Island Schedule has been sent out.

Looks pretty interesting this year. Lots of competitive teams:

CSDC Seniors
Mayfair
Hydros
Philly
Scotia Rouge
Piranhas
Big Fish
Hammerheads

and some out of town teams again:
Philly
Hamburg Germany
Trinidad
Wall Street
Boston

where is the schedule?

Add Hanalei to that list as well.

Sked was sent to all team captains.

Wow. Making the island final just got hard again.

Holy sh** this is going to be tight

15.2. Race Schedule
The detailed race structure, schedule, and other information for races will be available on the Festival web site on June 13, 2008.

OUCH. Lets make sure someone gets video of this and posts the final!!!!

Definitely easier in Ottawa this year.

So 4 spots are pretty much a lock:

CSDC Seniors
Mayfair
Hydros
Philly

That leaves the rest to battle it out for 2 spots:

Hanalei
Scotia Rouge
Piranhas
Big Fish
Hammerheads

Piranhas, Hammerheads & Big Fish all had disappointing starts to the season. Lets see if they can improve.

forget it, based on pickering i call hanalei and rouge.

the rest can play in B div.

Remember to add in Hamburg/Germany into the Mix. You never know how good they will be but until the first heat is done I would add them into the mix for 1 of the 2 remaining A final spots.

is there a list of crews yet?
if a german team is coming I would not count them out until they race, probably will be loaded
with flatwater paddlers.

Heard from a gal, that heard from a guy that read in some washroom; that teams were racing in either the morning or afternoon so that teams would have to be on the island for the whole day. Sounds reasonable, but what if conditions change drastically?

Anyone heard anything else on this??

Oh well guess if that happens you"ll just have to live with potentially different conditions at a festival to determine you're fate.

Nothing new here

Good to see good competition and some out of town teams. However, Mayfair will easily win again.

If you've heard that and don't agree with it you should probably speak with people who can do something about it before the festival takes place. And if you don't like it then don't go as a sign to protest who unfair it might be to you.
If you accept to go to this festival despiote all of your choices in front of you then you have only yourself to blame.

Before everyone gets hot under the collar it will not be THE Philly we all know and love.

Dearest 8:43,
Of course I don't agree with it, but as the deadline for withdrawal has passed;

3.6 Withdrawals
Registered teams who wish to withdraw from the race should do so in writing to the TIDBRF before May 15, 2008, and a deduction of $100 of the fee will be charged. No refund of the fee, in whole or in part, shall be made after May 15, 2008.

And my team has already paid our entrance to the event, not going is not an option.

As far as not going as a sign of protest, I have not been to the Island race in 5 years, as a sign of protest, obviously the community's voice has been heard and the organizers have tried to improve, who would have bet that GWN would be anywhere near the festival??? Is there a better place to alert the community,that we might need to find out what the thinking behind this is. I'd rather find out, now than complain later. Granted the organizers cannot control the weather but they do need to level the playing field to the best of their abilities.

Seems like a step backward though if some random A level team races in the morning with no tailwind, and a B level team beats them out of the A semi due to a 30km tailwind. At the level this sport is at alot teams finish within 5 seconds.

The Island has always had this format, for years.
Take your lumps...usually the best teams still reach the final.
There is no Semi by the way - read the program

Really last time I did the Island you did one race in the morning and one in the afternoon Saturday, they are called HEATS, that qualify for your first race on Sunday which was called the SEMI, and the last race was called the FINAL, or I think they called it the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP.

"So 4 spots are pretty much a lock:
CSDC Seniors
Mayfair
Hydros
Philly"

The Philly team that registered is not the same team as the one that raced last year in Montreal. This is the group that broke away from that team.

"Really last time I did the Island you did one race in the morning and one in the afternoon Saturday, they are called HEATS, that qualify for your first race on Sunday which was called the SEMI, and the last race was called the FINAL, or I think they called it the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP."

Wrong.

In general you get two heats on Saturday, then a Community Final or an Industry Challenge race early Sunday, then a Final race later on Sunday.

There are no semi's.

Only 2 top teams meeting up on Saturday

CSDC vs. Mayfair

The Philly team that registered is not the same team as the one that raced last year in Montreal. This is the group that broke away from that team.

Honey Bear is coming to the Island?

OH! Honey Bear! We can’t wait.

Didn't Honey Bear race with CSDC?

Wait so the team that broke away from Philly is also called Philly?

Like the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs?

I thought I saw Honey Bear racing with Mayfair.

Actually, Mayfair had some pretty great recruits this year

I am sure I saw Anonymous paddling with Mayfair this year.

Let Honey Bear inspire you with these words apparently discussing their performance last year, seems to explain the sightings with the CSDB, but are they racing as Philly alone or combined with CSDB?

From Honey Bear's web site www.manayunkdbracing.org.
A few words from the Coach:

The team proved it's World Class status by entering this past season with me going outside the norm and changing everything they ever new about the sport over the past 2 1/2 decades. Changes to the entire technique, training regimen, race strategy, race commands and even the paddles they paddle with.

As a coach, I could not have been happier with the results. These athletes were able to adapt and refine their skills in order to keep pace with the rest of the world. The men's team accomplished this with two of the finest female paddlers in the world. We could not have been as successful without them in the boat.

