In a complete travesty of justice, the Liechtenstein Princely Navy was today robbed of a chance to compete in the Men's Plate Final of the Stanley Short Course Race 2005. Due to the total incompetence of the starter, combined with the sheer ignorance - and arrogance - of the race umpire, fourteen weeks of hard training by Navy went to complete waste today.

The day had actually started in fine form. The Navy was assembled at 0900hrs at Stanley Main Beach for what should have been the best race of the season for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the Short Course Race -as its name suggests - is held over a shorter, 200m-race distance. Since the Navy's momentum usually peaks after 200m, this race distance was the ideal setting for the Navy to perform.

Secondly, since the Navy is entered in the "A" Class for the main event in Stanley - the 300m Stanley Dragon Boat Championships, it will be an uphill struggle next week. The Short Course Race would have provided an ideal moral boost ahead of the big race.

During the first heat, at 1020hrs in Race 3, The Navy was lined up against a few old friends and enemies, including the unpronounceable Freudenberg & Vilene Dragonboat Racing Team (who or what on earth do these people represent?) and the never-heard-of "Drunken Cats", who eventually came first in all of their three heats. With a slightly botched start, the Navy nevertheless managed an impressive third place finish in 51.2 seconds.

Heat two at 1130hrs looked again like a very promising line-up, against fairly beatable teams such as PCCW, Poly U Staff Club and CLP Power Tuen Mun. Lined up next to the Princely Navy's finest, however, were the Stanley Merchants, a highly competitive local Chinese team. Despite all of our best intimidation techniques before the start, the Stanley Merchants immediately leaped in front as soon as the starter's horn went off. In fact, by the time we completed our twentieth paddle stroke for the "ready-and-reach" call, our drummer was about level with their helmsman! But the Navy fought hard and raced to an impressive second place, 0.2 seconds ahead of CLP, but 6.7 seconds behind the Stanley Merchants - such was their domination.

For the third and final heat before the finals, the Navy faced the strongest opposition yet, with their archenemies from the 2004 season - AIA Southside Massive - lined up on row 2. But the Navy executed a flawless start, which gradually built up into a well-timed, properly rehearsed cruising speed that saw us finish in third. The SMUGs crossed the finish line in first and in fact went on to win the event against such formidable competition like the Hong Kong Island Paddle Club and the Stanley Merchants.

The Navy meanwhile had accumulated 16 points from the three heats, placing it within a grasp of the Silver Cup final. However, due to the race time difference during the heats, the Navy ended up in the Plate Cup, alongside AIA Consumer Finance Group, Stanley Friends, Buzz and Barracuda. Buzz was clearly the team to beat, having been relegated to the Place because their boat sunk during the second heat. The Navy was confident of a second place finish - or at least third - during the finals. And that's when it all started to go wrong.

With its usual quick boarding and turnaround time, the Navy was one of the first teams to be lined up at the start. However, due to choppy seas and heavy swells, we were forced to re-align the boat several times, trying to catch the bow line from the water. With our front left man still standing to reach for the bowline, one or two teams suddenly jumped the start - with no "ready" call or horn signal from the starter whatsoever. The other crews jumped into the fray while - being caught completely off guard - the Navy didn't even put a paddle in the water, assuming this would clearly be a false start. However, the starter in his complete ignorance let the race proceed unhindered.

This left the Liechtenstein Princely Navy with no other option than to cruise back to the shore and lodge an angry complaint with the Race Control, which was completely ignored. In fact, the incident wasn't even investigated, which left crewmembers and the Admiralty fuming on the beach. A formal complaint will be lodged in the coming days. However, the incompetence -and arrogance - of the race officials have left the Admiralty in serious doubt on future participation at the Stanley Short Course race.

The unfortunately incident put a bad light over what could have been an excellent event. It also left Sailors in a somber mood for the Post Race Party at CBO Stefan's roof top BBQ in Stanley - despite ample supplies of Foster's and Bratwursts!

A heartfelt thank you to the Chief Bratwurst Officer and his family for their kind hospitality!

Click here for a copy of the Navy's letter of protest to the Organizer.