So SRS wins and last year they were named Flexogen. I just don't get it. They win, they're good but is it fair. I thought to myself, everyone strives to win the island and these guys do it so easily. But is it fair that they have an advantage over the rest of us.

I just don't get it. I'm not sure if I should be disappointed that such an elite crew wins the island and the rest of the field are left financing the thing year in and year out.

Last year Scotia should have taken the big prize and this year the Imps deserved it but is that a fair comment. My thinking is that club teams like Huron Kayak and Flex/SRS/MCC are in a league of their own.

Congrats anyway!

What if there were no big prizes, just glory and medals? No airfare, no free entries. Then it wouldn't matter so much. People could race for fun. When SRS or Events Alive won then you could say, "Isn't it cool that those guys and girls can paddle really well and win these events? I bet we can get closer to them. "


Coming closer to those paddlers would be more like winning. Perhaps the Missy or Rideau crews could give an afternoon of free sprint kayak/canoe/war canoe lessons to the DB crew that came second as a way of recognizing and encoraging them (if they were interested - beer might also be good.)

Maybe the entry fee would be smaller as well.


GREAT racing this weekend at the two big festivals. Thanks to all the organizers and volunteers.

Any and all DBers are welcome to go to any of the Canoe Clubs in the GTA and try out Sprint Canoe.Get your manager on the phone and get your team out on a Sunday afternoon.They would be happy to show you how its done.

Totally stacked for this race. The women were essentially the Montreal Women. I feel sorry for the Hammerheads since they are the only team that does not import talent. Must be nice to have Blake ask his Women's Premier team paddlers and hopefuls to paddle for his pet team.

I agree. What's with the stacking? Blake always seems to pull one over everyone's eye's. WILL ANYONE EVER STAND UP TO HIM?

Stop your whining!!!!!Sound like a bunch of 2 year olds!

As the old saying goes,Shuddup and paddle.Quit being so concerned about what everyone else is doing!Buncha complainers.Its like you do not want any of the good ppl there so you can win!!!Thought the Festival was "watered down" and you still couldn't win?

You have to go back about 10 years, when the Island had a separate division (and, frankly, I think it was just one race, but I am not sure about that), and a rule in the corporate division that paddlers could not have been a member of a canoe club in the last twelve months. I think there was even a cash prize for the winning canoe club, and they were not eligible for the (then) HK tickets. Things changed in '96 with the BMO-sponsored MCC-dominated crew.

Was it better? Fairer? Don't know. It just was.

Should they consider going back to it? I'm ambivolent. What do you think?

I wondered that too? Is it fair to let them race? Is it fair to not let them race? What if there was a limit to how many national paddlers or flatties etc (whatever) on a boat. Is it then too complicated? Or do we just keep striving for the day that we may perhaps finally come close to their level ... do we use that drive to just keep training harder? (I dunno)

Get over it people.

5 years ago the MCC or any other canoe club crew would have won that race by 6-10 seconds. Now it's 2-4 seconds. What's that tell you? The dragonboaters are getting better or there are more people training like the sprint canoers, but the truth is the gap is closing.

In years gone by if a crew threw a few sprint paddlers into a boat like G and G did at Pickering it would have been a sure thing. Now even the best of the sprint crews are only a couple of seconds better.

Can you imagine if years ago the powers that be decided to ban the canoe clubs because they were too good. The A final would still be running 2:15 for the final.

Keep complaining if you like, or do what the Imps, Hammerheads and many more top crew do, train harder and who knows, maybe in a couple of more years, the gap will be gone.

"The Imps were essentially the Montreal Women"

Clear case of broken telephone:

A few comments:
1. Holy exaggeration, batman!
- The Hammerheads have a roster of what, close to 30 paddlers: who needs to import when you have such a huge roster of extremely capable paddlers - the Imperial Dragons: look at how many went up to the podium. 20 on the dot? Recruiting did not go well this year.

