Penticton Dragon Boat Festival Race Recap

Congrats to those who competed in Penticton!

What an amazing weekend of sunshine, pool time, camaraderie, great food, and super dragon boat racing! We ran one mixed team and one women's team.

The weather was idyllic and although there was some smoke it was not too bad. Winds were nonexistent in the mornings to light in the afternoons. We held our traditional team dinner at the Riverside Motel on Saturday night and it was yum!

Our Penticton crews consisted of Michele, Laney, Pat W, Bryan, Darlene, Ian, Pete, Warren, Brent J, Bob, Lori, Denise, Robbin, Linda, Sandra, David W, Rob, Dave D, Marg, Bruce, Dave F, Marianne, Nicole, Carol, Marjorie, Christine, Jola, Patty, Sally, Marlene and Trish. Thanks for leading warmups, Darlene; and for keeping us on course, Bob, Dave F, Sally and Trish!

A big thanks to Sandra and her husband Paul who were a huge help in getting us paddlers to fill out our women's team. Thanks to the ladies from Paul's team, the TCC Dragoneers: Rachel, Sherry, Gail and Leanne.

This weekend proved that all the hard work we've been putting in since April has paid off. Our results show proof of our excellent coaching and our dedication to our sport. Thank you Denise for having us race-ready, sorted out, and updated throughout the season and over the weekend.

Our women's team started off strong and placed second in their first three races, increasing their time each race. By Sunday, we were in the 20th position of 44 teams. This put us in the Jade Final A Division. Despite coming last, it was only by a couple of seconds and it was the women's team's fastest time of the weekend. Great going ladies!

Our mixed team took home silver after strong performances in their first three races, placing 2nd, 2nd, 1st, and then 2nd in the Diamond Final A! By Sunday, we were placed 15 out of 30 mixed teams. Strong starts and finishes were noted by those on the shore. Great job!

Team history was made with the Steers Challenge race with Dave F at the helm. We had to race down the 500m course, then make a full turn, and then guide the boat back through a 500m slalom course set up with 10 buoys. Each missed buoy was a 5-second loss. We were the third team to do the course (the first to complete it) as the first two teams decided to just paddle back after experiencing the difficulty. It was great fun and resulted in big excitement and hilarious chaos with calls coming from many in our boat. The women's team, FLCC Race Crew won the challenge, and we are still awaiting our results. Thanks to Dave for leading us through the course along with Trish and Denise's directions up front. We can't wait until we can do this one again!

We appreciate and thank the family and friends who came out to cheer us on! The weekend came to a close with cold ones in the beer garden before some of us headed home, and others enjoyed another night in beautiful Penticton.

Here are our race results:

Day 1----

MIXED

Race 4 – 2:17.15 (2nd)

Race 22 – 2:20.20 (2nd)

WOMEN

Race 15 – 2:34.46 (2nd)

Race 33 – 2:32.41 (2nd)

STEERS CHALLENGE (1000m) -- still awaiting our result.

Day 2----

WOMEN

Race 45 – 2:31.43 (2nd) - Jade Semi

Race 69 – 2:29.04 (4th) - Jade Final A

MIXED

Race 54 – 2:19.54 (1st) - Diamond Semi

Race 75 – 2:14.22 (2nd) - Diamond Final A

Link to event results page

Thank you our photographer, Jola!
Here is our Facebook album.

Next up is our final race of the season, the Oddball Fall Classic on Sept. 23.

Steveston Dragon Boat Festival Recap

The 2023 Steveston Regatta, now called the Freshco Richmond Dragon Boat Festival will go down in the books as an eventful day!

The day started with the women's division, but only got to race 6, and then the event was put on hold due to high winds and white caps.

A mandatory meeting was called for 12 noon, where a contingency plan was offered to the teams, reducing races from three 500m to two 200m. Event organizers also stated they would provide a steers for any teams needing one. Races were to resume at 2 p.m.

The team discussed the situation and all voted to not race due to safety concerns. Approximately eight other teams made the same decision. The weather did calm a bit by the 2 p.m. restart.

Due to the long wait, the vendors and beer garden did very well, and Nothin' Dragon enjoyed the music, shopping and team camaraderie.

Sandra was acting captain for the day and she was assisted by Linda.
Congrats to Coach Denise who came home with a gold medal with the FCRCC C-Horses with a 200m time of 1:04 in the Women’s Grand Final.

Waiting in the tent and trying to stay warm on a windy day!

Marjorie and Marg also raced with Dragon Hearts Motley Crew, and they took a Gold finish in the Mixed D final with a 200m time of 1:03.

Below is how the event explained what took place that day:

The first 6 races of the day were run on the 500M course. After consultation with the RCMSAR/public safety partners/race operations, a decision was made to pause races starting at race 7. A captain and manager meeting was announced on-site for 12pm, during which time, a revised race program including course shortening was announced to take into account advice from our safety partners and weather forecasts. As well, new information about additional safety precautions being deployed was shared, and an opportunity for teams to speak with event organizers and safety personnel publicly or privately was provided.

