It looks like FCRCC may be hard to beat as they set the fastest times of the day useing the dreaded Gemini's and going faster than those in racing the BUK's both mixed ,mens and womens .Gorging on the other hand is having a tough time and in round 2 was beat by both Portland's Kai Ikaika and FCRCC's B team ....a hard pill to swallow considering the amount of training they have done in preperation for Malaysia ,hopefully they can pull it together for Day 2

The open division is tough with many heavily stacked outrigger teams battling it out but FCRCC seems to be remaining strong with the fastest time so far useing a Gemini

In the Womens division it appears FCRCC won't be challenged. In the 2000 meter it was an impressive race with FCRCC starting last and finishing first with open water

Onto day 2

here's an interesting overview of yesterdays racing at Alcan

http://timejoy.net/en/node/3514

Results at below link. Gorging had second fastest time in the earlier races FCRCC at 2.00.1, Gorging at 2.02.9, Kai Ikaikai and LARD black at 2.05 and FCRCC B at 2.07. In the heats where they came in third the legend says all go to the semis, did they push it then? The times in these later races are all much faster than the qualifiers.

http://dragonboatbc.ca/docs/2008SaturdayResults.pdf

Looks like FCRCC won all divisions inc the men's in which they had open water . Teams in the open division were tough w/ lots of the best outrigger guys trying to help take a shot but it was an all False Creek weekend .Conrats to all teams for awesome racing

Yep,it was a 1.55 mixed w/ the second and third place teams riding the False Creeks wash in the mixed .From what I saw both of those teams crossed into False Creeks lane trying to take advantage ,Smart race on the part of second and third

The outrigger guys should have been a lot closer but Canadian paddling legend Hugh Fisher managed to steer his boat into theirs near the half way mark. I don't know if he actually hit them but it was very close and about half the right side had to stop paddling for a couple of strokes.

Here's some pretty good video of the 2,000 metre race:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aReKPwB_7S8&fmt=18
http://youtube.com/watch?v=czQLS8ZQIRA&fmt=18

False Creek is the last team to start.

PS: I feel sorry for Kamini. There are a number of False Creek outrigger paddlers who could make the top DB crew, including two who I would rate as the 2nd and 3rd fastest guys in the club. Despite her efforts, she just can't get them interested.

Those top outrigger paddlers where there just in different boats . It was impressive to see who was racing with who from the outrigger side .Some of the fastest outrigger guys on the westcoast jumped on board the other teams inc racing w/ US teams Kai and Mountain Home . They all helped in really stepping up the level of competiton as everyone was wanting to take it away from FCRCC but Kamini's crew is tough with lots of depth and heart .Nice job by all crews and I was really happy to see some of the top outrigger paddlers cross over .

So teams are stacking boats once again just to win?

I know Mountain Home was short a couple of paddlers and had to recruit some locals to have a full boat. On the other hand, they did sit one of their own in favour of a "ringer" in the final so I guess you can say they were trying to stack the team.

Just to clarify my comment about the FC outrigger guys, it was great to see them racing to give the DB team some competition. The disappointing part is that we can't get the best paddlers in the club to form the fastest possible team for national or international competitions.

It's not all about FC DB. There is a huge (friendly) rivalry between the 2 main portland teams.

And you are right Westie, Mountain Home (primarily an outrigger canoe club) was short some paddlers and recruited some locals at the last minute.

As for the mens OC team, they were heard recruiting at the race sight up to an hour before the first race on Saturday! Definitely not the best put forward.

Just watched the video. Not bad for being in one location and the music is quality.
There were a ton of boats in that race, felt sorry for the first few ones.
They really weren't in the same class as the other boats. Felt bad for them.

Did anyone notice what the boat with the white 4 on the red background does at 6:35 of the first video ?

They have their front two rights pry off the boat as the front three lefts and back three rights draw. The team does a pretty tight turn and only does it for the first half of the turn.

Is this common practice, never seen it done here in Ontario?
I wonder if the amount of momentum you lose is less than the advantage gained by the tighter turn?

Anyone really know, be interested to find out.

It's pretty common in OC6 sprints to have seat one pry on the right before switching over to draw on the left. Maybe that has influenced dragon boat teams out here? As to whether it is worth the loss of momentum, I guess the answer depends on how much wider your turn would be if you didn't pry and the amount of room you have.

That was Hugh Fisher's team in boat #4. He's probably one of the top steers out there. That's how to turn a dragon boat.