The 25th May 2008 shall forever be remembered as the day of the New Liechtenstein, the day that the Liechtenstein Princely Navy came of age, the day a small nation of dedicated Sailors paddled to an incredible podium finish in the Bowl Final and the day little Liechtenstein beat the mighty BUZZ in a heart stopping final.

25th May 2008 started off on much less epic proportions, of course. It was a gray and cloudy morning at 0700hrs as the Admiralty established base on Deep Water Bay, the venue for the 9th Deep Water Bay Dragon Boat Regatta, a highly competitive 500-meter race hosted by the equally competitive Hong Kong Island Paddle Club (HKIPC) – a team of grim-looking and usually not very cheerful paddlers of the highest caliber.

The Navy has never been a favorite bet over 500m, but thanks to a rigorous Circuit Training program under the torturous command of Sailorette Hiko earlier in the season, fitness levels of the crew have risen drastically and weight levels – with some exceptions - have come down in equal measure, as confirmed by the Navy’s Official Elephant Scale. The result: a significantly improved power-to-weight ratio and a much more competitive team over longer distances.

The Navy’s first heat was scheduled for 0820hrs but went under way with some delay due to a late arrival of the dragon boats. With a crew of 20 paddlers, we were lined up against a mixed field of might (HKIPC, BUZZ, Windrider), beatables (Morgan Stanley) and unknowns (Natvigator Sports Club). The start was a quick affair of “Ready – Go” and we were off, with Apprentice Sailor Fred at the stroke and CTA Charlie directing operations from mid-ship.

In lane 1, HKIPC was soon sailing off into the distance but BUZZ, just to our right in lane 4 was close by the whole time. We brought the drum in at 40, powered up at 60 for twenty quiet strokes and brought the drum back at 80 for the race to the line. Focusing on our own strategy, it was hard to tell where the BUZZ was but it was neck-and-neck all the way down the course. In a frantic attempt to pull clear of his former team, Apprentice Sailor Fred picked up the pace and pushed for the line in an attempt to claim third place. The finish horn tooted in close sequence and to our dismay we came in fourth – beaten by nothing but three tenth of a second (2:19:45 versus 2:19:15 for BUZZ).

Despite some disappointment in the ranks, the Admiralty had to remind its ambitious crew of the feat just achieved. Unfortunately, a fourth place finish also meant that the Navy would have to go through the dreaded repechage, out of which only the winner would get back into the game for the Cup, Plate and Bowl Final. The rest would end up in the Major Tail or worse, the Minor Tail.

To our further dismay, the SLUGS (Sun Life Southside Massive Urban Gorillaz) had somehow finished their first heat in sixth and last place and joined us our repechage together with the MTR, the Mad Paddlers and the South Horizon Residents. Clearly, the SLUGS were the one to beat.

This time around the start was much tenser, given the mission to finish first. We were gone with the horn and on our way quickly, employing the same race strategy for the distance. After about thirty strokes we hit some high waves which disrupted our rhythm but everyone stayed focused and we were back in our chug quickly. Powering up again at 60 we started to pull clear of the boat on our right, but it was hard to tell where the SLUGS were on the far lane. Everybody kept the power up and kept paddling to the fullest. As we crossed the line, heads quickly spun around to ascertain our position: clearly P1, but where were the SLUGS? Somewhere far down the race course their boat seemed to go in circles, a fact later confirmed by their onboard GPS. It may have been a novel race strategy, but having crossed the line in 4:26.86 versus the Navy’s 2:18.36 we recommend to stick to the basics: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line!

We were thus back in the game. However, the Open Semi Final was held barely 30 minutes after our repechage and unlike us our five competitors were nicely rested (since none of them had to go through the repechage). And those competitors obviously had qualified first, second or third in their first heat. All together a tall order. It was pointless, therefore, to wear ourselves out completely and while we tried hard not to finish last, we still did in 2:19.07. HKIPC won the Semi Final in 2:06.62 followed by the HKDBA in 2:07.32 – times clearly still beyond the Navy’s reach.

Nevertheless, we had qualified for the Bowl Final and were determined to do our best while our friends the Tigers fought it out in the Major Tail and the SLUGS had to battle hard to win the Minor Tail.

Borrowing three SLUGS to make a full boat of 22 paddlers we lined up in lane 1 and found ourselves in good company: the Royal X Men, HK China Gas, HKUST Alumni, the Fancy Design Dragon Challenge (who?) and – the BUZZ in lane 2. What unfolded was the stuff of legends: a race of intense focus, superb timing, unrivaled strategy and sheer determination. It was long, it was hard, it was painful, but – surprisingly – it was immense fun. Again it was neck-to-neck with the BUZZ, possibly for first, second, third or fourth place as the horn tooted in rapid succession as we crossed the line. It was impossible to tell where we finished and frankly nobody cared too much – just having survived in such a competitive fashion was amazing.

But the final result was of course even more amazing: the Liechtenstein Princely Navy finished THIRD in 2:15:40, beating the BUZZ into fourth place by .31 of a second (2:15:71). We had extracted revenge for our first heat loss by almost exactly the same margin! The BUZZ are of course great friends of the Navy and they accepted the loss graciously. Ironically, we had borrowed one of their paddlers who helped us win the repechage and thus put us back into the race for the Bowl Final.

And thus the Liechtenstein Princely Navy collected its first silverware in Deep Water Bay, its first cup ever in a 500m race. And while size doesn’t matter it is important to note that never before in the history of the Liechtenstein Princely Navy have so many paddled so hard to get such a small cup.