Thunder fading from festival

Such has been the misfortune of Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival organizers over the past few years in securing ideal weather conditions for the event. The topic of the near-perfect weather was front and centre as I wandered the shores of Lake Ramsey on Saturday.

And if race-day temperatures were not the top of mind for most paddlers I chatted with, the decrease in number of entries followed as a close second. After reaching a festival high with more than 150 entries in 2003, the field has decreased steadily every year, with a total of 52 boats taking part this July.

This beckons the question about the long-term viability of the Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival. While I won’t profess to be an expert in this debate, the fact is that I have paddled twice as a competitor, manned the broadcast booth for the past three years prior to this, and chatted with numerous participants.

However, the gradual drop in entries was not necessarily frowned upon by Festival organizers. At a media reception a few months back, some suggested that attracting more than 100 crews of paddlers created countless organizational challenges, and strained volunteers to the max.

According to some involved, the “ideal” number would be a range of 70-80 teams. That gradual attrition was achieved from 2003 through to 2007, with a good majority of paddlers over the years giving it a try, before backing away from the commitment after two or three years.

I am certain the tough economic times did no favours to those who may have been sitting on the fence, although few offered this as a primary reason for the decline. The fact is that many of the teams rely on one or two individuals to shoulder much of the organizational load, and, like most volunteer roles, it becomes tougher to convince these critical liaisons to return year after year.

The festival relies on a certain amount of turnover, not only in the welcoming of new paddlers to the many crews whose names have become synonymous with the Sudbury event, but also with a changing of the guard in team captains over time.

It strikes me that event organizers have taken many of the steps necessary to try to ensure an attraction to participants on an annual basis. Now down to just a single day of racing, the heats went off like clockwork.

It’s funny because once participants get a race or two under their belts, they are quickly reminded of exactly why they offered to take part in the first place. There is an undeniable excitement and exhilaration for the two to three minute span that average athletes paddle feverishly through the waters of Lake Ramsey — a brief period when those competitive juices get the best of even the most ardent couch potato.

Talk to folks right after a race and the full field of 52 teams will be returning in force, now more than ready to better their previous team best time and move up a division or two next year. Yet, busy lives give way to other priorities and the challenge begins anew next spring as race organizers, I expect, hope to stop the sliding enrolment.

If only one could bottle the adrenaline rush of the finish line.

As for race day results, no great surprise at the top of the heap as Sudbury Team Chiropractic — fresh off an appearance at the World Club Crew Championships in Malaysia last summer — made it back-to-back titles, winning race #31 in a time of 2:06.62.

Interestingly enough, it was one area that did see a notable decrease in entries in the competitive ranks, with only the Collingwood Side Launchers making the trek north to Sudbury. The Collingwood crew were nosed out by the SCC Phoenix for second place overall, five seconds back from Team Chiro.

Builder’s Risk returned after a one-year hiatus to garner top spot in the Division II final. The third last race of the day produced one of the more exciting finishes, as the Rock Dragons slipped past a four-boat wave that was separated by less than three seconds.

Remaining divisional winners included: Aquaholics, Dragon R Oars, PC Dragonly, Miller Maki-Dragon Gators, Chemmy Mud Boggers, Fear.Less and Golder Associates.

Congratulations to all who took part and even more so to those who organized and volunteered to make the event possible.

Randy Pascal is the voice of Eastlink Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.