I'm sure this will be just one of many media events leading up to the Club Crew World Championships.

http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/July2006/13/c9809.html

"TORONTO, July 13 /CNW/ - Come watch as colourful dragons are brought to
life for the 2006 International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Club Crew World
Championships, taking place on Toronto's waterfront in four weeks.
A number of brand new made-in-Canada dragon boats will be blessed by the
monks of Ching Kwok Temple, then each boat will have its eyes dotted by a VIP
guest. Called "Hoi Kong", this ancient ritual blessing is performed before
every dragon boat festival to bring good spirit to the boats and to make them
strong for the races."

nice media hook with the ceremony/monks.

Nice. Not only this, but the advertising banners on lamp posts around downtown Toronto... great touch.

Strong for the races huh?

I guess they didn't bless the SRS boats that were breaking in the other events. Maybe these SRS boats will be blessed and hold together.

Haha, that actually made me laugh.

Dude,

Ease off on hating the SRS boats. We have been training in the new boats - first seen and used at the Island - and they are as good, if not better, as anything else out there.

Here's an idea - shut up and paddle.

Sure, it's a media event... how else is the sport to be promoted? Word of mouth can only get dragonboating so far in the community. I believe that it is more though.

After attending the eye dotting ceremony for the TCBA boats this year, it was obvious that many of the attendees were there for reasons other than media. The monks, for instance. Also, the Chinese community leaders that stood under the blazing sun on the beach for 90 minutes while the necessary cultural customs (chanting, incense, etc) were completed, culminating in the dotting of the dragon eyes.

When the Pope gives Easter Sunday mass in front of millions of viewers, do we call this strictly a media event? Your perspective determines your reality.

As for the new SRS boats, they were not used at the Island. But, many teams practicing at the Sunnyside location have had the opportunity to use them. I have drummed, paddled and coxed them, and I believe they rival the BUKs for speed, steerability, and comfort.

Release the hounds....

Hey Dama, why don't you shut and paddle. Hopefully you won't fall through the seat.

Some of the boats used at the Island were the new SRS design. And trust me, I do shut and paddle. Though I do not want anything to go wrong, if something happens to my seat, or my paddle, foot rest or whatever, I will just deal with it. Ya freakin' punks!

Dama..Joel helps to administrate and ultimately run the National DB Club.

Reliability, for any new boat, will only be shown over time.

But I can tell you that the new SRS boat is fast .

Hey Dama, you're not shuttin' up and paddling now, are you?

It better run well in shallow water, cuz the course is gonna be a bitch of a wash ride for all in slow, shallow water, with narrow lanes.

wash riding is part of the fun at this level. So is dealing with shallow water, fountains in the course, wash from passing tankers and barges, floating animals ...

See you there. Yahoo.

This media attention is great for our sport. Here's hoping for good weather and fast water for all the participants.

4:26 - Shallow Water, and exactly what is shallow water to you?

I thought the IDBF had a standard that needed to be complied with before granting a championship?

They do have a standard. I think it starts at about $50,000.

Thanks Dama aka Kevin for your insightful input. The fact of the matter is that SRS has had some bad craftmanship on some of their past boats. Also your defence has been "Oh Yea" which is always imaginative. Lets face it Kevin, until SRS puts out some good boats consistently you are open to petty abuse. I have heard that Lou has regained the reigns there at SRS, that will every thing better for sure! lol

Re: Dama aka Kevin

Sorry for the absense, but I was following my own advice and paddling, not talkin'.

I maybe a lot of things, but Kev from SRS is not one of them (though I am somewhat jealous of his silver hair .....). I admit that I was mistaken about riding in the new boats at the Island - thank you for correcting me Joel - , but not about having been out in one since. All I can say is they are give super ride and talk about fast. And the seats are strong with loads of support. Sure there have been issues in the past, but I think SRS nailed it on this one. BUK makes a great boat, but I'm sure they went through their share of issues. Design is an ongoing process based on trial and error that is rarely perfect the first time. Or the second. Or the third. It's not like they are designing a new small boat that will carry one person - a dragon boat weights maybe 800-900 lbs, plus 20 paddlers, a cox, drummer, and drum. Though I am not a design engineer, I feel safe saying the stresses on the boat are extreme, especially over the course of 2 days of heavy racing (not to mention the practices leading up). So maybe chill on them a little. If not, pony up some balls and build your own boat and face the scrutiny.

