayfair, but the competitiveness factor is calculated as if Mayfair was not there.

Ok, point taken. But you still claimed:

"and the depth of competition is way above what goes on in Ottawa."

I hardly think that by throwing one top team into the mix that GWN is suddenly "way more competative" and that the one extra team adds a ton of "depth".

In 2007 both festivals were pretty close in terms of competativeness, with GWN getting the nod. In past years, GWN has definetly been the more competative festival - we'll see if Ottawa continues to attract the top teams in subsequent years.

competitive.....

Ottawa is great. GWN is convenient and attracts a large number of quality GTA teams.

I put Ottawa ahead of GWN because it attracts teams suchs as the Beasts, Chiros, events alive, etc.

and I do not want to hear complaints about lanes being "too wide" as all we hear about most festivals is how some "undeserving" team (i.e. the team that beat us) made it into the finals by a lucky draw and wash-riding a faster crew.

Ottawa is a true festival while GWN is a race event. Nothing wrong with either. It is great to the two combined as it becomes much more interesting. Hats off the organizers of Ottawa for pulling the two together.

I'm confused as to why Ottawa is more of a "festival" than GWN. I was at Ottawa last year and GWN this year, both had great racing AND festival elements. (GWN last year was weak, but that was a transition year).

Ottawa lanes aren't "too wide", but at 8 lanes across the course is too wide for the volume of the starting signal. Last year if you raced in the far lane (closest to the beach) you had a hard time hearing the starter. This could cost you. And the race format in Ottawa was at least 40% a waste of time, whereas at GWN every single race mattered.

Both are great regattas/festivals, but the Ottawa schilling is becoming a bit tiresome.

Then again, the entire Forum is tiresome at this time of year. We need some news worth talking about.

It's true that the horn was impossible to hear from the outside lane. However, knowing how progressive the Ottawa crew is I have little doubt it will be addressed next year.

Ottawa is the best. It sells out so get your entry early if you want to attend one of the best festivals in the country.

USDBF Decision Mystifies Aspiring 2010 Host Cities
American cities and festival operators who aspire to host a future National Championship event
are very confused by the behaviour of the USDBF these past weeks. Particularly those who
placed their bet on Tampa’s now successful bid to host the 2011 IDBF World Championships. At
least a couple of cities of which I am aware made a conscious decision to by-pass the 2008
edition of the National Championships in order to focus their efforts on a 2010 bid. Their
reasoning made perfect sense. If the 2011 world’s were being held in the USA then participation
levels at the 2010 nationals, which traditionally double as a qualifying event for the following
year’s worlds, would likely be much higher. The word on the street is that the USDBF executive
could not make the hard decision between short-listed Long Beach and Knoxville to host the
2008 national event. Rather than choose between the two an announcement is expected shortly
which will see the 2008 National Championships in Long Beach and… the 2010 National
Championships in Knoxville? Excuse me?! When did that RFP come out?
Now, I have nothing against Knoxville. Dynamic Events is the resident dragon boat production
firm in Tennessee and has produced quality events for a number of years. In fact, I have it on
good authority that the site selection committee actually recommended Knoxville for 2008.
The USDBF’s curious course of action begs the question; why did the executive not follow the
recommendations of their independent site selection committee? My past experience with US
National bid process is that the selection committee’s decision was basically rubber stamped with
minor, if any, adjustments. Regardless, it was certainly the case that due process was routinely
followed. For 2010, the USDBF seems resigned not to develop a process at all. Mystifying at the
very least; frustrating for others who may now consider 2012… or not.
Mike Kerkmann is president of Great White North and the IDBF Council Representative for North America.

What the hell is that?

Wrong thread maybe?

Wrong forum?