Dragon boaters are furious and accusing a private charter company of endangering paddlers during an endurance race on False Creek June 18.
Video taken during the 麻豆传媒映画Dragon Boat Festival shows the 40-foot Golden Eagle IV enter the race course of the Guts & Glory final, a 2,000-kilometre woman鈥檚 endurance event with 14 boats and more than 300 racers.
The race director, in the small motorized skiff, can be seen waving at the large yacht. Passengers on the bow point their smart phones towards him.
The Golden Eagle appears to back away before rapidly accelerating through the course and coming within meters of dragon boaters who are back-paddling to slow their speed.
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Federal law gives non-motorized vessels the right-of-way since they are more difficult to manoeuver and depend on human or wind power, the reasoning goes. Nonetheless, the captain of the charter said the waterway east of the Cambie Bridge is over-crowded on race days and he did not have enough room to manoever and arrive at his destination on schedule.
The Dragon Boat Festival filed a police complaint over Golden Eagles Charters, and the VPD Marine Unit is seeking witness impact statements.
Upset paddlers have taken to Yelp听to leave poor reviews for the charter company.
