VancouverShow.com Review: 2003 Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver
June 13 to June 15, 2003.

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Dragon Boat Racing

Drawing a record number of 185 dragon boat teams, the dragon boat festival had an estimated 100,000 visitors this year.  It's amazing how some of the skilled dragon boat teams are able to accelerate from a motionless state to a nimble moving mass.  Some of the pro-level paddlers had huge, muscular arms and their strokes plunge into the water with strength and accuracy.  It was all done in unison like a strong motor - powering and propelling the dragon boat up slightly and forward quickly due to their force!

For the first time beginning this year, the dragon boat race organizers added a new challenge called the "Guts and Glory Race."  This is a long, 2000 meter endurance marathon compared to the regular 500 meter race.  During the last race of the festival, the top 18 teams were invited to participate, resulting in almost 400 people on the water at once.

Instead of starting by the Science World area, the dragon boat teams started at the finish line by the Cambie Street Bridge.  Each team took their start 30 seconds apart, in a consecutive queue.  Final race results are adjusted evenly based on the start time differences.  During the course of the race, I could see that many of the paddlers were exhausted.  This long endurance style dragon boat race is said to be a first in North America.  It was fresh and exciting to watch - keep the program interesting and add more ways to make the races more entertaining.

It was a gorgeous Sunday for the final dragon boat races.  Teams competed fiercely while having fun and being good sports.

Later, I went on the media boat to photograph alongside the racing on the waters.  Before doing that, I had to go to the media check-in area by the front gates and met a gentleman by the name of William.  He was a conscientious, straight-forward and helpful guy.  He contacted the media boat for me and asked when they would be back by the docks.  William insisted I have a seat and gave up his chair to me while we waited and he stood.   I thank William and accept his kind gesture and offer.  Walking around the site in the hot weather made me sweat so it was relaxing to sit down in the shade and take a a brief break. That was genuinely the nicest thing someone has done for me at the festival.  I'm always glad to meet quality people out there.  It's refreshing when I meet people like this.  I like to be around genuinely friendly, positive and bright people.

William guided me to the dock area where the media boat would be parking.  I met the driver of the boat, Dave.  We introduced ourselves and shook hands.  Walter, partner in patrol, was also in the boat.  There was also another media photographer.  She had red hair and was chatting and taking photographs with a big Nikon F4 film SLR camera and long zoom lens attached.  I remember holding and using a Nikon F5 and it was like holding a brick.  Therefore, I thought she's in pretty good shape to be photographing with such a relatively heavy camera for any extended period of time.  Later, two more people hopped aboard our boat from Shaw Cablesystems to capture video footage of the final races.

Cruising on the Media Boat with the Captains and Photographers

Sunday, the final day of the dragon boat festival, was sunny and gorgeous.  It could not have been a more beautiful day to finish off the festival.  Out of all three days for this event, Sunday turned out to be the best day in terms of weather.  I put on my sunscreen, sunglasses and got a tan from being out all day.  The lighting condition was very bright, especially when the sun reflects off the waters.

Anyhow, our boat followed the racing action very closely.  Dave, the captain steering our boat, was very helpful.  He told me to let him know without any reserve the types of shots I wanted to get.  Then, he would do his best to maneuver the boat to accommodate me.  All of the dragon boat race shots I took on the boat are the results of Dave and Walter's guide and experience with the boat and past events.  These two experience men had a great sense of humour.  Guys, people should not leave their DNA in the water!

While cruising in the boat, it was relaxing with gentle and cool breezes.  Walter is experienced with sailing and boats.  I was asking him about the subject of sailing and boats.  While enjoying the boat ride, I was asking them how much it costs to park a boat or yacht on the docks.  Then, he showed me his boat license by taking out his wallet and mentions that you had to have a permit to operate a boat nowadays.  Years ago, I remember you could rent a boat and navigate it as long as you had a driver's license.  Now,  you have to get your boat operating permit.  However, it's a good safety measure.  Boats are fun and I've become more interested in sailing because of this experience.

A curious baby Canada geese and a pair of adult geese swam towards our boat.

Awards, Closing Ceremony and Thanks

After all that racing, it's time to award the top 3 teams in their categories at the closing ceremony.  Teams would first line up by to the left area of the stage.  Most of them had big banners displaying their team logos while wearing their uniforms.  Overall, I noticed this year the team entrance cheers weren't as loud compared to last year.  What happened, guys?  Did the "Guts and Glory Race" knock the wind out of your vocal chords?  Maybe there were less people who stayed to watch the closing ceremony.  It was still festive and loud at times.  Nonetheless, that was something I noticed to be slightly off and I hope the cheers will be back up overall next time.  Go, teams!

Along with the people I've already mentioned in this article, special thanks go to the staff and volunteers at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival who made it fun and organized.  If you have any comments, special requests or suggestions, please email me.  For me personally, it was another fun year at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in Vancouver.  I hope they keep it up and keep improving.  Vancouver is a world class city.  We must keep the good traditions going strong!  I definitely felt the full enthusiasm and spirit while photographing the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 winter Olympics winning bid celebrations, also at the Plaza of Nations, in early July 2003.  This concludes the 2003 Alcan Dragon Boat Festival review in Vancouver.  Have a great summer, everyone!

Teams sitting at the awards and closing ceremony

Winning teams claim their awards proudly