Will they be in Montreal AND the WCCC? No clue. I hope for the sake of all the teams, both events get to use them.

As far as I know, SRS is a Canadian company, designing the boats, and building them here. And as I said before, I think they have hit it on this one.

Just a few words before returning to paddling.

From Ellen Law....

"These Dalian IDBF 20 paddler dragon boats will make their IDBF debut in the 2006 IDBF Toronto Club Crew Championships."

What is she bringing one with her and displaying it on shore? Cuz I know we aren't racing in them

Interesting to see they are IDBF certified.
They are over the weight limit.

http://metroevent.home.att.net/dalian/chpricing.html

So she's doing some false advertising? The way it reads, most people would assume that they were the boats being used in the races.

Oh no, Ellen Law false advertising? Really? I cannot believe that. </sarcasm>

Hi folks,

The race organizer confirmed...Both the Canadian made "Simon River (SRS)" and Chinese made "Dalian
Champions" will be used at next months' Toronto IDBF World Club Crew Championships. The SRSs will
be used exclusively for selected racing classes while the Dalians will be used only in the other
racing classes. If you start in the SRSs you will only be in the SRSs.

I understand they will not be intermixed within the divisions, like was done at the Poland World
Championships when one heat would be in one mfgr while another in a different one.

Apologies for the confusion.

See y'all in Toronto!

Ellen

SRS boars are shit. It is the worst boat ever. They should of been smart and got a bunch of BUK'S for CCWC and not SRS boats.

SRS is garbage. Everything they make is garbage.

Here we go again.

Let me finish your argument for you....

blah blahblah SRS is crap....blah blah blah etc BUKs are great blah blah oh yeah - my mom can kick your mom's ass blah blah blah

Oh brother.

No heat or lane draws yet, just the race program.

http://www.2006ccwc.com/downloads/forms/2006CCWC-FinalRaceProgramme.pdf

Again another classic mistake by an organizer.
Why are they even using these Champion Boats - if Sharifa getting some cash back
from sponsorship ?
They are used very selectively and almost indiscriminately.
I'm sure some of the crews that have not had the opportunity to train in them will be
pleased.

And, the Premier Open final does mix one set of boats in with 3 SRS - why not run
two heats instead ?

All the armchair critics blow my mind. Its a shame this sport is full of so many who can ALWAYS do it better than those who "DO".

I am ashamed of all the nagativity surrounding our country hosting an event. They need our support not all this childish negtive banter.

Then again, I am guessing many, if not MOST of these bashers are going to be on the sidelines anyways.

Maybe the "armchair" critics have been to a few World Championships before
and actually want this one run properly.

Berlin, Nottingham, New Zealand, Rome...they've all had their problems and the
IDBF has never had the guts to do anything about it.
The 2006 CCWC should have been run by Dragon Boat Canada, not a "not-for-profit"
organization.

Imagine ICF giving out a World Championship to a local event organizer just
so they can make a few bucks.

"I'm sure some of the crews that have not had the opportunity to train in them will be pleased."

Umm, who exactly gets to train in SRS boats in the first place? I can think of maybe one or two Canadian crews (in Toronto), the rest of the world would train in all sorts of different boats; Pel, BUK, Champion, hollowed out logs, barrels welded together... The first time they would see an SRS or boat would be their first practice in T.O. And isn't Ellen's boat also very new and not widely used?

The whole 2 boat thing does seem silly in my mind. The only reason I can think of is that SRS couldn't come up with a complete set in time, but given the number of SRS boats in Ontario and Quebec, this doesn't seem likely.

They should have only gone with one boat type.

Hell, even Cape Town had a matched set of BUK's!

"Imagine ICF giving out a World Championship to a local event organizer just
so they can make a few bucks."

But that in itself is a whole other ball of wax.

I have a feeling Toronto is going to do us proud.

For those interested the 2000m Mixed Race has been moved from Friday at 6:30 pm to Thursday at 6 pm. For those of us on both a mixed crew and a same sex crew this means paddling Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also, if you are at the NTT's possibly Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

Thats a lot of paddlin'!

anyone heard anything about the wednesday and friday community divisions?

Dalian boats are a step down from Buks and SRS. I pity the teams that have to race in them.

Steelback Brewery, welcome aboard.

Bring samples.


http://www.steelbackbrewery.com/