All the hard work and long hours of training have finally paid off as the Liechtenstein Princely Navy ended the 2007 season on a high and in great style in what was clearly the best race of the season. But of course – we still came second!

The Stanley Short Course Race – termed the “Reunification Cup” this year due to the 10 year anniversary of the handover – runs over the Navy’s favorite distance: 200m. It is the distance we practice for, the distance we excel over, the distance we survive before dropping in a hole!

Unlike the Stanley main race, the Short Course Race does not divide teams into different categories other than Men’s, Women’s and Mixed. As such, the Navy was one of the few “foreign” teams among a large contingent of local and Fishermen’s teams. Therefore, the competition can only be described as fierce.

In our first heat we were lined-up against CLP, a few school and university teams and a local Fishermen’s crew. Due to shortages in Sailors, we decided to field a light team of only 16 paddlers versus 18 for all the other teams. However, it was a very powerful crew as was evident from the word “GO”. Our start was as powerful as ever and our race piece fast and furious. Only the Fishermen’s team kept up with our pace and eventually beat us into our favorite second place. We finished in 53 seconds while everybody behind took over a minute!

The semi-final was obviously going to be tighter and to make things even more interesting our new arch-enemies – Viva Macau, who beat us in the finals at the main race – were also lined-up in lane 5. To our left was Windrider, the dragon boat team of the local windsurf association who won the Gold Cup here in 2006. We were now racing with 18 crew and even though we only finished third, it was probably our best heat of the entire season. The start was sheer power, with traction control kicking in several times. Our fast ten were top notch and we locked it down for twenty, by which time Windrider was ahead. But the Navy came back fighting! It was beautiful: we pulled something extra out of the bag and managed to beat them into fourth by a fraction. First to fourth were only separated by a second – that’s how tight it was. And – crucially for our egos and self-esteem – Viva Macau finished sixth and last!

We were now in the Silver Cup Final, just one step down from the Gold Cup. Windrider was there, too, as were the Stanley Fishermen, the Stanley Fishermen Recreational Club, Barracuda and New Wave Friends (who?). The luck of the draw meant that we would race in lane 1, which we believed to be the fast lane. The crew was in good spirits, well motivated and roaring to go for the final showdown of the season. Nothing was going to be left in the water!

Once more, the start was exhilarating – raw power transferred from muscle to paddle to boat speed. Locking down for twenty felt good and at thirty we built in a “POWER UP NOW!” call and yes, that power went up from 100% to 120%. Aggressive, fast yet beautifully in sync, the Navy threw in absolutely everything we had. Sitting on the right and thus looking left when paddling, I had no idea of our position given that we were in the far left lane, other than hearing the drums to my right. Only once we crossed the finish line did I get a chance to see that we must have been one of the front runners.

And yes, the Perennial Second came second, only beaten by the Stanley Fishermen, an achievement Prince and Country can be very proud of. Overall, that meant the Navy finished 8th out of 37 Men’s teams.

There was thus plenty to celebrate and celebrate we did. Our remaining five cases of Foster’s were cleared in no time and we had to do two beer runs to the local Welcome until they were cleared of Foster’s too. Sailor Wyn thus did a home run and returned with a bottle of Vodka which mixed well with the remaining Red Bull. Meanwhile, Sailor John demonstrated his BBQ skills and Lieutenant Commander Streun his engineering skills by breaking our brand new tent! The Admiral also broke Sailor Ruedi’s hideous Spiderman glasses (his girlfriend was happy!) and a flag pole while engaging the locals in an improvised pole dance. By night fall the Navy had still not cleared the beach and there were reports of “hoegere”, wrestling in the filthy waters, jumping off the pier and naked men in the public showers. All in all, a fabulous day!

The Admiralty of the Liechtenstein Princely Navy would like to thank all Sailors, supporters, sponsors, friendly and unfriendly competitors, friendly and unfriendly organizers and the dragon boat community at large for an excellent season. We’ll be back in force in 2008!

LIECHTENSTEIN!!!