Well this was it: the 2008 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival was finally here. As we gathered at the race site on Saturday morning, there was a nervous anticipation in the air. More than 150 teams from across North America had gathered in Vancouver for the biggest dragon boat event in North America. Some of the teams were fun recreational teams full of team spirit, positive attitudes and crazy costumes that included wigs and super-hero capes; others were more serious competitive teams that had trained hard all year for this weekend with an intense mix of dry-land training and on-water practices. It was a fantastic weekend of festival fun and on-the-edge-of-your-seat racing that was capped off by the Guts & Glory race. The top 16 placing teams of the event (including that of yours truly - yay team!) competed in this 2000 metre race - the equivalent of 4 races in 1 - that required sheer determination and grit. Crazy passes, sharp turns and near-collisions excited the crowd as the 16 boats progressed the course. In the end the FCRCC team proved the victors of both the overall event championship and the Guts & Glory competition. Kudos to them and congratulations to my own team for such a great showing this weekend! Go team go! Thanks also to all the crew of 450 volunteers coordinating teams in the racers village, at the marshalling area, down on the docks and OutThere! on the water.

I was out paddling last night when a fellow paddler got caught by a bad combination of wind and waves that capsized her boat. Thankfully she was wearing a properly fitted PFD and popped up to the surface right away. She’s not a strong swimmer, but with the assistance of the PFD and another paddler she was able to get her boat flipped back over and haul herself out of the water within a few minutes. Crisis diverted, right? Wrong. It didn’t take long for the effects of shock and hypothermia to set in. With intense shivering and difficulty breathing, she was helped out of the boat, re-dressed in dry clothes and wrapped in blankets. A call to the ambulance and a trip to the hospital later, she is now at home recovering from the incident. She was lucky, though her experience should serve as a reminder to us all to always be prepared for the unexpected and to never underestimate the effects of cold water. It’s worth noting the paddler had just purchased her new MV5801 Deluxe Paddling PFD on Thursday of last week; it sure didn’t take long for it to pay off. Paddle safe and have fun OutThere!

A new dragon boat season is upon us and teams are out practising on Vancouver’s False Creek in preparation for the region’s biggest festival of the year - the Rio Tinto Dragon Boat Festival. Since my team’s practices commenced in February we have endured rain, wind and even snow, all in the effort of having fun and becoming as strong a team as we can be for the festival. Training however is just part of peak performance; the other part is equipment. I figure my part in ensuring my team is well-equipped is to make sure they all have the best new paddling PFD on the market: Mustang’s MV5801 Deluxe Paddling Vest! I wore prototypes of this vest last season as it progressed through its design stages and have to admit that I have completely fallen in love with it. It is without a doubt the most comfortable paddling PFD I have ever worn. The tapered sides allow me to bend and twist, the comfort features on the shoulder straps, waist and armholes keep me chafe-free and the Dri-Lex (R) lining keeps me dry and comfortable all day. I haven’t even gotten to the pockets big enough to fit my camera, keys and pretty much anything else I could ever want to throw in there, the good-looking style lines or the contoured fit yet, but I think I’ve probably boasted about it enough for one day (Plus if I go on anymore I’ll ruin the surprise you’ll have when you try it on for yourself, realize just how comfortable it is and wonder how you’ve ever paddled in anything else.)