- The Imperial Dragons have a large number of premier paddlers on their team and you know Mac's position on the SNP: where do you think the people they were replacing were? IN OTTAWA

- If the Imp Women were essentially Montreal Women, where were the Wongs? Verdun? IN OTTAWA

- If the Hammerheads are totally pure and fair, why were they so far left in their lane? Why was the referee constantly telling them to move over?

2. I don't see a single Imp on the forum whining, I don't see a Hammerhead whining. All this shit about stacking comes from the whiners who don't shut up and train.

3. I sat on the shore because I didnt' make that final. I sucked it up and I shut up. You should too.

Go easy on Blake boys and girls. Blake may have connections to replace paddlers with talent, but here's the scoop. Imps had THREE (not 8 or 10 like some idiot suggested) Montreal women in the boat on Saturday, who just happened to replace 2 Imp girls who are on the Senior team but were in Ottawa. In the Industry Cup race, only ONE of those Montreal girls paddled with the Imps. And they only lost by 96/100ths to SRS in that race. Back to two Montreal girls for the final. So stop your bitchin and complaining about who Blake knows or who he can call on. And you don't think Scott Ford (the Imps coach) has connections? Those three Montreal girls are great paddlers, but the two girls in Ottawa (Dori and Donna) are tremendous paddlers as well. Get your facts straight before you dump on Blake. I believe it was just 3 weeks prior to Pickering someone suggested the IMPS were washed up and the chapter has turned for them. I think they've proved themselves well in Pickering and at TIDBF they are back and as strong as ever before.

"Let them race"

I will continue to shake my head at the stupidty that surrounds this SPORT...and I use that term lightly.Maybe we should not let the Carded athletes in Sprint Canoeing race at the local regattas!Never in my life have I heard any "SPRINTER" complain about having to race against the Budays etc...everyone is just happy to have them there!

You ppl come into this "sport" and want to fast track to the top?You criticize everything you can that stands in your way!

I had a great time racing and coaching a couple of crews on the weekend. Our SRS Team was essentially the same crew we've had for the last number of years except the name has changed (SRS, Flexogen, MCC the last three years which is about all I can remember at the moment). We had a good race in the final and the other crews gave us a good push. We're not paddling down the course easy and washing everyone out. It amazes me that some people would like to ban us from the festival. We're already out of the club crew worlds, although I continue to argue that since we've had long term crew continuity we are club crew as much as any other. Do you want to create a 2pp rule for the festival now? How pathetic.

Larry, it's an ignorant few that hold that position.

Come back every year and make us all better for it.

Love,

The A division

Relax ... its all just casual conversation ... You can't win here - on one posting someone demonstrates good sportmanship and someone else has to put them down. On this one they are just casually discussing the different levels of the teams and the advantages they have etc and the possibility of them racing in their own "league" or not! and again everyone gets heated. There's no winning on this site I tell ya. Its a forum to "discuss" but no matter what you say, you get shit on! yep! GREAT!

Why anyone would ever want to ban MCC from paddling any DB race is beyond me? It's very simple, to be the best you have to compete against the best. Let me say that it was an absolute honour to race SRS and all of the other crews in the A Final.

This weekend was great. Great weather, the course was not bad since they cleared all the weeds and there races were pretty damb good as well.

Congrats to the SRS Team. This team should win with the bodies they have. They bring up the level of the sport because everyone wants to be the team to beat them. They raced well.

The HammerHeads...can't say very much about this team. They were fast. Did they ride some wash? Who doesn't ride especially when you are next to that team. Don't forget they still posted a 2:03 in their first race all on their own.

Imperial Dragons have always been a top crew. It is always fun to watch them race. They never had more than 2 of the spare women in the boat for a race. They have some strong bodies and good caoching to with great experience, taht is why thet do well.

For those of you who complain about the "flatties" or "stacking" (there was no stacking), you should raise your goals to get up to that level not have the sport go backwards to make you feel better about yourself. The sport is moving in the right direction.

Congrats to all teams who competed and to all devision champs.

3 montreal Women were on the Imps roster eh?