The course was shortened to 200M to avoid an area of water near the 500M start line that was deemed particularly challenging, and additional safety resources were put in place. The races were able to restart at 2pm, and ended approximately at the time the original program was scheduled to end. During the race restart period, our operations team monitored conditions on a regular basis alongside our public safety partners to ensure the event could operate safely, and determined on a regular basis that we could continue the races.

We are currently working through wrapping up the event, and will be reaching out to teams to provide additional support on this incident in the coming weeks after we close out the event. We thank you for your understanding as we worked to ensure the event could restart in a safe way.

Victoria Dragon Boat Festival Race Recap

Congrats to our Victoria crew who had a great weekend at one of our favourite events!

Thanks to Coach Denise for having Nothin’ Dragon race ready and organized, and for Steve for being there to provide warmups and support our coach as the captain. Thank you to our caller Trish and our steers, Dave and Bob. A big shout out to the four ladies who joined us to ensure we could race at this event. Thank you to Brenda, Catherine, Sharon and Kirsten!

We had the best cheering squad! Thank you Diane, Paul, Leo, Joan, Elaine, Linda, John, Mary, Bob, and former teammate, Brian Newman.

Coach Denise provided the following overview:

"The festival was amazing as usual and is a great opportunity to build team bonding and spirit.  Out-of-town regattas are the best opportunity to create a Team Vibe as we do more than just race, we travel together, we stay together, we hang out and eat/drink together and then enjoy our sport together. 

Steve had us warmed up and stretched out for each race of the weekend. Bob led our team cheer to the point that we had other teams in marshaling cheering us on.  As well, our new team jerseys created lots of attention, conversations and pictures at the regatta, we looked great and other teams noticed.

Nothin’ Dragon off the dock at the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival.

Race 1: We had a good first race and the team did well, placing 3rd.

In Race 2 We finished 2nd with a time that still put us into the A/B Division.

Race 3: Our best race time of the weekend. We moved up one in the standing landing us in the B Division final.

We landed in the B Division final, had great glide and were ranked 10th overall in the regatta (22 mixed teams). It's important to note that we had only 7 men paddling in the boat which left our 13 women to add more power – impressive, as all the teams we raced had 10 men!"

Here are our team's race results for the two-day event in the Victoria Harbour. Note that the distance on this course is 475m: 

Race 1 – 2:23:940 3rd place
Race 2 – 2:26:606 2nd place
Race 3 – 2:18.531 4th place in mixed Grand B semi

Race 4 – 2:27:015 5th place in Mixed B final

Full results for Saturday races – Sunday races.

Our next event is the Freshco Richmond Dragon Boat Festival in Steveston on Aug. 19.

Harrison Regatta Race Recap

We had perfect weather for the Harrison Regatta on July 22! This tricky dragon boat venue never failed to disappoint with a spectacular visual feast of BC beauty, wild waters, and winds that increased as the day progressed and kicked sand up into our faces on the shore. 

We appreciated the cheering from Roy, Joan, Elaine, John and Sophie! 

Thanks to those who supported teammates by carpooling. We had a great tent spot at the far end of the village, which gave us lots of privacy, and a great view of the race action. The event announcer was set up close to us so we knew when to head to marshaling. We all brought potluck food, so feasting began after our first race. 

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Marshaling on the beach at Harrison Lake.

In our first race, (lane 1, closest to shore) our start was faltered by a buoy that hugged the boat on the right side. Once we got going, however, we came on strong, and our fans on shore said we were gaining and had a strong finish.

In our second race, we were placed in lane 6, far side, and the winds had increased. We had a very strong start, but our boat was being pushed by the current and winds, and our steer lost course, so we had to hold the boat, and then restart.  

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The venue at Harrison Lake showing the docks and boat loading area.

For race three (C final), we were determined to make it our best race. Winds are usually highest in the afternoon and often switch directions.  We were once again in lane 1. Our start was strong and we powered down the course and finished well, almost matching our morning race time, missing that by fractions of a second. 

Here are our team's race results: 

Race 1 – 2:25:457 5th place
Race 2 – 2:37:892 6th place
Race 3 – 2:25:502 6th place in C final

To compare, our best race time at Concord this year was 2:20.041 (open team), so we did very well!   With a smaller race event, our mixed competition was made up primarily of very young teams.

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A big thank you to Henrietta who came out to manage our time and results board, and kept our tent area monitored while we were on the water. Thanks to Randy for transporting our equipment and making fast seat changes on the way out to the start line to balance our boats when needed. Thanks to our steers, Bruce and Linda, and our drummer Trish who took on and guided us through the beast we call Harrison!

Thanks to Steve for leading our warmups. To everyone that helped with setup and tear down and carry.  Thanks to Coach Denise, who despite not being able to attend, put a lot of time and effort into our lineups and training.

No bling, but we know we gave it our all, and although we left with sand in our hair (and other places), we had smiles on our faces! 

ps. We talked with teams from Washington and Seattle about our next Inlet Spring Regatta and they are very keen. 

