Milton (Kelso Park) Dragon Boat Festival    
Racing on Saturday May 29, 2010

We invited experienced paddlers from ANY team to join us at this event which has over twice the total racing distance of a standard regatta.  It was a great way to kick start the season at this fun event (5 races, 3,700m in total).  See pictures below.  Thanks to Gerry McElwain (Civil Dragons captain) who paddled and worked with us on the race plan.
Team name - Rusty Dragons "Mötley Crüe"   
(this is name of all our collective teams)

Who can join:  
This is a collective team composed of paddlers from various other teams who want to paddle in an extra regatta for fun and experience.  This is a great event to kick start the season.  ANYONE who has paddled at least one practice this season is welcome to join this team.

Race Day: 
l Dates:  SATURDAY May 29th, 7:30am to 5:30pm
l Location:  Kelso Park, Milton, Ontario. 
l Races (5):  Three 500m races, one 250m sprint race, and we hope to also race in an end-of-day 2000m race.

Cost: 
l $40 per paddler.  Note that the Rusty Dragons never charge for coaching / managing fees (we always coach / steer for free).  The entry fee is simply the $795 Milton entry fee divided by 20 paddlers.  The Rusty Dragons will absorb any loss due to having less than 20 registered paddlers.

Directions: 
From Highway 401, take Highway 25 NORTH to Campbellville Road; WEST to Tremaine Road.   SOUTH (back under the 401) until you reach Kelso Road.  Turn right into auxiliary park entrance Please note…the park can only accept cash only at this gate…or park passes…but no credit cards and no debit can be used at the auxiliary gate.  The auxiliary gate is before the main park entrance…Captains continue and make a right hand turn to the main park entrance.

Gates will be open at 6:00 am Saturday.  There will be Lively Dragon signs pointing you to parking.

Team Dinner at Drake & Firkin at 6pm: 
It has always been a tradition that the Rusty Dragons team go out for a team dinner following our racing event to enjoy good food, good company and show off the hardware!  We have made reservations at the Drake and Firkin Pub at 6982 Financial Drive in Mississauga about 20 minutes from our regatta site and right off the highway.  We will confirm numbers attending on race day and we expect dinner will be at about 6:00 p.m.  We will have maps to the restaurant.
2010 "Motley Crue" Milton team

Tim MacFarlane (PDBC Masters)
Agnes Lee (OPS Civil Dragons)
Donna Sullivan (PDBC Masters)
Frank Sullivan (PDBC Masters)
Alexis Robertson (OPS Civil Dragons)
Delia Couto (OPS Civil Dragons)
Sofia Argiropoulos (OPS Civil Dragons)
Rick MacFarlane (Rusty Dragons)
Linda An (OPS Civil Dragons)
Winnie Chan (OPS Alumni)
Tuan Phan (OPS Civil Dragons)
Valerie Mills (OPS Civil Dragons)
Justin Paterson (OPS Alumni)
Gerry McElwain (OPS Civil Dragons)
Marc Perreault (PDBC Masters)

Thanks also to our 15 guest paddlers who helped fill our boat and make this a better day for everyone.  They included: Tim Caron, Jodi, Jenny Ma, Gary Lee (Dragon Hearts), Buffy, Heather, Marilyn (Lively Dragon), Chris Chung, Sal Morano, Serge Linarello (Catch 22), Stan Burrows, Stan Walton, Wendy Walton, Jeff Peel, Jim Reid, (S.O.B.s), and Jake.

Thank you also to guest drummer Rachel Burkholder who did a great job cheering us on in the races, and guest steersperson Doug from Lively Dragon who steered in all races except the 2000m so Caroline and Tim could paddle.

The 2000m was steered by Tim and drummed by Caroline.
Rusty Dragons
Bringing dragon boat paddlers together for special events

Click HERE for a Google directions map to the Kelso Park race venue.
Team name - Rusty Dragons "Mötley Crüe"   

Congratulations to the crew on some great races and fun in Milton on May 29th.  We overcame the odds and came together on race day with a full crew.  Thank you to all paddlers who joined us.  We finished each final for the 200m, 500m, and 2000m races in second place.
>> In the 500m "E" Final we were underdogs, but we had a great start and surged ahead.  At the end, we were one of two teams far in the lead and we were just edged by a few seconds at the finish line and came in second.  We had shaved 10s off of our semi-final time.
>> In the 200m Bonus Final, we had a good race and finished in 58.83s (2nd in our heat).  It was the one race we know we could have raced better. 
>> In the 2000m race we were second off the line and closed the 15s gap between us and the first team just after the first turn.  After we passed them we had no one challenge us the rest of the way.  We ended with a time of 11:26.63 and 2nd place in the heat, and 11th of 29 teams who raced.
Gerry and Tim going over the lineup and race plan.
OMG Ponies were racing, and we caught their mascot munching on grass nearby our tent,
Conserving energy for the final...
A drumcorps travelled through the grounds
Chris from Catch 22 who joined us for some races.
Val and Caroline contemplating (certain victory we can only assume!)
Gerry was given control of the starts and race plan for the benifit of the Civils on the team.
Go Rusty Dragons!
Tuan, reading the fine print, looking for loop holes again...