The sport of Dragon Boat Racing is the second largest sport in the world. Second to only soccer. That said, once at the world level, teams are advancing in technology every year with the way they approach racing.

With the help of the Canadian National Team, Team USA made incredible strides towards perfection. I sincerely appreciate all the help our friends from the north provided and I look forward to future joint racing endeavors with their team.

What's with some people's obsession with Honey Bear?

Philly will be racing in the 'Out of Town team Div'.

http://english.people.com.cn/200706/18/eng20070618_385380.html

China knows about Mayfair.

isn't the schedule supposed to be posted today?

i couldn't find it - anyone else had luck yet?

trini's up at perry sound racing and having a good time. Nice team, great people, but not a threat at the island next weekend.

is the schedule up yet?

It's up!
http://www.dragonboats.com/documents/Racebook_2008.pdf

I noticed that on Saturday half of the teams get two races in before the other half of the teams race for the first time. Is this done to make access to the Island easier by allowing half the teams to arrive later?

so...any thoughts on the 12:50 race on sunday afternoon?

Can you say RIP!

You mean this one?

86 12:50 Open Exhibition Final
State Farm Mutual Automobile
Insurance Championship Cup

1 University of Toronto Dragon Boat Club “B”
2 Piranhas
3 NDC Women’s Crew
4 Rip The Fondue (RTF)
5 Manayunk Dragon Boat Racing Team (Philadelphia) Manayunk
6 Outer Harbour Dragonboat Club


Looks rather interesting, actually.

RTF have been surprisingly good as a Men's team.

Philly (Manayunk) is always strong, if they're the same Philly we know and loathe, er, I mean love. (just kidding, Cheesesteaks)

NDC Women? Well, they're going to be faster than most mixed teams, but faster than Men's teams? Forth is possible.

Piranhas have been a little off so far this year. Maybe they'll be ready for the Island.

University of Toronto, who knows? I know nothing about this crew or why they're even here. How did teams get selected for this race anyhow?

Outer Harbour Dragonboat Club. Hmmm, Mayfair & Friends? Is so, should also be fast.


Here's my shot in the dark prediction:

1. Manayunk Dragon Boat Racing Team (Philadelphia) Manayunk
2. Outer Harbour Dragonboat Club
3. Rip The Fondue (RTF)
4. Piranhas
5. NDC Women’s Crew
6. University of Toronto Dragon Boat Club “B”

Manayunk is not the same team as PDBA (Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association). Manayunk is comprised of some former PDBA paddlers. According to the Manayunk website, they are combining with a Canadian team at the Island, so they should be competitive.

My predictions for this race are...<DRUM ROLL>

1. RIP THE FONDUE
2. MANAYUNK
3. OHDBC
4. PIRANHAS
5. NDC WOMENS
6. UofT "B"

RTF is coming first. In my opinion these guys are the only true men's crew going to the Island. A team that practices/trains together on the regular IS 9 times out of 10 going to beat these throw together teams. Its going to be a toss up between places 2-4.


"CAN I HAVE SOME SHOES"?

3 races per teams?

4 for the most part - unless you include the possibility of being 1 of 4 local teams to participate in the international race

"CAN I HAVE SOME SHOES"?

That's a Rip the Fondue line.

Looks like 3 races per team: 2 on Saturday, 1 on Sunday. Or am I missing something?

you are not looking at the special cup races that take place in the morning.

All teams race their specialty final (Community, Bank, Hospital, etc.) in the morning, then the premier finals are in the afternoon. 4 races.

Ah, you're right. I missed those Cup races. Thanks for the heads up.

Hey Gimp:

I guess you missed RTF losing to that "throw-together" crew in Pickering?

buahaha, i think the kids refer to that as "getting owned"....

How many of those international teams are really from out of town? Why pretend? I think next year I will enter a team called team Borat powered by Kazakhstan made up of local yokels.

Is there a "weather bias" during the Island races? Since each team on Saturday either races twice in the morning OR twice in the afternoon, any difference in wind could make a difference. What typically happens from morning to afternoon there, regarding the winds?

Weather bias my azz, stop making excuses.
Fast water to all. Find your own way to the top.

Not making excuses, especially since I'm not even racing there! I'm just curious about how the winds can affect times from morning to afternoon. A well-informed answer would be appreciated.

Could you imagine if the Dragon Beasts had decided to do this event instead of Lachine? That would have been a huge final!!!!

The wind could play a factor on times between the morning and afternoon teams. With only 6 teams in the A final a lot of teams will be either sneaking in or getting shut out.

typically wind is light to nil in the am, and picks up through the afternoon a bit. usually from the west I think. you could argue there may be some lift to the afternoon crews, although it really depends on the specific day conditions. typical is not what matters here - actual conditions will.

4:11 - check out the NTT. The best teams will be racing off then.

"typical is not what matters here - actual conditions will."

The schedule is good in that it you only have to be there for the morning OR the afternoon, which is nice. But the weather is a big crapshoot. Maybe conditions are better in the morning than the afternoon, or vise versa. You just can't tell in advance.

But I've even seen wind gust heavy or light between heats only minutes apart, so you just never know.

Paddle hard, roll the dice, hope for the best.