For the third year in a row, I am part of the Xilinx team that participated in Paddle for Life Dragon Boat Festival.
This year's race was held in Jack London Square, like last year. However, instead of Bay Area Dragons volunteers organizing the entire event, a company handled all the race planning and logistics. To the paddlers, the only visible difference was the size of the boat used in the race and the course. Instead of longer dragon boats which requires 20 paddlers, we are using shorter boats, which only requires 10 paddlers. Also, instead of the 300m course used last year, a 200m course is used.
As per last year, we were told to reach Jack London Square at 8:30am. Having done the race last year, I knew what to expect. I found a place near Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon to park for free!
I then went to the team staging area and help set up the tents. Like last year, we were sharing tent space with Lucy's Party Boat, except, Lucy is now Marvin's wife:)
The first race was between Xilinx-Virtex, Xilinx-Spartan and Xilinx Party Boat. Since we had 20+ paddlers signed up for the race, and a smaller crew was required for each boat, Xilinx was able to field 2 teams. Marvin choose the team names, which are the names of the 2 main product line for Xilinx. Backup paddlers from Lucy's Party Boat and Xilinx formed a third boat, hence Xilinx Party Boat:)
I was assigned to Xilinx Party Boat for this first race. After the usual warm up drill, we moved to the marshalling area. The race was running behind, but not as much as last year. Paddlers were loading and unloading quickly and there wasn't a long way to paddle to the starting line or from the finishing line. The company held dragon boat race professionally and it showed.
Marvin and Nathalie were the drummers for Xilinx Virtex and Xilinx Spartan respectively. Lucy was the drummer for Xilinx Party Boat. She was pregnant so I was a little worried. The smaller boats are more "tippsy" and I certainly didn't want her in the water.
It was a fairly windy day, so lining up the boats for the start was difficult. The starting call was came very quickly. The judges even warned us of the fast starting call. I had experienced that in previous races, so was prepared. Our boat, despite having never paddled together, came in 2nd, ahead of Xilinx Spartan, but behind Xilinx Virtex. This makeshift crew paddled in time the entire race!
After the race, I joined Xilinx Virtex for the debriefing, since I would be paddling with Xilinx Virtex for the rest of the day. Marvin did not have anything negative to comment. A by-stander from another team said to Marvin, "Dude, you have a very fast boat!".
On the way back to our tents, Virtex boat members chatted among ourselves about the Spartan boat being slower. I joking said, "That's expected! Virtex runs faster than Spartan!" Virtex is the high performance product line from Xilinx and has faster speed specs than Spartan parts. The pun drew laughter from everyone.
In the second race, Xilinx Virtex competed against East Bay MUD Azul and PepsiCo NikNak PaddleWak. All the paddlers from Virtex team had participated in the last 2 Paddle for Life and it showed. When the steersman gave the command, "Take it away!" to bring us to the starting line, the entire crew responded and the boat really moved. Even the steersman was impressed.
Nathalie was our drummer for the second race. Again, we had a fast starting call. But everyone on the boat was experienced and was not taken by surprise. The boat was really moving after the first eight strokes. The wind had picked up during the race and I felt us slicing through the water. Everyone was paddling in time. Nathalie actually called the finished late and we were still in our finishing set when "Let it ride!" was called. She later explained her view of the finishing line was block by a big boat in the harbor. But we did not need a strong finish. I steal a peek at the other boats near the end of the race (I know...very bad) and knew we well ahead of other teams. Another number 1 finish for Virtex!
The dragon boat festival then broke for lunch. As we were still eating, we were suddenly informed our next race was coming up in 15mins! Everyone decided not to eat too much food. A full stomach and paddling does not mix:)
In the third race, Virtex competed against Chong Hwa Saint Tao Yuan and Kapakahi Dragons 2. Marvin was our drummer for this race. At this time, the weather had turned really rough. As we paddled to the starting point and was waiting for other boats, a strong wave hit us on the side. The dragon boat tipped dangerously low to one side and took in water. I swore we were all going into the water when the steersman yelled "Brace the boat". Amazingly, we did not flip.
We held a light brace on the boat while lining up for the start and had our paddles submerged even before the starting call. As expected the starting call came quickly and we burst out of the gate. I felt our boat sliced through the water, but the wave was really strong on this race. Several paddlers, including myself, got a taste of the bay water splashing into our mouth. We paddled in time, but during the "stretch" pieces, I did notice Marvin holding his hand to slow Ava, our lead paddler's cadence down during the race. Overall, I thought we had a strong performance, but after the race was over, I saw Kapakahi Dragon 2 was ahead of us. There was no time to rest however, since the sea was really rough and we had to brace the boat again, before paddling back to the dock.
Our time for the third race was 1 minute 13.41 seconds, good enough for 3rd place overall.
As we gathered for our debrief, we heard an announcement over the PA system. The weather condition had turned so bad that the rest of the race were cancelled. The race that was on-going was the last race. Unfortunately for us, Independence High School was in this last race. Marvin and Nathalie had commented all their paddlers are from the national team. Not surprisingly, Independence High School recorded the fastest time of the entire race and pushed Virtex from 3rd place overall to 4th place overall.
So no medals for us this year again:( Personally, I agree with the race director's decision to stop the festival. The sea was really rough and some boats are going to get flipped if we had continued.
But again, I thought we had a really good team this year and while we were probably not going to beat Independence High School, I felt we had a good chance to medal if the race had gone on.
I now look forward to next year's race. If everyone on Virtex returns, we should get a good chance at medalling next year.