Photos on our Facebook page.

Our next race event will be in Victoria on Aug. 12 and 13!

Original Members Applauded on 25th Year of Nothin' Dragon

Ann Newsom

Ann speaks of how the team came about, and how it was in the early days of the team, pre-computer era.

I read a brief article in the local paper looking for people interested in water sports to start a dragon boat team based out of the Dogwood Senior Centre.

The team picked the name from a number of suggestions put forth and it was originally, “Nothin’ Draggin’” and it just morphed from there.

We borrowed a boat from Lotus Club at Barnet and had to move the boat from the boatyard and launch it from the beach every time we went out.

In the early years we divided the team into two, and to make the “A” team and we were expected to perform a timed test on the erg machine. I remember going down to the boathouse for a couple of hours a week and everyone would come down for their erg session. I had a large book and kept track of everyone‘s time, improvements, etc. Working with the erg machine was very interesting as it clearly showed people just how much power you needed to put on the paddle to produce an effective, powerful stroke.

This was all before the widespread use of computers so we had ‘phone trees’ for notifying members. Fundraising was done by begging for small donations from local businesses and holding raffles etc. I must have written literally hundreds of thank you letters.

I seem to have avoided being responsible for any specific department but spent years bailing boats, counting bottles with the wasps and doing other odd jobs.

I sat in seat one for a long time. Now any seat is fine!

Pat Johnson

Pat talks about how she came to the team, and recounts races, mishaps and many memorable moments…

Our first gathering was at Dogwood in the fall of 1998 after a write-up in the local paper described forming an over 50 years old men and women dragon boat team.  I believe it was the idea of Gwen Wong who worked for Coquitlam and possibly a program director for Dogwood.

There was a fellow, Charlie, who may have been the first coach,  he was a friend or relative of Gwen's.  Lavina Leatherdale,  a high school friend who lived in Coquitlam saw the notice in the local paper, we talked about it and went to the first meeting.  Lavina had recently lost her husband, and they boated previously.  I used to go boating, too.  We were both interested and signed up.  We met again in the new year at Dogwood, Kate came and explain it all with much enthusiasm as she was a seasoned racing paddler.  We must have practiced in the evenings or weekends as I was working full time but available to practice.  

I've always enjoyed being on the team,  so much laughter and fun! Socializing with men and women, being on the water in a non-motor boat sitting low in the water,  going for a beer together,  an"all for one" attitude, and doing your best for the team.  The "kids" attitude taking the bus to various events,  so much laughter and noise.  

It was our first or second Alcan, 1999 or 2000,  we raced but didn't pay much attention to the results,  some of us left before the results and presentations,  only to learn that we won our race,  beating the Grand Dragons!  We were so surprised,  couldn't believe it.  

Over the years steer persons fell in the water,   I remember Dave Smith at Richmond,  Anne Hensel and Brian Kenny at Rocky Point,   I think there were others but there weren’t any injuries.

I have paddled in most positions on the boat, right and left, but never stroke. I've been the manager for Safety for many years and the Kateslem Kids program for many years as well, but never sat on the executive.

My fondest memories over the years are the friendships and support we shared together…there were some difficult times, too.  We have lost many members over the years and losses of member's family. 

Being part of our team is a life highlight for me.   So glad to have the new Alumnae group to continue on!

The way we were! One of the very first team photos we have. Check out all the wooden paddles. Can you spot people you know?

A DRAGON'S TALE (1998 - 2023)

[Compiled in 2018 by Brian Asselstine – 2023 version expanded by Robbin Whachell]

The Beginning

It all started with the excitement of Dragon Boat racing being introduced to the public at Vancouver’s Expo ‘86. A big push for dragon boating came from the former lieutenant governor, David Lam, and his business partner, Milton Wong.

They envisioned the races as a way to celebrate cultural diversity and they initiated the first festival in 1989.

In 1998, Gwen Wong, niece of Milton Wong, began her work at Dogwood Pavilion, a senior centre for Coquitlam. She enthusiastically proposed a dragon boat team from Dogwood and promoted this with the members.

Kate Zubick inspired prospective members to embrace the sport and helped organize instructional sessions for paddling technique and strength and flexibility training. Newsletters and community newspapers called for interested potential members and a team was formed by November of 1998 to start the season in 1999.

Dryland training started at Dogwood, followed by paddling practice on the Burrard Inlet.

On-the-water training, with rented boats, was initially organized at Barnet Marine Park. The coaches were Charlie Wong assisted by Sharon Lum and Mike Younghusband, with Gwen Wong as manager.

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Ann and Pat in 2018 at the team’s 20th anniversary celebration

Membership

Of the original 40 members in 1998, two are still with the club; Anne Newsom and Pat Johnston! The club has remained as an over-50s organization, partly to maintain the benefits of an association with Dogwood Seniors Society.

The club grew slightly in numbers over the next few years and by 2005 there were 55 members. Membership remained relatively steady until 2011 when the numbers rose to 66.

