LOTUS Sports Club Bill Alley Dragon Boat Regatta:

The Lotus Regatta went well, the rain held off, but it
was still a bit chilly and the sun didn't show.
Typical racing in May. There were 16 teams racing. Bob
Gung Haggis coach Brinson was there coaching 
WOW: Women On Water from Ft. Langley BC.

Four of our Gung Haggis paddlers showed up and I found 
them spots to paddle with the Save-On Voyageurs from
Chilliwack. They were coached by Manfred who is the
president of the Fraser Valley Dragon Boat
Association, who invited us to come paddle in the
inaugural Harrison Lake dragon boat Festival on July
16.  I have known Manfred and the Fraser Valley
paddlers since 2001.  They are a friendly bunch of
people and were very happy to welcome our paddlers, as
they are a brand new team of rookies and were short
paddlers.

Bob's team WOW - won their first race and looked very
good. They later went on to win the Women's Race at
the end of the day.

Our 4 paddlers on Save-On Voyageurs won their first
race too.  Dan and Ernest sat out the first race and
we watched from the beach with Manfred.  Dan and
Ernest learned a lot as we talked about race
preparation, and what goes on during a race.  Manfred
shared how the Save-On team had only had about 8
practices and he was very pleased with their
performance. 

The team surprised themselves and  and went on to the
Finals... very good for a team of rookies.  They
really valued the experience of Kristine and Joe, plus
the enthusiasm and muscles of our own rookies Dan and
Ernest.  Daming also showed up around 12, and was able
to watch the races.

Lots of good enthusiasm and fun today.  Can't wait to
share it all with everybody for our next practices. 
Our first race as a team will be the Alcan Dragon Boat 
Festival regatta on June 5th. From about 12 noon to 4pm. 
More details including race times tba.