Medals, medals, medals! Another week, another race, another amazing success as the Liechtenstein Princely Navy secures an astonishing 2nd place finish at the Lamma 500. And for the first time in its history the Navy collected medals – other than those it keeps handing out itself!

In its third year running, the Lamma 500 has established itself as a signature 500m event on the local calendar, second in prestige only to HKIPC’s Deep Water Bay regatta. The Navy has competed here every year since the inaugural event which was held in atrocious weather conditions and red tide infested waters. This year, however, conditions were fantastic with Tai Wan To – better known as Power Station Beach thanks to the three chimney monstrosity that serves as its backdrop – basked in glorious sunshine.

The Navy arrived in Lamma in style aboard its command ship – the HSH Fosters – with the national flag, battle flags and sponsor banners fluttering in the breeze and our inflatable Fosters can dominating this Carlsberg-sponsored event!

The Lamma race operates on a points system with two heats: 7 points are awarded to the winner, 5 for second place, 4 for third, etc. 15 men’s teams were enrolled for 2009 and the Navy was drawn in Race 2 at 0915hrs against bgc Stormy Dragons, Tai O Hing Yi, HKUST Alumni and HK Freedom Dragon. Stormies were a very dominant team in 2008 and as such our main target for the first heat.

After scrambling to fill two missing spots on the boat with Petty Officer Martin Sinclair missing the junk – and thus increasing his chances of winning the ARSE award (Admiral’s Recommendation for Sleeping to the Extreme) this year – the Navy eventually managed to head to the starting line with a full crew. With the red flag coming down and the sound of the air-horn the Navy was off to a decent start and settled into a good chug. With our strategy unchanged from Deep Water Bay, Sailorette Hiko hit the somewhat inaudible drum at 40. But holes were felt up and down the boat and as we counted in at sixty strokes, Martin stopped paddling altogether – thinking we had already finished the race (and instantly doubling his chances at that ARSE award). But we scraped it back together for the spurt to the finish and still managed to come first ahead of Stormies and secure those vital seven points.

Chief Racing Officer Lieutenant Charlie did not mince his words at the debriefing: "It was f***ing hollow in the middle!" While we won the heat we had to improve significantly to make an impact further down the road.

With almost three hours to go before our second heat, we retired to our command ship for some R&R (rest and refuel).

Re-charged and re-focused, we lined up at 1215hrs against HKIPC, Royal X-Men, HKUST Rowing Team and HK Freedom Dragon. HKIPC, who went on to dominate the event in almost every category, obviously were the favorites. We were drawn in lane 3 right next to them and our aim was to stay with them as close and for as long as we could. With the starter neither calling “READY” nor “ATTENTION”, Chief Focus Officer Fred just managed to call a “paddles up!” in time to catch the horn. HKIPC was immediately ahead, but we managed to tag on and stay in contention. We stayed long and the race piece came together nicely. At 80 strokes we were still only half a boat length adrift and with a heat-of-the-action call to “let’s catch these bastards!” both boats upped the pace – the ‘bastards’ clearly didn’t want to be caught and obviously had lots of reserves in the tank to avoid getting to. Crossing the line only a second behind in two minutes flat and none of the other boats anywhere near, CRO Charlie was much more pleased this time!

HKIPC had won both of their heats and thus collected the maximum 14 points. The Navy – together with Stormies and Tai Tam Tigers – had collected 12 points and thus qualified for the Cup Final without the need for a repechage. (The ‘R’ word is so 2008!)

Again, another long break followed before the Cup Final at 1700hrs. In order to wake up all crews after such a long afternoon, all Sailors were ordered to swim ashore whereby several cut their feet on landing on sharp rocks. However, a few minor flesh wounds will not stop a first class naval force from performing its duty and after some first aid intervention all crew were ready to take up the final challenge!

Again, HKIPC were clear favorites, while Stormies and Tai Tam Tigers were the key rivals for the podium. But the Navy was determined to defend the honor of Prince and Country to the best of its ability. We had a good LiechtenStart to get the boat moving. CFO Fred did his best to control the pace from the front with the back edging him on. Stay long! Breathe! As the drum came in this turbo-charged V20 engine fired on all cylinders with our carbon fiber Navy paddles digging for every extra inch of water and traction. Remembering Charlie’s advice to “leaving nothing behind!” we went for the line. HKIPC had won (surprise, surprise!) but three “toots” followed in rapid succession a second later.

As the Foster’s supply was cracked open the results were announced: Stormies came third and Liechtenstein was second – beaten only by the mighty IPC.

And so the upward trajectory and momentum of the Navy’s 2009 Season continues! The result speaks for itself and the competition is taking notice. Chinese teams have learned to properly pronounce Liechtenstein in Cantonese (“Li Tsi Duen Si Dung”) and probably have started to look it up on Google Earth (“Wahhhh! Ho small, but ho strong!”)

With cup and medals in hand, we retired to the HSH Fosters where we had run dry of all fuel supplies and an impromptu beer run was organized. And as we crossed the Lamma Channel towards the glittering lights of Aberdeen and enjoyed each other’s alcohol-fueled company it was plain to see that the Liechtenstein Princely Navy is about more than just winning races: a small but solid family of strong individual characters that mysteriously manage to come together and perform as one. Small can indeed be beautiful!