The paddlers have always been a close-knit group and organized many activities outside of just training and racing.

Dragon boating gets team members outside in the community, together with a diverse group of individuals, keeping fit and learning to be a team.

Over the years some members organized or participated in adventure trips not directly related to dragon boating. In 2012 a small group travelled to Tanzania, Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. In 2013 another group travelled north for a multi-day canoe trip on the Yukon river and in 2014 a small group hiked and biked the El Camino de Santiago, starting by crossing the Pyrenees into Spain. The team did a bike and barge trip on the Rhine River in Europe. Other team members stay active and fit by participating in cycling or kayaking day trips, hiking the local mountains and valleys, or cross-country skiing.

Women’s regatta in Vancouver

Regattas

The “Dogwood Nothin’ Dragging” team entered their first race at the Alcan Regatta in June 1999 and won gold in the master’s (seniors' event). This was followed by gold medals in 2000 and 2001 at the Alcan Masters. Eventually, the team name became “Dogwood Nothin’ Dragon” and then was changed to “Nothin’ Dragon Masters” in 2014. In 2023, the name has been shortened to simply, "Nothin' Dragon."

The Club has had only two presidents over the years, Ron MacPherson and Brian Kenny.

For a number of years two teams were entered in the larger regattas with one team being a more experienced, competitive team and the other made up of more novice paddlers. This worked reasonably well until about 2011 when two equal-strength teams were formed for many of the practices and the larger regattas. The exception is the team entered the Rio Tinto Alcan Regatta, now called the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival, by selecting from the stronger, more experienced senior C paddlers who have demonstrated an ability to work as a team.

The Greystone Dragon Boat Races were held at Rocky Point Park in 1999 and 2000 during Golden Spike Days. As many as twenty teams took part in this local regatta.

Pat Johnson as a ‘Ladybug’ (Women’s Regatta in Vancouver)

After the first year, the club entered teams in Richmond’s “Rip up the River” regatta and then the Victoria and Kelowna regattas were added to the racing schedule. The “Ladybugs” women’s team was formed in 2002 and raced for two years at Deas Slough before the event was moved to False Creek. The Lotus Club race (later renamed “Bill Alley Memorial”) was added to the racing schedule along with the “Cornucopia race in Kent, Washington. Kent is remembered by many team members for the fantastically clean toilets and the delicious salmon and pasta dinners (not necessarily in that order).

Nanaimo was added as a race destination in 2004 and the Harrison Lake regatta in 2005. White Rock initiated a regatta that lasted until 2007 when stormy weather capsized a number of boats and many paddlers ended up in the ocean. The Taiwanese festival started a dragon boat event in False Creek in 2006 using traditional wooden boats and unique race formats (for example, paddling backward and capturing the flag).

Part of the team competing in our very own event in Port Moody at our Inlet Spring Regatta in 2018, which is hosted annually.

White Rock was replaced by the Deep Cove Race for Charity and one team was entered in the Kelowna regatta. In 2010 the team raced at Cultus Lake, but this regatta was short-lived. In 2012, the club participated in the B.C. 55+ Games at Burnaby Lake and the Penticton regatta replaced Kelowna. A team also attended the Seattle Dragon Boat Festival, which was a lot of fun due in part to the unusual format.

The Canadian Nationals were held at Elk Lake on Vancouver Island in 2013 and the team raced in a 2000 m event for the first time. Dan Strain steered the boat around the tight corners with keen accuracy and helped keep us ahead until the very last lap.

In 2014 the club started sending a team to the Steveston Regatta in place of Seattle. The next year there were enough members to enter boats in both men’s and women’s categories. The B.C. 55+ Senior Games came to Coquitlam in 2016 and both our teams held their own while helping to host the event. It was a great learning experience in preparation for hosting our own event, the Inlet Spring Regatta in 2018 to commemorate our 20th year as a team.

We had a full racing schedule again in 2017 and achieved our best result in Victoria in years by winning the seniors race.

In 2018, to commemorate our team’s 20th anniversary we created the Inlet Spring Regatta, a huge achievement and fundraiser for Nothin’ Dragon.

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On display today at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam.

Hall of Fame

In 2019, our beloved Captain, the late Dan Strain was inducted posthumously into the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame.

Coaching

All these racing successes and challenges would not have been possible without careful preparation and training and a great deal of thanks goes to the coaches and managers who supported us over the years. The initial few years involved using rented boats with coaching by Charlie Wong, Sharon Lum and Mike Young, with Gwen Wong as the manager.

Jackie Webber joined us as coach in 2001 and was followed by Kate Zubick in 2003 with assistance from Jim McArthur. Jim took over as head coach in 2005 with Jack MacIntyre as his assistant. Henrietta Hamming started as manager and has been our greatest supporter ever since.

We needed a new coach in 2012 and were extremely fortunate to connect with Erica McArthur (no relation to Jim). Erica has national and international paddling experience and helped bring the whole team to a new level. She continues to coach the Riverside Rapids high school dragon boat team.

