PADDLING in the Hong Kong harbor is a unique experience; WINNING in the Hong Kong harbor is rare privilege; winning TWICE and taking the CHAMPIONSHIP is an absolute dream.

Signing up for the HKIDBR is a bit less glamorous and in fact a lengthy and very tedious administrative process that got us several times to the brink of throwing in the towel before even getting close to TST East. But in all fairness to the organizers, it is a massive three day event that attracts over two hundred local teams and over forty overseas teams from as far as Canada (16 teams!) and Australia (6 teams, including the Royal Australian Navy, which unfortunately we did not get a chance to race against for Pacific naval honors!)

We signed up for two race categories: our regular Navy boat would compete in the Open Championship (see separate report) while an LGT Navy small boat (10 paddlers) was enrolled in the Financial Institutions & Banking Championship. The rules of the latter clearly stipulated that all paddlers had to be employed by the respective bank or financial institution and with LGT Bank as our main sponsor we managed to scramble together eleven LGT-employed paddlers, including four retired Sailors that were brought back to active duty just for this race. Although I guess it would have been easy to bend the rules and bring some non-bank paddlers on the boat (which according to our intelligence reports some other teams did), we wanted to win this one fair and square. Even our drummer was LGT-employed!

In fact it was the first time in Liechtenstein naval history that we had a pure LGT boat in a race. While we had seven Sailors that were in active duty during the 2011 season the four retirees had only been to a single training session the previous week. Thus we were somewhat nervous about our chances before the race. In addition, three of our strongest paddlers were given the Admiral’s permission to paddle for a rival boat, the Green Tigers, sponsored by Credit Agricole. And then there was Fair Dinkum (a.k.a. Dim Sum), a team we simply never want to lose against (and whose banking and financial institutions credentials were a bit weak, given that they ran under a trust company sponsorship).

Never mind. As always, we had to focus on our boat, not on the competition. The small boat races were run over a comfortable distance of 250m. However, not having raced a small boat in a long time, we were not sure how many strokes this race piece would be. It would thus be best to just stick to our regular race strategy for the first heat and see how it all pans out.

The format of this championship was simple. Two heats with points for finishing position – the team with maximum points claims the trophy.

And thus, on this Friday morning, when weather conditions swung from torrential downpours to bright sunny skies and back to thunderstorms in a matter of minutes we found ourselves in the jungle of TST East, having established our base camp in a basement carpark at $25 per hour. Thanks to our capable Team Manager for the day, Petty Officer Ruedi Wildi and his Chinese translator, Sailor Benny, we managed to overcome an initial administrative hiccup with our paddlers’ passes. We then made our way to the boarding pontoon where we found that the small boats are in fact really small: ten seats, no more, no less; a bit of a squeeze and very tippy at low speeds. But as we paddled out to the starting pontoon we soon realized that the boats are much more stable under speed. And speed was what we were going for anyway!

Lining up for this race provides you with the most magnificent view, as the boats are pointing straight at Hong Kong island’s amazing skyline, which I never get tired of looking at. Our boat was pointed directly at HSBC headquarters, which I thought was very appropriate for this Championship.

The race was off and we dug in for our usual LiechtenStart, gaining speed quickly in these small light boats. Into the chug and down the harbor front, eyes straight ahead, keeping it long and deep. Power up at twenty (no point to save it for later) and charging down to the invisible line, trying to let the boat run yet anxious and nervous not to be caught. Across the line in first (01:16.230), followed by the Green Tigers a second down and ANZ another second back. What a joy and what a relief!

Thus with full points in the bag from round one, we went into the second heat with much more confidence. Now we knew what this crew was capable off, we knew how the boat would feel, we knew it was only 60+ strokes. We knew we could win this and we wanted it clearly and cleanly, i.e. with another victory.

Thus, after a Chinese dim sum lunch in a nearby seafood restaurant, we headed down to the waterfront once more, knowing that the first championship victory of the season lay within our grasp. It was up to the ten of us to bring this trophy home for the entire team, for LGT Bank and for Prince and Country!

Sitting at the start with Admiral Colani and Commander Streun in first row nothing needed to be said. When you have paddled together for twelve years, you know what needs to be done. “BANG!” and we put our foot down – and our paddles, of course – exploding into our race piece. It was pretty flawless and the boat felt surprisingly solid. If we took anything back from the first race it was – as so often – to just stay long, let the boat run. Power was good throughout and we crossed the line in 1:14.510, shaving more than two seconds off our first heat. Looking left and right it was plain obvious – we had not just won the competition, we had SMOKED it. ANZ and Greed Tigers were both three seconds and a considerable boat length down and the rest not to be seen anywhere near.

We were ecstatic! Victory is such a sweet feeling. But winning in the harbor is even more special and we had plenty of time to sing the Liechtenstein song on our paddle back to the boarding pontoon, keeping spectators entertained along the waterfront. The singing continued for a long time of course, as there was a big heavy golden trophy to be collected!