Well I guess they don't qualify for the prize and the Hammers will be getting a free trip somewhere in NA. From Blake's Rulebook

2.5 Local, National and International Teams

2.5.1 Local teams are defined as those teams with a minimum of 90 % of their crew members with a domicile in the Greater Toronto area and includes the following municipalities or regions: City of Toronto, the regions of Halton, Peel, York and Durham, and the counties of Simcoe and Dufferin


19.1 Premier Mixed Division

The following prizes will be awarded to the winners of the Premier Mixed Division (corporate, community, or university teams -- local or international):

1. To the overall winner of the premier mixed division (including local or international teams): The Grand Championship Cup

2. To the fastest local premier mixed team:
The fastest local premier mixed team will have the right to participate in one of the international races to be held in Asia in the following year. The team will also receive fifteen (15) air tickets to the destination.

3. To the second fastest local team in the premier mixed division:
The team will have the right to participate in the race in Vancouver held in the following year. The team will also receive ten (10) air tickets for that purpose.

Even if they had a full roster of 28 then they would still fall short of 90%. Congratulations Hammerheads.

Wonder if SRS had any not GTA paddlers? Maybe the Hammers get to go to Asia?

actually the hammerheads all live in hakkaland.

congratulations scotia rouge!

Thats more like it.

Nothing wrong with good,strong,healthy competition!!!!

So,who the heck wins the prizes??

What does SRS get?

So, what were the actual A final results / times?

Are they posted anywhere?

TCBA reserves the right to blah blah blah...

SRS first = Asia
IMPS Second = NA

Rules third (Apply where necessary and/or convenient)

actually any lawyer or law student will tell you that language is muddy at best.

90% of the full roster? or the crew on the water for the final?

on the water? 18/20 = 90%
on the roster? someone who knows how many on the roster they really had let me know.

actually the rouge valley is like the vatican..it is an independent state.

congratulations big fish!

It was recently revealed that Fish actually live in water, and since Lake Ontario isn't part of the GTA...

Congratulations TEMPEST. Back to Back championships in Community and then the combined. Very nice

Awesome racing at the Island.
Congrats to all teams for their successes.

In particular i want to give congrats to the IMPS, the Hammerheads and the Mofos.
First to the imps for continuing to always be on top. This top level team just continues to find ways year after year.

Hammys...you guys are awesome as well. Fricking huge team with experience and roster many would die for.

Mofos - year after year you guys make gains few do. First you started with pure muscle and developing skills. And now the skills are starting to develop and the results are showing.

Congratulations to all.

Screw all the sponsored teams, the prize goes to Tempest!

1, Storm
A severe storm with very high winds and often rain, hail or snow

2, emotional upheaval
A severe commotion or disturbance, especially an emotional upheaval

3, Tempest in a teapot
A commotion raised about an unimportant matter

Conclusions, since the only things even remotely referring to a domicile would be “A state of mind” or “Tempest in a Teapot” and I think we can all agree that we do not live in the states nor is there a town of Teapot is not in the GTA…

Congratulations MOFOS. Asia will never be the same.

it's actually quite funny how the individuals deal with losing.

Hammerheads, you raced an excellent race, but it just wasn’t good enough. No if, ands or buts.

My advice to you, start focusing your energy on training for the next regatta.

Cheers to a good sense of humour about it all! haha...

with winning.

Hammerheads your race plan was all wrong. Go out and recruit from and/or merge with a canoe club or national team prior to the next race.

Stop being a sore loser. No body wants to hear you cry about why you could not win. What are you, 10 years old?

All of you complainers need to get out of this sport and get into something where you have no one else to blame, like Chess or darts.

now who's so sensitive... some humor is simply lost on some people

You guys make the Mofos a refreshing breath of fresh air.

At least they don't cry.

Big boys don't cry.

*and a spoonful of creatine helps the medicine..go down!*
*the medicine..go down!*
*the medicine..go down!*
*only 3 grams of creatine helps the medicine..go down!*
*and you don't even need a lo-ading phase!*

dun dun dun

anyone have pictures of the final?

Do the Hammerheads have their own homepage?

Girl right you are a biotch!