In 2014, coach Pam Cornell came to us with a strong background in paddling and coaching. After Pam, an Olympian canoe racer from Poland, Kris Lepianka coached the team up until the end of the 2022 season. Teammate, Denise Nelson, who has always had a knack for balancing our boats for training and races, assisted as a backup coach to Kris over the past few years and stepped into the coach's role in 2023.

With strong and consistent coaching some team members were encouraged to try racing at the national and international levels. In 2014, Brian Asselstine travelled to Ravenna, Italy to compete with a False Creek team at the World Club Crew Championships. In 2015, Peter Newell and Roz Harrington travelled to Welland, Ontario to compete at the World Nations Championships. In 2016, Peter Newell, Terry Flynn and Roz Harrington travelled with the False Creek Senior C team to Adelaide, Australia to compete at the World Club Crew Championships.

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Our Oktoberfest event in 2019.

Social Activities

Social events have always been a way to introduce new members to the club and help everyone get to know each other better. Some key events held over the years have included:

• Annual barbecues

• Mardi Gras party

• Hard times party

• Pancake breakfasts

• Bowling

• Family paddles

• Christmas parties

• Pub nights

• Oktoberfest

Our yard sale at the Old Mill Boathouse.

Fundraising

Over the years fundraising has been an integral part of club activities to support community programs and keep the cost of membership as low as possible, while also being fun events for member involvement. Direct sponsorships from individuals and local businesses have helped the club financially and connected us to the community.

Fundraising events have evolved over the years to adapt to the needs of the club and the interests of the members. Notable events include:

• Casino nights

• Legion nights

• Plant sales

• Bake sales

• Garage sales

• Bottle recycling

• Trivia nights

• Paddling experiences for clubs and businesses

• Inlet Spring Regatta (our team’s own race event created in 2018)

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Training the Kateslem Kids

Community Service

Giving back to the community where we live, work and play has always been important and there have been unique opportunities for us to offer service by providing:

• Team building paddling opportunities for Kateslem (youth at risk)

• Paddling opportunities for foreign students

• Paddling experiences for community members

• Equipment and logistics support for the Gleneagle and Riverside Rapids high school dragon boat team

• Coquitlam Crunch administration and logistics support.

Supporting our Alums

Thanks to the perseverance of Ric Tesan, we launched our Alumni Paddle in 2023, where past members can sign up for a nominal fee to dragon boat once a week. This opportunity has fostered leadership, willingness to try new positions on the boat, and helps those recovering from injury. It’s a great transition for those older members who may want to stop racing, but still want to come out to enjoy the water, team camaraderie and a cold one afterward at the legion.

New Society

In 2022, the Nothin’ Dragon Paddling Society was formed.

The purposes of the Society are to:

1. strive for individual and team excellence by participating in the enjoyable sport of Dragon Boating.

2. support each team member in becoming fit, skilled, and dedicated to leading an active and healthy lifestyle

3. promote the sport of Dragon Boating in the community

4. to contribute to the health and well-being of our larger community

There you have it, the tale of a dragon boat team that is greater than the sum of its parts, passionate about an active, fun and competitive sport, and invested in our community.

We have been, and continue to be, a team that exemplifies that great quote from John Wooden:

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

Gold, Silver and Bronze at Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival

Another historic team race event is in the books for Nothin’ Dragon at the 35th annual Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver’s False Creek!

Congrats on our Team Black seniors for taking bronze, our women for taking silver, and our Team Black mixed for taking gold, as well as our open team for putting in our fastest time of the weekend and making it into the B finals!

So much went into organizing this weekend! With over 45 of our teammates participating, a BIG thanks to Coach Denise who ensured we were race-ready and did all the registering and communications with the event to ensure we could make our race times. She compiled lineups and made last-minute tweaks as the weekend progressed.

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Our women’s team took SILVER! (Official Concord photo)

Thanks to our assistant captains Randy and Steve, Brian for sorting out our bus, Darlene and those who helped do warmups, and our managers (Lori and Pat W.) who kept our race board up to date, and to Linda for helping transport and set tents and equipment. Thanks to Bob and Elizabeth who stepped up to lead our team cheer. It was great to have alumnus, Ric out on Saturday to help paddle in the senior race as well as steer. A BIG shout out to our steers and drummers who kept us safely on course and motivated!

We put in a lot of walking, over 20,000 steps per day reported by those with FitBits. It was exciting to race against teams from across Canada, the USA and Australia. The event's live coverage was enjoyable and brought a reality to how we looked in the boat and on the course.

Very exciting race action! You can check out the livestream replay of both day on their YouTube channel:

• Saturday, June 24 livestream

• Sunday, June 25 livestream

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Our Senior C BRONZE medal team! (Official Concord photo)

Here are our team's race results:

DAY 1--------------------------

Race 1

RED 2:48.608 (5th)

Race 9

BLACK 2:34.191 (6th)

Race 14

OPEN 2:31.493 (7th)

Race 15

WOMEN 2:46.594 (7th)

KNOCKOUT CUP (100m)

Race 25

RED 0:32.384 (7th)

BLACK 0:31.133 (3rd)

Race 26

RED 0:32.365 (7th)

BLACK 0:30.036 (3rd)

Race 27

BLACK 0:31.115 (3rd)

Race 37

RED 2:45.187 (4th)

Race 42

BLACK 2:34.98 (5th)

Race 53

WOMEN 2:45.307 (7th)

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Our ladies in pe-marshaling area. They went on to take a silver medal.

