Phantom Dragons / Scorch Combine Forces for CDBF 2K15

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CDBF 2K15 FB Composite

Team Scorch (a combined Phantom Dragons / Florida crew) brought home some bling from this year’s Colorado Dragon Boat Festival.

The team received Gold medals and a 1st Place Certificate for the 250m Rec A Division.  The team also placed 4th in the 500-meter Competitive Division, and posted the fastest time in the 1,000-Meter “Guts & Glory” race (but were forced inside by another boat, missing a buoy in that race, which was for “bragging rights only”).

Due to an improperly called start (which was protested), the crew was allowed to re-run the 125m Final (with some awesome help from their LBT friends, who ran alongside to help push them along). Even though the PD/Scorch crew had to run that race back-to-back, immediately after one of its 250-meter heats, they posted a faster time than any other team in the final heat.

It was a great weekend of racing and camaraderie.  Congrats to all!

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LBT brings home Gold in CDBF 2K15

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Congratulations to the Lao Buddhist Temple of Denver Dragonboat Club for an outstanding performance in this year’s Colorado Dragon Boat Festival!  LBT brought home gold in both the Competitive 250-meter and 125-meter Sprint Divisions, and silver in the Competitive 500-meter Division.  Well done, LBT!LBT 2K15

Phantom Dragons Host BlindStart Paddlers in Arizona

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SubstandardFullSizeRenderThe Phantom Dragons were joined by four paddlers from the BlindStart program in the recent Arizona Dragon Boat Festival.  It was honor to have them as part of our crew, and fun getting to know them a little better at our team dinner Saturday night.

Check out this great article and video by a local news station that was doing a feature on the BlindStart Paddlers.  The Phantom Dragons were prominently featured in a good part of the video footage!

 

 

Phantom Dragons Race in Arizona

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Congratulations to the Phantom Dragons for their strong showing in the Arizona Dragon Boat Festival held March 28-29, 2K15. Short-handed for the event (as usual), the Phantoms crew had some much appreciated help.  Its Mixed Crew was far more “mixed” than most, with three countries and eight+ individual teams represented in its ranks.

Although the Phantom Dragons didn’t quite make it to the medal round this year, they did post a team best 500-meter time of 2:17.  This year’s Arizona Festival was a very competitive event.  Check out the full Race Results

Many thanks to everyone who raced w/ the Phantom Dragons. Special paddle salute to Kamini Jain and her RAP paddlers for helping fill out our crew, and for giving the Phantoms’ female paddlers a chance to race w/ them in the Womens Division (in which her two teams won silver and bronze medals in the Women’s B)!  Also a shout out to the four Blindstart paddlers who added some incredible strength to our mix!  Thanks, too, to the San Diego Dragon Boat Team members who raced w/ the Phantom Dragons in the 250s, and allowed Captain Bligh to run w/ their Masters crew.  And lastly, paddle salute to Lady Di and Rho, who  got to run the 1000m race w/ the Golden Dragons. Fun stuff!

Here is a few photo taken at the event (courtesy of Kwok de La Luna for those he shared on Facebook – more to come on his web site soon)!

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Boyd selected for Team USA Crew

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Dragon Boat 2015 BannerMichael J. Boyd (Captain Bligh), DRACO President and Captain/Head Coach of the Phantom Dragons, has been formally selected to compete on the Team USA Senior C Mixed crew that will compete in the World Championships in Welland, Ontario in August!

MB DB ShotThe selections were made based on initial physical testing, followed by two separate three-day Tryout Camps that included two-a-day practices, weigh-ins, and a variety of performance tests, both on and off the water.

Now, the only remaining hurdle that he must overcome in order to compete is financial. To help, a RallyMe crowd-funding site set up at this link:

Go Team USA!!!

PrintPlease help if you can. Even if you can’t contribute financially, you can still be of great assistance by spreading the word about this campaign to all your contacts via EMail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media.

Many thanks for your support!

 

Crowdfunding Support for Team USA

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MB DB ShotMichael Boyd (a/k/a Captain Bligh!), Captain and Head Coach of the Phantom Dragons, just launched a RallyMe crowdfunding campaign to further his efforts to race with Team USA in the IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Welland, Ontario this August.  Please check out the site, and the attached video, at this link:

Captain Bligh / Dragon Boat Team USA

Any support you can provide would be greatly appreciated, either financially, or by spreading the word about this campaign via EMail and social media sites.  Thank You!

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Boyd Trying Out for Team USA Crew

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MB DB ShotMichael Boyd (a/k/a Captain Bligh!), Captain and Head Coach of the Phantom Dragons dragon boat race team, is vying for a position on the Senior C Team USA Crew that will race in the IDBF World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Welland, Ontario this coming August.

Boyd has successfully completed initial physical testing and an the first of two Three-Day Tryout Camps in Florida.  He is scheduled to compete in the second camp in early March.  Stay tuned for more information concerning his quest, and a crowd-funding campaign that is being organized to help defray a portion of the associated expenses.

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Prototype Pool Paddling Simulator Sold

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PD Winter Pool2The Phantom Dragons’ prototype pool paddling simulator, designed and constructed by Michael Boyd (Captain Bligh) in 2010, has been sold to the FYP Island Warriors team in Houston, Texas.  A group of Island Warrior paddlers made a quick road trip to Colorado over Thanksgiving weekend to pick up the training device.

IMG_0471 SmPlans for an improved, second-generation simulator are in the works – stay tuned for further updates!

 

New Record for Kamikaze at Punkin Chunkin CO 2K14

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Punkin Chunkin’ was a blast (literally) again this year. Many thanks to those of you who were able to make it out to support us.

Although the weather on Sunday didn’t cooperate, and the event had to be shortened, the Phantom Dragons team managed one awesome launches with our compressed air cannon, Kamikaze (Divine Wind).  Our longest shot was 2,884.9 feet, a personal best!  Check out some of the action in the linked video, and our photo collage below.  A special Thank You to Automation Direct for their equipment donation/support this year!

Kamikaze at Punkin Chunkin 2K14

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