Well lets all agree on one thing, there are two classes of boats out there. Those that are competative or wish to be ie: Mercedes, Canada Life, Banks, Shaolin Monks, my own team the Komodo Dragons. I know we are a new team (komodo Dragons) but wish to work towards being more competative. There are also those who are out just to represent there company or have a good time. This is fine as well. So why not do all tournaments like GWN is doing the racing series. You enter either as a Advanced or Recreational Team. This way every race, straight from the beginning will likely be closer and more competative. I know we would likely lose to many of the better teams, but it gives a goal for a team to attain. Plus you wouldn't have in the first heat say Bank of Montreal Dragons against the Were Just here To have Fun Dragons and 2 or 3 other mediocre teams in the first heat and blow away them. First heat could have BMO, Monks, Mercedes and Komodo Dragons. Second Heat for BMO could have Hammerheads, Mayfair,Canada Life Imperial Dragons. Third could have Cartier, Mercedes again and Scotiabank. Then finals could be combined times of first two or three races or best times(whole other arguement)I think you get the picture. Of course this could only be done for larger events, Say The Island, Ottawa, 911 probably Stratford and maybe Wildwood but I think it would make for more exciting races. Imagine a Division of only 20-30 teams of equal calibre where every heat would be close, and where a team might get two or three shots at each other leading to the finals. This would hold true for the lower divisions as well and we would not have to go through a few heats to get to exciting racing. Anyone else out there agree.

I think GWN unofficially does this at thier event. For the last few years, I have noticed that they schedule the "top" teams to race the last few races of each heat on day 1.

In fact, a few other events do this as well (Hamilton comes to mind - yes I was there). They project the top few teams and race them last to ensure that everyone gets an equal amount of rest. That way, the weakest teams won't have to jump right back into the boat to race the "Q" Division semifinal after their first race. Likewise, the upper level teams will have the same amount of rest.

I AGREE IT WOULD CREATE A MORE COMPETITIVE RACE FORUM, THUS RAISING THE INTEREST AND EXCITEMENT IN THE SPORT. IT WOULD ALSO GIVE TEAMS REALISTIC GOALS TO SHOOT FOR. THE CAN SEE WHERE THEY ARE AT AND WHAT THE GAP IS TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
MANY OTHER SPORTING EVENTS UTILIZES THE SAME RACE FORUM, I DON'T THIS HURTING THE SPORT, IT WOULD GIVE IT A MORE STRUCTURE FOR A COMPETITIVE PERSPECTIVE

I AGREE IT WOULD CREATE A MORE COMPETITIVE RACE FORUM, THUS RAISING THE INTEREST AND EXCITEMENT IN THE SPORT. IT WOULD ALSO GIVE TEAMS REALISTIC GOALS TO SHOOT FOR, THE CAN SEE WHERE THEY ARE AT AND THE GAP TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
MANY OTHER SPORTING EVENTS UTILIZES THE SAME RACE FORUM, I DON'T SEE THIS HURTING THE SPORT, IT WOULD GIVE IT MORE STRUCTURE FROM A COMPETITIVE PERSPECTIVE

Seeding teams does not always work the way it was intended.

Actually, it can sometimes work TOO well. Take last year's GWN for instance; for some reason our BMO team was placed in a race far away from our main competition, teams like Cda Life, the Monks, Scotia, etc. We didn't really have any great competition in our heat, but our direct competition sure did! They were all grouped in a few really stacked heats over an hour after our race had finished. Well, fast teams make for fast heats, and slow teams make for slow heats. So although we raced a solid race and won our heat, we nearly got squeezed out of the top 24 teams based on our time (ranked 24th out of 24). We were almost relegated to the lower divisions of a regatta that we nearly wound up winning (We were awarded 2nd place when they canned the race due to bad weather).

My point is that if you seed teams based on prior results in can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Race the fast teams together and they move the whole waterway up with them, dragging each other along in a sort of mutual wash-riding effect. They can drag along slower teams that don't necessarily deserve it, but an aspiring "A" team in a slower heat doesn't get the benefit of this moving body of water.

Well, that's my theory on the physics side of things. I never would have thought that a dragon boat racer would have to be an expert in fluid dynamics. (which I'm not)

(BTW, I do in fact remember that the Hammerheads were also raced much earlier on the Saturday than BMO or most of the other A teams, and that they still posted a great race time. But their race was run so early that the weather conditions were much different than ours, so you can't really compare.)

Of course there's also the idea that good competition brings out your best effort. So if you are surrounded by other "A" division teams you paddle faster than if you were surrounded by division "Q" teams. (Lowest common denomenator.) Different theory, same result.

Now, my story was about an "A" team that wasn't seeded with the other "A" teams, but it could also apply to an "A" team wannabe, who can't seem to crack the top division because they keep getting seeded at the bottom of the pack. It could become a hole that is too hard to dig yourself out of.

What do you think?

I wasn't implying seeding, but boats making the choice of where to enter. I know if the Komodo Dragons entered in advanced division and thirty other teams did we would be fighting for the 15-30 spot. however I would love to race the better teams and have no problem with it. However if the team we were with never had the desire to compete at that level we could register as a recreation team and maybe have a shot at winning that title. That however is not the school that I come from. I remember when a buddy of mine raced with Amex and they came last and people were upset and said that they should have thrown the race to win B and he told them they know idea about competative spirit. To come last in A in my opinion would be an honor to say at the Island or 911 that you were one of the 6 best is something I wish to strive and aspire to. Congrats to those that did, but let me tell you we are going to keep riding your ass till we reach that level.

Paul,

I definitely don't mind you riding the asses of teams, in fact I encourage it. It keeps us working hard. Just don't ride the wash too =)

I think they should have lazer finishes that way we would have 100% accuracy for a finish line. Also it would be nice if some big festivals like Montreal and Ottawa had a jumbo tron to watch the race and if they gave more free towels and beverages handed to you when you got off your boat

i think this is a good idea too.

i think at the big races they should be covered by TSN or Sportsnet so that people can watch us on the TV