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Dragon Boat Skool
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33 contributions to Dragon Boat Skool
Oct 14 •
Team communication
What do you use for your team chat? My team uses What’s App. We use it mostly for informal chat and pictures. What do you love and dislike about your chat program? What do you wish you had to communicate with your team?
Poll
14 members have voted
3 likes • 30d
Team Snap chat is simple to use but lots of “noise” that has nothing to do with DB. E-mails are used for formal communication.
1 like • 22d
@Liisa Reimann just members chatting about social events, personal stories, etc. Also things that pertain to practices and team events. The noise is all the extraneous tidbits people post that make it hard to wade through what is related to important team information.
Oct 2 •
Steering Conundrums
I’m just curious what’s your best “worst” steering story? I feel like so often I am going to fall in! Have any of you had that happen? What about other scary stories that maybe now you can look back on and laugh about? I’m in the mood for some entertaining stories!
1 like • 27d
Got in one of the race boats here in Orlando, FL and noticed the drain plug wasn’t screwed in at all! Tightened her up for first race of the morning. Goes to show you sometimes it’s those little things we learn as steers that come into play on race day!
Aug 16 •
Flying w/Paddle(s)
For those who fly with paddles, how do you pack them, and do you check them or carry them on? I’m primarily curious about traveling with a single paddle, but I’d also love to hear how coaches manage carrying paddles for a whole team.
3 likes • Aug 21
Going to see if Delta Airlines will allow me to bring our team paddle case as my second piece of free luggage. It’s under 50 lb but over the linear inches allowed for regular luggage. One of our members was able to do it when she told them it was for a nonprofit team sporting event and clearly marked as “kayak paddles”.
1 like • Sep 20
@Tina Giangrande It went! I went to the delta counter; told them it was Kayak Equipment (that’s on their list of allowed) and it was marked as second piece of luggage with no extra charge. You sort of have to bypass doing electronically and cross your fingers that the check-in employee knows how to get it through when oversized.
Aug 31 •
IBCPC
I am so extremely proud of our two teams who just competed in France! They faced adversity, but posted the 2nd fastest 1K time out of 174 breast cancer teams! Unbelievable strength and determination! Sorry to have missed out on this! Let’s give them some big love!!!
1 like • Sep 14
Hi Jill, I spoke to your steer before heading out to steer my Dragon Diva team. We sat on the bank of the lake and navigated the course together which was very helpful. No one had a chance to practice this event or see the course markings before hand so kudos to the steers who did so well. The marks for turns were not clear but your steer pointed out that there was a chute to enter and her guidance was to then steer down lane six. She must have done do successfully. I on the other hand, made the chute but was waved off lane six which pissed me off. The ref made me stop our boat. And let two others pass before allowing me to re-enter the course. Any blaming of steers for the chaos of this race is Ill advised.?It was a lesson learned for me because I will refuse to steer a race called last minute without proper instruction on the course markings.
1 like • Sep 15
@Jill Schieve I’m in agreement Jill. Too many changing conditions and inconsistencies to place blame on the steers. It was many of the steers working together despite the poor organization that salvaged many a race.
Sep 1 •
Race equipment - getting too dangerous?
This one's mostly for the steers, but I'd like everyone to weigh in as you feel called to. This week we have two world championships and another slew of mishaps, some more horrific than others. Everyone is quick to blame the steer — and while steer incompetency IS to blame much of the time, there's another elephant in the room... the equipment. The boats Champion has been churning out are tippier every year - especially the short boats. The oars they supply with them are increasingly heavier, thicker, shorter, and harder to handle. Try getting purchase in a turn with one of those things... it can be impossible. Yes, some of that is negated by a crew that is perfectly balanced front to back, side to side, and paddling-strength-wise. But when does that ever truly happen? Even with a PERFECT crew, one person can slip, one person can catch a wave, one person can lean in instead of out... and those things matter. So I'm curious - do you think the equipment needs to be better assessed, tested, regulated too? Making sure our steers have the required competencies is one thing, but imho we also need to make sure that when they get to a race they aren't suddenly fighting 17 new variables (and dangerous ones at that) all at once. Because a crew that practices in a BUK on a flat river is not going to paddle the same way in a champion on waves. let me know your thoughts on this.
2 likes • Sep 14
@Liisa Reimann The oars were lashed with a rubber tubing run horizontally at the base of the oar lock and another one running horizontally at the upper third of the oarlock. This had the effect of greatly limiting the helm’s ability to maneuver the oar deeper into the water or push/pull or rotate the shaft. Some of the oars shafts and handles were made from plastic and additionally, some seemed shorter than others although it may have just appeared that way due to their restricted movement in the oarlock. I had to literally hike out beyond the hull like a sailor to put more force on the blade in an effort to steer the boat counterclockwise. I couldn’t rotate the handle which would have allowed the proper water spillover off the blade to make a more efficient turn. So in the next race I loosened the rubber straps and widened the space for the oar to go through the best I could. The dock folks didn’t say anything so why not.
0 likes • Sep 14
@Liisa Reimann in a word— resale
1-10 of 33
@cory-graham-6664
Dragon Boating in MN for 20 years. Began steering 2018 to prep for Italy. Love close races & Vancouver is my fave. Steering France IBCPC Aug 2026.
Active 3d ago
Joined Jan 20, 2026
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