DAY 2--------------------------

Race 57

WOMEN 2:42.512 (6th in C/D/E semi)

Race 65

BLACK 2:25.870 (1st in G/H/I/J semi)

Race 68

RED 2:30.512 (7th in C/D/E/F semi)

Race 74

OPEN 2:20.041 (7th in B semi)

Race 79

WOMEN 2:39.215 (2nd E final)

Race 84

OPEN 2:203.637 (6th in B final)

Race 89

BLACK 2:21.584 (1st in G final)

Race 90

RED 2:35.496 (8th in F final)

After putting in our all, we enjoyed the beer garden, camaraderie, dancing and then lined up to receive our medals, which were by a formal presentation on the stage with photos. A huge thanks to teammate Steve Mason who stood in line for our medals as we enjoyed the beer garden!

Take a look at our Facebook photo album.

Our next race event will be at Harrison Lake!

Dragon Boat Experience Offered to Talitha Koum Society

A dragon boat voyage!

Nothin' Dragon was pleased to take out clients of the Talitha Koum Society on June 29. The Talitha Koum Society is a non-profit that assists women in healing from past trauma and overcoming addictions at two housing locations in Coquitlam.

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Brian ran the commentary while the ladies paddled. Thanks to Steve for driving our safety boat!

It was perfect weather for the dragon boat experience off Rocky Point Park. Thanks to Brian Kenny who explained how to paddle and reviewed the calls and actions used on the boat. Brian also offered a running commentary from the safety boat while the group of women were out on the water, providing information on the local habitat and area history.

Our team captain, Robbin Whachell coordinated the outing. A big thanks to the teammates of Nothin’ Dragon who helped prepare for the excursion and those that helped mentor our guests.

On the dock at the Rocky Point Pier.

“Our team was very impressed on how well the women did in the boat for their first time dragon boating!” said Robbin.

Nothin’ Dragon is committed to helping the community. We offer corporate paddles, which are great for team building. If interested, please email us for details at nothindragonmasters@gmail.com.

Gold Place Finish For the Gleneagle and Riverside Rapids at Concord

Another huge shout out to the Rapids, the high school team that trains in our boats and with our safety boat, paddles, PFDs and our steer, Linda!

This youth team is made up of students from Riverside Secondary and Gleneagle Secondary students and they did very well at the 35th annual Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival at False Creek, Vancouver on June 24 and 25.

The outcome was a gold medal in the Junior Mixed C Division!

The students are led by Riverside teacher, Erica McArthur, former coach to Nothin’ Dragon. Susan Priestly, a teacher from Gleneagle is the co-coach.

The team trains at Rocky Point and many of the youth helped us on the dock at our Inlet Spring Regatta.

Way to go, Rapids!

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Medal ceremony. Junior Mixed C gold.

Dear Nothin Dragon,

Thank-you for your individual support with the Gleneagle and Riverside Rapids this season. Over the course of the season these paddlers learned so much about teamwork, commitment, pushing personal limits, and having fun. We could not have done it without your support. After a busy teaching day, arriving each afternoon to the crew getting out the equipment and boat made everything run smooth. Please know the pure enjoyment/exhaustion on the faces of the students in the attached photo was possible thanks to you.

Susan and I had a rewarding season coaching the Rapids and working with your support.

All the best in the remainder of your 2023 racing season and see you next year!

Sincerely,

Erica

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Silver Anniversary Race Jersey for Nothin' Dragon

Nothin' Dragon unveiled a new team race jersey, and just in time for the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival held on June 24 and 26 in Vancouver. The new design was to spotlight the 25th anniversary of team, Nothin’ Dragon.

It took into day two for Concord race officials, and teams that know us, to put two-and-two together and recognize us. The new shirts were very well-received!

Our race jerseys are eye-catching, fresh, and professional-looking with continued colours of red and black, but now with blue and white in the mix.

The design concept was created by our talented teammate, Linda Corcoran, who paddles, steers and is our team secretary. It was produced by Oddball Workshop, a company that designs jerseys for many Canadian clubs.

Next up will be a new team hat and a no-sleeve and tank version of the shirt.

Coming to fruition! Teammate, Linda holds up the jersey mock up from Oddball from her design concept at the team general meeting earlier this year.

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First worn at Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival

Gold and Bronze Place Finishes at the FCRCC Knockout Regatta

Congratulations to Nothin’ Dragon’s Red Team who took home the gold in the C division at the 2023 FCRCC Knockout Regatta dragon boat races on May 13 at False Creek in Vancouver!

It was an exciting day of racing as teams Red and Black in 200m races.

