Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team raced Saturday afternoon in the Dragon Zone Regatta
Happy Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team paddlers after winning the Recreation B Final (standing l-r) Todd, Steven, Walter, Ernest, Stephen (back), Hillary, Wendy, Karen, Christine, Karen, Joe, Heather, Sean John, Raphael, (sitting l-r) Dennis, Jane, Katie, Tony, Debbie, Ashleigh, Tzhe, (front) Jim.
Every June the Dragon Zone regatta is run 2 weeks prior to the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival. This allows the race officials, race organizers to know that the equipment is working, and that volunteers are trained.
On Saturday morning, the top teams raced. These teams are expected to be in the Competitive and Rec A division during the festival. On Sunday afternoon, teams that have finished in Rec B-E or Novice Divisions raced. Junior teams are raced on Sunday morning, along with teams that couldn't race on Saturday.
It was a busy day for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team. We were also filmed for the documentary film “In the Same Boat.” This is a film about dragon boating, and is following a few teams that will race at the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival. We were chosen because we specialize in promoting multiculturalism, and the film makers liked the fact that we are the only dragon boat team wearing kilts.
1st Race – lane 3
We were 1st or 2nd in our first race by fractions.
Very good race, trading places with Chilliwack Crusaders right beside us. Good steering by Commodore Mirowski.
Our friend Manfred Preuss, was paddling on the Crusaders. In 2005, Manfred raced with Gung Haggis at the Alcan Festival. He is the founding president of the Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Association, and created the Fraser Valley Dragon Boat Festival at Harrison Hot Springs.
Crusaders 2:39.870
Gung Haggis 2:40.150
That's a difference of 0.280 seconds.
2nd Race – lane 2
We made changes, putting Jane on the drummers seat, moving Todd to
steer, and Stephen Mirowski to paddle. The team adjusted to the
changes, but our rate was a bit high, and we lagged from the start. Our friends GVRD 44 Cheeks took off from us at the start. Their steers Dave Samis, often paddles with us in races that GVRD doesn't enter.
Gung Haggis – 2:43.190 – 5th place
Crusaders – 2:41.560 – 4th place
GVRD – 2:30.860 – 2nd place
3rd Race B Final – lane 2
We decided to keep Jane on the drummers seat. Devon spared out to go
to work, and Debbie Poon came in after spending the morning doing research on the ferries. We had a strong
start, and took an early lead. We surged farther by midpoint, and
pulled away with a strong finish by TWO BOAT LENGTHS. 1st place in B division – by 2 lengths… It's a good demonstration that the team could actually race well in A Division. This does wonders for the confidence of our paddlers.
1st place Gung Haggis 2:36.110
2nd place Hmmm Sea Monster 2:46.300
3rd place Crusaders 2:46.330
Way to go Gung Haggis…
And everything was captured by the documentary film crew shooting “In the Same Boat.”
Please post pictures to Flickr and join the Gung Haggis dragon boat team flickr group.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/584030@N22/