Montreal DragonFly

Based on our race result in Montreal Dragonboat Festival 2008, I realize the following:

Our best 500m so far is 2:17.16

There are 12 teams having 2:17.xx and 10 teams having 2:16.xx

Imagine we can cut 1 and only 1 second meaning 2:16.16, we could jump from rank 86 to 74 out of 120

Our best 250m so far is 1:06.15.

There are 20 teams having 1:06.xx and 26 teams having 1:05.xx.

Imagine if we can cut 1 and only 1 second meaning 1:05:15, we could jump from rank 75 to 54 out of 120

I am glad that we start approaching to the competitive cloud. I will not be too ambitious, let’s work on this 1 second for the coming races this year

Our Attendance sheet has successfully migrated to Dragonfly web site. Just use the usual URL and replace “mud-q.com” to “montrealdragonfly.org” (I am not going to post the full URL here).

Regular attendance update email is still happening and I will post the full URL in the email.

Dragonflyers, go check your status and keep up your attendance!

Also our original web address http://www.montreal-dragonfly.ca/ is now forwarded to http://montrealdragonfly.org main site

Arden asks: “Does this website build by php or ruby or java? Where are you host it?” I’m glad you asked! Here’s the quick answer.

The Montreal DragonFly site is powered by WordPress, a publishing platform written in PHP and backed by MySQL. The site’s currently hosted on GoDaddy.com.

For the technically inclined/curious, more details after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

This video of the Philadelphia Dragonboat Team demonstrates how to hold it together when getting rammed by another boat.

They get bumped, their steerer loses his balance, they go completely off course, but they keep goin’ at it, the drummer reigns’em in back on course, the steerer recovers, and they win the race. As they say on their site, seeing is believing. Freakin’ awesome.

Here you are, paddling in all your glory. Starting with the right side…

… followed by the left side…

Here’s a nice little gem. Arden — while completely sober, I assure you — promises to beat Winston at the 10km run.

I get a lot of questions regarding how we practice during the winter.  I usually start with an elaborate story involving footage of sea lions and hour-long submersions in ice water before getting to the truth.  However, I find that it’s much easier to show people how we practice in the winter.

Carleton proved to be an excellent venue for us.  Great atmosphere, friendly people, and low pressure. Good times had by all.

Last year’s festival was a blast! This time though, I didn’t get to take many action shots ’cause I was too busy padding with the team!  Fortunately, I did manage take some more casual pics as well as the ensuing festivities.

After the 2006 Montreal Dragonboat Festival, the team went out for supper.  Again, I was there to capture the occasion.  Although I wasn’t part of the team yet, but boy did they make me feel welcome!