Team Red was in the first race of the day at 9 a.m. and the new layout of the 200m race course (way down at the west end) proved to be a challenge, not only for the steers, but the race officials themselves. The race got underway, and from our boat it appeared the two boats in the lead were going too close to one another. One of them was being called to move away. Then our boat got called to move right. We almost ran into the boat in front of us, and our steer managed to move us over and somehow we all just kept paddling. The race result was much better than expected!

This first race altered the course for the remaining races and the officials changed how the steers were to pinpoint their direction. This helped. The sound system also improved as the day progressed, which meant we could hear the starts better each time. 

Team Black kept improving on time leading up to the exciting Knockouts. Team Red improved or hovered around the same mark. And again, we again got to race against each other and both Red and Black were called back to the start line twice in the Knockouts! 

In each of the three races, Team Red was able to put in a leading finish, and in the final race, Team Black gave it their all for a third-place finish! 

Here are the day’s race times:

Race 1
RED  1:07.779

Race 5
BLACK 1:05.834

Race 11
RED 1:00.112
Race 12
BLACK 1:01.970

Race 18
BLACK 1:02.790

Race 20
RED 1:00.500

Knockout Race 1
RED 1:01.834
BLACK 1:04.737

Knockout Race 2
RED 1:01.289
BLACK 1:03.792

Knockout Race 3
RED 1:01.473
BLACK 1:04.376

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Next on our race schedule is the Vessi 500 Championship on June 3.

Bronze Finish in Vessi 500 Senior C Cup

A beautiful day for racing at the Vessi 500 Championships dragon boat festival in Vancouver at False Creek. It was also a historic day as it was the first time Nothin' Dragon had two teams in the Senior C Cup race!

Both Red and Black teams put in a great day of racing and times improved as the day progressed.

From the Red team: "Despite being down a few teammates, no one got discouraged and everyone put in 100% effort all day. Our first race was a bit of a challenge. Just couldn’t get the glide! We figured it out, worked on ‘long and patient’ and ‘top hand pressure’ and the next three races felt great! Good glide, and strong finishes. Our times kept improving and we ended proudly with 2:26. It really was a fun day!"

From the Black team: “The consensus was that in our first race, the rate was high, but we managed to maintain it. Our effort resulted in a bronze place finish in the Senior C! Our focus for our next races was to go longer at a slower rate, and as we consistently aimed at doing so, we were able to improve each time and often were surprised to see our results as the effort felt like we may not be going that fast. It helped that most of our starts were strong and smooth. “

A big thanks to Coach Denise who manage lineups, answered questions and provided encouragement and feedback. She has drilled these points into us at training: go long, top hand pressure, patience. We're getting it!

And a special thank you to our steers and drummers who keep us on the course with their steadiness, calls and encouragement, even if they would rather be paddling. It's wonderful to see those new to these positions all doing so well. Your team is very proud of you!

Here are the race results for the Senior C Cup:

Race 1: Senior C

Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:38.291

Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:32.218 (bronze finish)

Our other race results:

Race 5: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:35.784

Race 7: Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:27.158

Race 13: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:34. 800

Race 15: Nothin' Dragon Black 2:25.124

Race 20: Nothin' Dragon Red – 2:26. 058 (Division F)

Race 22: Nothin' Dragon Black – 2:17.896 (Division D)

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Rapids High School Team Wins B Division Gold at Spring Sprint

A huge shout out to the Rapids, who train in our boats and with our safety team and steers! The students are led by Riverside teacher, Erica McArthur, former coach to Nothin’ Dragon. Susan Priestly, a teacher from Gleneagle is the co-coach.

This high school team is made up of students from Riverside Secondary and Gleneagle Secondary students and they did very well at their first junior race at the Spring Sprint dragon boat festival at False Creek, Vancouver in May.

The outcome was a gold medal in the Junior B Division!

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Hard work pays off! Junior B Gold!

The team trains at Rocky Point and many of the youth helped us on the dock at our Inlet Spring Regatta.

The Rapids are still training and will compete at the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival in June to wrap up their season.

A hearty congrats from team Nothin’ Dragon!

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Steering from Nothin’ Dragon is Linda Corcoran.

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Giving back! Students from the Rapids helped on the docks at our Inlet Spring Regatta held in April.

Gold in D Division at the Spring Sprint

Congratulations to Nothin’ Dragon’s Black Team who took home the gold in the D division at the 2023 Burnwater Spring Sprint dragon boat races on May 6!

It was an exciting day of racing as our teams Red and Black had three 500m races each. Each race showed an improved time for both teams.

Special mention to our rookie steersmen, Bob and Warren who kept the Black team on course and focused.

Here are our race times: 

Race 1
Red 2:44:663
Black 2:38:638

Race 2
Red 2:38:540
Black 2:37:437

Race 3 – what a race! 
Red 2:35:554
Black 2:34:653

Team photo with Red and Black. Spring Sprint, Vancouver.

Next we compete at the Knockouts on May 13. Same location. 200m races.