Pictures of the race can be found here.
This year's race was held in Jack London Square, like last year. However, instead of Bay Area Dragons volunteers organizing the entire event, a company handled all the race planning and logistics. To the paddlers, the only visible difference was the size of the boat used in the race and the course. Instead of longer dragon boats which requires 20 paddlers, we are using shorter boats, which only requires 10 paddlers. Also, instead of the 300m course used last year, a 200m course is used.
As per last year, we were told to reach Jack London Square at 8:30am. Having done the race last year, I knew what to expect. I found a place near Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon to park for free!
I then went to the team staging area and help set up the tents. Like last year, we were sharing tent space with Lucy's Party Boat, except, Lucy is now Marvin's wife:)
The first race was between Xilinx-Virtex, Xilinx-Spartan and Xilinx Party Boat. Since we had 20+ paddlers signed up for the race, and a smaller crew was required for each boat, Xilinx was able to field 2 teams. Marvin choose the team names, which are the names of the 2 main product line for Xilinx. Backup paddlers from Lucy's Party Boat and Xilinx formed a third boat, hence Xilinx Party Boat:)
I was assigned to Xilinx Party Boat for this first race. After the usual warm up drill, we moved to the marshalling area. The race was running behind, but not as much as last year. Paddlers were loading and unloading quickly and there wasn't a long way to paddle to the starting line or from the finishing line. The company held dragon boat race professionally and it showed.
Marvin and Nathalie were the drummers for Xilinx Virtex and Xilinx Spartan respectively. Lucy was the drummer for Xilinx Party Boat. She was pregnant so I was a little worried. The smaller boats are more "tippsy" and I certainly didn't want her in the water.
It was a fairly windy day, so lining up the boats for the start was difficult. The starting call was came very quickly. The judges even warned us of the fast starting call. I had experienced that in previous races, so was prepared. Our boat, despite having never paddled together, came in 2nd, ahead of Xilinx Spartan, but behind Xilinx Virtex. This makeshift crew paddled in time the entire race!
After the race, I joined Xilinx Virtex for the debriefing, since I would be paddling with Xilinx Virtex for the rest of the day. Marvin did not have anything negative to comment. A by-stander from another team said to Marvin, "Dude, you have a very fast boat!".
On the way back to our tents, Virtex boat members chatted among ourselves about the Spartan boat being slower. I joking said, "That's expected! Virtex runs faster than Spartan!" Virtex is the high performance product line from Xilinx and has faster speed specs than Spartan parts. The pun drew laughter from everyone.
In the second race, Xilinx Virtex competed against East Bay MUD Azul and PepsiCo NikNak PaddleWak. All the paddlers from Virtex team had participated in the last 2 Paddle for Life and it showed. When the steersman gave the command, "Take it away!" to bring us to the starting line, the entire crew responded and the boat really moved. Even the steersman was impressed.
Nathalie was our drummer for the second race. Again, we had a fast starting call. But everyone on the boat was experienced and was not taken by surprise. The boat was really moving after the first eight strokes. The wind had picked up during the race and I felt us slicing through the water. Everyone was paddling in time. Nathalie actually called the finished late and we were still in our finishing set when "Let it ride!" was called. She later explained her view of the finishing line was block by a big boat in the harbor. But we did not need a strong finish. I steal a peek at the other boats near the end of the race (I know...very bad) and knew we well ahead of other teams. Another number 1 finish for Virtex!
The dragon boat festival then broke for lunch. As we were still eating, we were suddenly informed our next race was coming up in 15mins! Everyone decided not to eat too much food. A full stomach and paddling does not mix:)
In the third race, Virtex competed against Chong Hwa Saint Tao Yuan and Kapakahi Dragons 2. Marvin was our drummer for this race. At this time, the weather had turned really rough. As we paddled to the starting point and was waiting for other boats, a strong wave hit us on the side. The dragon boat tipped dangerously low to one side and took in water. I swore we were all going into the water when the steersman yelled "Brace the boat". Amazingly, we did not flip.
We held a light brace on the boat while lining up for the start and had our paddles submerged even before the starting call. As expected the starting call came quickly and we burst out of the gate. I felt our boat sliced through the water, but the wave was really strong on this race. Several paddlers, including myself, got a taste of the bay water splashing into our mouth. We paddled in time, but during the "stretch" pieces, I did notice Marvin holding his hand to slow Ava, our lead paddler's cadence down during the race. Overall, I thought we had a strong performance, but after the race was over, I saw Kapakahi Dragon 2 was ahead of us. There was no time to rest however, since the sea was really rough and we had to brace the boat again, before paddling back to the dock.
Our time for the third race was 1 minute 13.41 seconds, good enough for 3rd place overall.
As we gathered for our debrief, we heard an announcement over the PA system. The weather condition had turned so bad that the rest of the race were cancelled. The race that was on-going was the last race. Unfortunately for us, Independence High School was in this last race. Marvin and Nathalie had commented all their paddlers are from the national team. Not surprisingly, Independence High School recorded the fastest time of the entire race and pushed Virtex from 3rd place overall to 4th place overall.
So no medals for us this year again:( Personally, I agree with the race director's decision to stop the festival. The sea was really rough and some boats are going to get flipped if we had continued.
But again, I thought we had a really good team this year and while we were probably not going to beat Independence High School, I felt we had a good chance to medal if the race had gone on.
I now look forward to next year's race. If everyone on Virtex returns, we should get a good chance at medalling next year.
Pictures of the race can be found here.
