The Liechtenstein Princely Navy put the tiny landlocked Principality on the international dragon boating map, winning its first race ever since competing in Stanley for the first time in 2000.

Time and again the Navy's endurance and stamina are put into test, and still, as Liechtenstein ought to know by now (all 30,000 of them); the Princely Navy has grown to be a naval force to reckon with, a consistent performer and a source of pride to its people.

This time it was the 2-day HK International races in Sha Tin. It was the Navy's first international competition and first 500m race. Conditions were awful; minimal training, 2 sailors short, a few "little girls" around, and, oh, filthy (do chicken remains fall under this category?), murky waters of the Shing Mun River as the battleground (fish were jumping aboard the princely boat in hope of a better life ashore and plenty of Fosters). In spite of this all, a short, effective, and very professional like stretching exercise and plenty of team photos together with the traditional "Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein" screams made us all battle ready in no time. And with our photos taken by the official race photographer and lots of interest from passersby, even the Filipino team in the booth next to ours seemed intimidated and concerned by our early morning display, asking around about this so far unknown opponent scheduled to race them in the early round. We have made our mark!

And then it was time for race No. 12. Hopeful we lined up at the registry point for our first 500m race, assisting race officials with this difficult name - LIECHSTAN. We were designated boat number 1 in lane 1 in what turned to be the fastest qualifying race in this year's HK International. A quick 500m warm-up and there we were, facing top teams from the Philippines, China and Macau. READY came the announcement over the loudspeaker and off went the starting signal. The Navy was not all set and left to struggle with a slow start and the waves produced by the other boats, finishing last in 02:32. We were outgunned but definitely not demoralized!

After a quick race evaluation and a refuel (Fosters, what else?), Sailors were given the rest of the afternoon off and ordered to gather at 08:30am the next day at the Sha Tin Train Station. Later we found out that we were scheduled to race at 09:10am in the Open International Bowl Championship. The Commander in charge made frantic phone calls in the early morning of the next day to make sure all sailors will arrive in Sha Tin at 08:30am the latest! Is that what was missing on day 1 - a good dose of adrenalin?

Anyways, with little preparation we lined up for race number 35, heat 2. After the usual pronunciation lesson to race officials we took possession of boat number 2 to practice our starting sequence and paddle to the starting line. A long wait for boat number 8 and a very long while to get all boats in formation, though irritating, only sharpened our senses. This time we were ready! At last, we got the OK signal and off went the gun subsequently, followed by explosive 5-5-10 strokes from the Princely Navy. It was the synchronized and powerful effort, paddle in paddle out, that left the competition behind. We did kick some serious dragon boat ass; a victorious first place for the Navy in 02:21, a place in the finals and a sweet win over the HK Japanese Club. WOEHAAA!

After the shower and race evaluation routine, we retreated to the Princely booth for Fosters, food (special thanks to Mrs. Kawasaki for preparing yummy sandwiches!), and lots of sunbathing before the afternoon finals at 13:40.

Race number 56 - Open International Bowl Championship, Grand Final was supposed to be our race. A great start in boat 0, well coordinated performance and measured power up calls put the Liechtenstein Princely Navy ahead of the pack after 300m. We were the favorites at this point but eventually only managed a sixth place in 02:37 as the long wait in the sun and lack of stamina started to take its toll.