Riverside Secondary Returns to Dragon Boating

Did you know that we support Riverside Secondary (École Riverside Secondary School) located in Port Coquitlam?

New this year! The team also consists of students from Gleneagle Secondary in Coquitlam.

The team name is the Rapids.

Students are introduced to the sport of dragon boating, and we provide our paddles, PFDs, dragon boats and safety boat, along with some of our team to train on the waters off Rocky Point Park, Port Moody.

This year they will go to competitions and it's great to have them back after years away. The students are led by Riverside teacher, Erica McArthur, former coach to Nothin’ Dragon.

Have a great season, Rapids!

Annual Safety Session Held at City Pool

Each year our team holds a safety session at City Centre Aquatics Complex (CCAC) in Coquitlam’s city centre.

The session serves as a review of what to do should the boat capsize. We also review the fitting of our life vest or pfd.

We also review how to pull someone from the water.

Thank you to our safety manager, Donna, for coordinating, and to Brent and Steve for helping flip boats.

While the session is done predominantly for our new members, it’s a great refresher for long-standing members.

View more photos and video HERE.

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A great time was had by all!

Results of the 2022 AGM

Nothin’ Dragon Masters held our annual general meeting on Nov. 17 in the Old Mill Boathouse.

Congratulations to returning and new executive members:

• President: Brian Kenny

• Vice President: Brent Murphy

• Treasurer: Willie Savage

• Secretary: Jan Kenny

• Fundraising: Sandra Foubert

• Race Registrar: Denise Nelson

• Captain: Vacant

• Asst. Captain: Steven Chung

Committee members:

• Boat Maintenance: Warren Fox

• Coffee Mornings: Trish and John Wintle

• Facebook: Marjorie Wong

• Dragon Boat Management: Linda Corcoran / Denise Nelson

• Equipment (Tents): Brent Joel / Linda Corcoran

• Membership: Cheryl Plume

• Old Mill Boathouse Liaison: Pat Johnson

• Recycling: Julie Asselstine

• Safety: Donna Nyberg

• Social: Marlene Fox

• Sunshine: Elizabeth Scales

• Uniforms: Laney Bryenton

• Boat Booking Agent: Vacant

Riverside Secondary Returns to Dragon Boating

2015 was the the first year that Riverside Secondary High School in Port Coquitlam had a dragon boat team thanks to the Nothin’ Dragon Masters, and after a few years break due to the pandemic, the school is back on the water at Rocky Point once a week.

“It has been a great team building experience for us. Many thanks to the Nothin' Dragon Masters dragon boat team for supplying the paddles, PFD’s, dragon boat and mentorship,” said their coach Erica.

Team Boat Renamed 'Eagle Spirit'

The red boat is no longer called the ‘red boat’ as the Nothin’ Dragon Masters christened the boat, “Eagle Spirit” earlier this year and put her back on the water on March 16, 2022. The team’s website address was also added to the side of the boat.

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Seen at our own event, the Inlet Spring Regatta on April 23, 2022.

Winter Storm Sinks Dragon Boats at Rocky Point Park

No one could anticipate the crazy weather that took place in mid-November. The new weather term, “atmospheric river” had people paying attention and asking, “What is that?”

On November 15, several of the Nothin’ Dragon Masters executives went down to check the dragon boats docked at Rocky Point as the weather had lifted ever so slightly. Sadly, both boats were under the water but still tied to the dock.

Team captain, Denise reported back to the team, “Water is so high, winds are so strong and it was so cold….we have to wait till morning to see what we can do to get our dragon boats up out of the water.”

Thanks to teammate Lori, on November 19, C-Tow Marine Service and the diving crew "Seawolf" came to the rescue to lift the boats back to the surface with air ballasts.

The team came out to help get the boats from the water to dry land.

C-Tow Marine Service and the diving crew "Seawolf" to the rescue!

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Many hands make light work!

Results of the 2021 Annual General Meeting

Nothin’ Dragon Masters held out AGM on Oct. 28 in the Centennial Room of the Dogwood Pavilion in Coquitlam.

Several positions on the executive were up for nomination and voting in.

Congratulations to returning and new executive members:

President: Brian Kenny
Vice President: Brent Murphy
Treasurer: Willie Savage
Secretary: Linda Corcoran
Fundraising: Sandra Foubert
Race Registrar: Warren Fox
Captain: Denise Nelson
Asst. Captain: Steven Chung

Committee members:

Boat Maintenance: Warren Fox
Coffee Mornings: Trish and John Wintle
Communications: Marjorie Wong
Dragon Boat Management: Linda Corcoran / Denise Nelson
Equipment (Tents): Ed Foss
Membership: Cheryl Plume
Old Mill Boathouse Liaison: Pat Johnson
Recycling: Julie Asselstine
Safety: Donna Nyberg
Social (parties): Darlene Galer
Sunshine: Elizabeth Scales
Uniforms: Laney Bryenton
Boat Booking Agent: Vacant

Team members of Nothin’ Dragon Masters at the AGM held at Dogwood Pavilion’s Centennial Room.