Hi Crew -
What a race weekend it was!
Here is how things stacked up:
Angels - Gold A Division
Yahoo - Silver A Division
Evolution - A Division/5th Overall
Angels had a great weekend of racing - finding lots of glide right from the first race and a crew best with a time of 2:13.00 (Race 2). The final might have brought out our devilish sides a little, it was not our best race but it was also the first time a boat got close enough to make a move which may have spooked us a little. Who knows?! Happy that our halos are still gold! (2:17.86)
Yahoo also raced well! Alas, the elusive sub-2 was not within our grasp this weekend but we were close in our second race on Saturday (2:00.47). This dog fight was a great preview of what a potential final might look like against Got Gainz (2:00.09).
The big story of the weekend was Evolution in the semis! Smashing the crew best from last year by 4 seconds with a time of 2:08.73, racing against the formidable Got Gainz and Quiet Riot and beating out Dragnum, Spartans and Max Storm to earn a spot in the A-Division final! It was an incredibly gutsy race; not the most well-executed but Evo did meet the coaches' objective which was to secure a spot in the A final.
Mixed A Final - we found ourselves in a tough (but exciting) situation having two crews in the show down but also facing Got Gains, Quiet Riot and Oil City Crew. There was a big delay before the start of the race but it seemed like both crews stayed calm and focused! Finally the boats were lined up, the horn went and everyone was off...both boats were fully energized - there were crazy calls and some wild wake to deal with! In the end, Yahoo came up a nose short for gold (2:03.45) but walked away with a very respectable silver. (Got Gainz 2:03.05) Evolution finished last but earned their "5th overall" title and probably some new targets on their backs (at a minimum, Dragnum and Spartans will be looking for redemption next year). No doubt - everyone left it all on the water!
Thank-you's
Huge applause to our coaching team for getting us race ready throughout the season. This contributed to the successful weekend we had! The planning efforts the coaches put into our race lineups helped ensure we had a back up plan when we faced off in the A division.
Thank-you to our team captains - Charles, Natasha and Jeanette who attended the team captain’s meeting Friday night on our behalf, for picking up the race packages and helping to keep track of everyone.
Thank-you to the Tyler brothers (Brandon and Devin) for picking up our snacks & Brandon for helping us order our Subway lunch.
Janelle for stepping in as a stroke at the last minute and Kana for racing back to Calgary from Edmonton to step in as a drummer for Angels and Evo for their finals. It was a great first-time drumming effort, especially so last minute. Well done Janelle and Kana!
Not only did Grace step up and paddle and steer; she also gave back to the dragon boat community to help steer for the festival title sponsor Sinopec Energy! Thank you Grace! You are becoming quite the steering extraordinaire.
Last but not least, a shout out to our guest paddlers: Chelsey, Steph and Leslie. Thank you ladies ! It was great having you race with us Yahoos again.
That’s a wrap for another YYC festival! Hope you all had a great weekend!