Outrigger canoe race at Lotus Sports Club, heading North on Indian Arm – photo Dave Samis
Category Archives: Gung Haggis dragon boat team information
Outrigger canoe race at Lotus Sports Club, Barnet Marine Park – on land before the race – photo Dave Samis
Outrigger canoe race at Lotus Sports Club, getting ready to start – photo Dave Samis
Outrigger canoe race at Lotus Sports Club, Barnet Marine Park w/safety boats – photo Dave Samis
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team getting ready to go to Kent/Seattle race.
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Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team getting ready to go to Kent/Seattle race.
This
is the first road trip for Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team since
Harrison last year… It's been awhile since the whole team went on
the road to enter under our own name. 2003, in both Kent WA and
Portland.
But not all our paddlers are able to make the trip south to Washington state.
There will be paddlers joining us from 3 other Vancouver area teams + a team in Victoria, and maybe even from teams in Tacoma and Portland… as we now have just one empty seat.
The team has rebuilt, and is probably its strongest yet…
Competition was much tougher at ADBF this year… a lot of weaker teams
have dropped out, or found it too prohibitive to enter a team.
We
had a good practice tonight… but having to use the Gemini boat…
was challenging… I will ask Dragon Zone to reserve a 6-16 for us for
next Tuesday, as we are training for Vernon.
WEDNESDAY practice…. focusing on technique and Beginner paddlers.
Start time 7:00pm… we load up at 7:20 and on the water from 7:30 to 8:55pm.
This is ideal for rookie paddlers, beginners and experienced paddlers who want to
work on their technique or try their hand at steering, coaching, etc.
Please find the attached information sheet on paddling technique.
Sunday practice…
is cancelled as half the team + coach + steers and drummer will be in Seattle.
July 9th – Gung Haggis dragon boat team practice: preparation for races in Kent WA
July 9th – Gung Haggis dragon boat team practice:
preparation for races in Kent WA
The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team is getting ready to go to Kent/Seattle dragon boat races, just south of Sea Tac airport on Lake Meridien. It is part of Cornucopia Days in Kent WA.
We had a mix of veteran paddlers, rookies, and brand new beginners. A full boat of 23 paddlers… okay… a wee bit heavy. It was important to prepare the team for the races in Kent WA, for next week, so we started off with some warm-up, then did a 500m race piece. It was a little bit ragged, so we did some exercises for timing and technique, before working on our starts, and finishing off on another race piece.
The Cornucopia Days festival has a real small-town America feel to it. The streets are closed off.and stalls lined the curbs. There is music, and amusement park rides. The bars are open, and so is the beer garden. There is no great variety of multicultural music, arts and culture like in Canada… but there generally is classic rock and roll, country music and an Elvis impersonator or two.
I really like the races on Lake Meridien. It's a nice civilized lake, that has become gentrified – surrounded by former “resort homes” as urban sprawl spread south of Seattle and into the town of Kent. From it's inception in 2001, the Kent dragon boat race has tried to follow IDBF format. In 2001, there were 250m sprint and 1000 distance races, in addition to the 500m standard race length. The first year, I went down to volunteer for the False Creek Women's team, assisting coach Andre Dillon with keeping track of race times, and stopwatch timing. The FC Women went to Kent to try out the new BuK dragon boats that would also be used in the World Championships in Philadelphia the next month.
In 2002, I went down with 3 new dragon boat paddlers to teach them the fine art of “dragon boat slutting.” I knew that there would be a few teams short of paddlers, and wasn't about to let the lack of a dragon boat team get in my way of racing.
No sooner than I had checked in with the race registrar who gave me the name of the Multnohmah Canoe Club, which was short of paddlers, when I bump into Joe from the Tacoma Dragon Boat Association.
“Hi Todd, who are you paddling with?”
“Nobody yet… I came down on my own…”
“Well step over her, our coach Clem would sure like to talk with you,” Joe welcomed me.
I had met the Tacoma DBA, the previous year at the Seattle Cancer Survival Dragon Boat Race on Lake Washington the year before, and began the start of a beautiful friendship with the team and organization. That day, I raced for a gold medal in the finals, as the Tacoma DBA placed 1st overall. My paddling friends from Vancouver, all declared medals at the border, as the Multnohmah Canoe Club also medaled in the Recreation Divison.
Looks like Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team will have a lot to live up to next week on July 15th, when we race on Lake Meridien.
Grouse Grind: The day after the day after Canada Day
Grouse Grind: The day after the day after Canada Day
The very first time I did the Grouse Grind, it was on Canada Day in
1999 or 2000. There was snow at the top of the Grind… and
people were skiing on Grouse and Cypress Bowl. Phenomenal.
Today…. I did the Grind with Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team
members. Some of the paddlers had done it last week, and the
chance for me to do it for the first time since Trevor Linden was
traded back to the Canucks, was too much to resist. I think that
time we finished the Grind in about 1 hour. I used to do a lot of
trail running, and could really sprint up the steps with style.
Meet at 10am… at the bottom of the Grind. Okay… we didn't get
going until 11am. We were hoping for a 90 minute jaunt up
the mountain, but it stretched to about 110 minutes because it was very
crowded on the holiday Monday. We paced ourselves and climbed
according to our ability and conversation levels. Some people
like our marathon runner Grace were able to sprint up the hill,
followed closely by Stephen. Others like Dan, Jim, Wendy and
myself… took our time and had good conversations with each other and
the people we met. Finishing somewhere in the middle were Jonas,
his friend Navid, Julie and Teresa.
“Aren't you paddling today?” a stranger asked me half way up the
Grind. His name was Bryan and he paddled with Lotus Sports
Club. He recognized me as the organizer/coach of the Gung Haggis
Fat Choy dragon boat team. We had a nice conversation.
I told him I was really happy with this year's Gung Haggis team.
Here it was the 3rd day of a holiday long weekend, and we had already
met for Canada Day BBQ, Sunday practice + Jazz Festival, now the Grouse
Grind. They really enjoy each other's company that much!
And they will be ready for practice on Tuesday.
I hiked/ran back down the Grind on my own…. determined to get myself back into my old fitness level.
My thighs and knees are sore now. But my back feels pretty
good. Much better than when I run a 10km Terry Fox Run without
training…. Training is important. Doing the Grind is just my
training to do a run across the Baden Powell Trail from Horseshoe Bay
to Deep Cove. The “Knee-Knackering North Shore Trail Run” takes 6
hours to 10 to complete…. I think. Maybe I won't do it.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team BBQ at Jericho… on Canada Day!
Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team BBQ at Jericho… on Canada Day!
Yes… this is a dragon boat team with an eating problem.
Paddler Dan brought prosciutto wrapped canteloupe – that were lightly braised + incredible marinated prawns.
Daming Zhao offers up a scrumptiously tasty kebob at the 2nd Annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy summer BBQ – photo Todd Wong
Daming looked after the BBQ, with marinated Chinese style chicken and
beef and vegetables. Even melon and strawberries made it to the
BBQ.
We played some volleyball, talked dragonboats, took in some sun, and enjoyed the friendship of wonderful people.
Some of our d-boat team members… sitting (l-r) Stephen, Jonas and Jim.
Standing Deb, Julie, Natalie and Dan. – photo Todd Wong
Gung Haggis team Canada Day bbq: some of our paddler participants – photo Todd Wong
Daming Zhao is our BBQ expert on the Gung Haggis Ft Choy dragon boat team – photo Todd Wong