Anyone heard if any events are being planned for the new watercourse next season? Maybe something in August? Somebody has to be planning something... don't they?

what watercourse? Keep your eyes on the watch... there is no watercourse... your eyelids are getting heavy... there is no watercourse... you are getting sleepy... there is no watercourse...

With the CNE, and Carribana, I would not expect to see too many races in August.

A permit is required, check with the City to see which dates have been set aside. Rumour, and rumour only has 4 dates being reserved.

go on... reserved for dragon boat events in general? or for specific event providers?

Too bad about the hypothesis of no events in August, that's precisely the month where there is a lull. There aren't any competitive regattas in Toronto area for teams to tune up for GWN.

Looks like TIDBF and National DBC are planning two events at the new watercourse.

A TIDBF prep event in late May (open only to Island participants) and a two-day competitive event on the the August 12 weekend.

http://www.dragonboats.com/pages/newsletter.html

I'm glad to see somthing will happen there, even if it is being used as leverage for TIDBF.

Who or what is the National Dragonboat Club? A National Club? That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron. Does this have anything to do with Mr.Hickox and his enterprises? If so, buyer beware.

It should be updated by the end of January.
www.nationaldragonboat.com

Nothing to do with Mac.

js

Well if there is nothing happening in Toronto in August why don't you plan to come to Woodstock on the 11th and help us celebrate our 10th anniversary. The website will be updated shortly with forms and info. We have 4 good lanes and lots of park area for your team to set up. GWN supplies the boats and officials so the quality is good from all reports we have heard. We would love to field a full slate of 48 teams this year. www.dragonboatwoodstock.ca
Thanks for all your support over the years
Dave

Dave, sticking your head in the sand is not going to help. There is clearly an event being planned for Toronto on that weekend. You run a nice event there in Woodstock. I strongly suggest you consider changing dates.

When the Toronto event gains traction, and it will, you're going to be limited to mostly local teams. It's not fair, but it's the reality you're facing. Why not bump back a weekend or two? Theres some soft spots in the DB calendar there and you'd be well-positioned as an attractive tune-up for the GWN Challenge.

Dave, Woodstock is the established event. Let other events work around yours. Summer Sensation was a Toronto event that was previously on your weekend and that one fizzled. Let's face it there's a race going on every weekend of the summer somewhere and there's always going to be some qualifier going on. Don't change your weekend everytime a race starts up. Just keep on putting on the solid festival you've been doing for all these years.

Personally I like the variety of different festivals throughout the summer. I'd rather use Woodstock as a tune up for GWN which will be a great event on the new course. We'll only race at one venue once a season. Woodstock's been a staple for us and we've always had a great experience. Don't bother moving your date Dave. My guess is most of your out of town regulars will be back.

"My guess is most of your out of town regulars will be back"

That may be true, but Woodstock has always had a harder time getting out of town teams when a Toronto festival went up against it. Summer sensation may have died, but who knew why? It was the bigger of the two festivals with better teams to boot. My bet is TCBA didn't want to bother to do it anymore after the principles who ran it (Blake and Fred) left.

We have tossed around the idea of changing our date, particularly last year, but we have decided to keep our date firm at this point.

There are a few reasons, including the fact that it works well for the Conservation Area that we hold it at and despite the club crew championships in Toronto last year we still had an excellent showing of teams from Toronto.

Festivals have come and gone but Woodstock has been at this for 10 years and we'll hopefully be there for another 10. Our job now is to get more teams developed locally so we can give the "out of towners" some competition.

I have a few details to clear up at our meeting on Monday before the team registration forms are ready.

By the way, my head is not in the sand. There are just some things in life I can not control. So we make our plans and do the best we can.

This forum has been an excellent source of information and entertainment for me over the years, I must say. Without it I would have no clue as to what was happening at the center of the dragon boat universe.

Come on out to the country on August 11th.