Ay Crew!
Wow well, what to say! It was a strong showing by CDBC Crew Yahoo this weekend at the 2017 Edmonton Dragonboat Festival. Not only did we bring home a medal, we did it while wearing pirate costumes – a first for Yahoo!
The festival took place on the North Saskatchewan River and the river course and shorter length were a change from what we’re used to. However, the team adjusted accordingly after the first race and landed in the A division semi-final with our Albertan A-team comrades, EDBRC Got Gainz. Unfortunately, during the semi-final the dragon head fell off, dragged through the water and finally fell off the boat, causing a bit of chaos and lost seconds! As a team, we powered through it as we've been trained. We filed a formal protest, which was successful, but wasn't enough to get us into the Aurora (A) Final.
Despite the adversity (and a minor injury during the dragon head situation), Crew Yahoo pulled it together and agreed to race our race in the Borealis (B) Final and show Edmonton what we're made of. It was a close race between Yahoo and the green-shirted EDBRC Incredible Hulls but Yahoo pressed and powered on to not only score a gold medal finish but also the fastest time out of the Aurora and Borealis finals!
A special shout-out to the coaches Lindsay and Carol (for doing a great job this weekend making the calls and coaching us to an ultimate victory) and to our super skillful steersperson One-More-Bench-Brent (for keeping us straight on that river despite obstructions like dragonheads and for knowing the rules of protesting). Thanks also to those who provided transport for people/equipment/food; these festivals wouldn't be possible without the help that everyone pitches in!
Also, congrats to Krista and Kenny for racing in your first festival. It's great to have you both as part of the crew!
And last but not least, thanks to everyone for the great racing, I hope you all had fun this weekend. Looking forward to seeing you all again on the water!
Paddles up!
Lisa