The last time we paddled in the Open Competition in the harbour was in 2005, when out of four races we sank three times. The question in 2011, therefore, Would we whether we were able to top this record?

As outlined in our report on the Financial Institutions & Banks Championships, paddling in the harbour is a special privilege. As a “Hongkie” – and let’s be honest here, even thought our allegiance clearly and unquestionably lies with Liechtenstein, deep down inside the heart of every Sailor of the Navy beats for Hong Kong – it is a MUST to have paddled in Victoria harbour. The ‘fragrant harbour’ (the literal translation of ‘Hong Kong’) is the heart and soul of this city but it has been sorely neglected by the Government for far too long. Seeing the HKIDBR back in the harbour (and not in that dreadful dead river in Sha Tin) is clearly good news.

And thus all of us were looking forward to some hard paddling on the TST East harbour front, prepared to risk life and health on the likely chance of swallowing whatever floats there (water, they say, but you can’t be quite sure).

Our base camp, just as on the previous day, was in the basement car park of the Empire Center, which adds to the unique atmosphere of this event. Stanley beach it isn’t. But convenient for sure, with all amenities inhouse and the San Miguel beer garden just across the road. No Foster’s here!

Our first heat was at 10am. The Open Competition is a 500m race. Only the winner of the first heat would go straight to the finals on Sunday. Everyone else would have to do a repechage, from where only the first three would progress to Sunday. The aim, therefore, was to simply win the first race and go home for the day!

But as we know, anything can happen in a race, often the most unexpected. There were six boats in our heat, including the mighty HKIPC. But as always at the start, we were focused on our boat and nothing else. On the starter’s gun, we executed our usual LiechtenStart, powerful as always. But soon after the READY-AND-REACH we lurched dangerously to one side, then the other, as the helmsman had slipped and desperately tried to regain control of our powerful V18 engine. Obviously we lost significant momentum, but more importantly, we also lost our drummer who fell off the boat in the manoeuvre. Frantic and likely uncontrolled paddling ensued to keep the boat going until Lt Charlie issued an “EASY!” call that brought the boat back under control.

The race obviously continued and our crew is under strict orders to keep paddling no matter what, but "Man (or Lady) Overboard!" is a serious safety concern – especially in Victoria harbour. Knowing however that safety boats are following each race and trusting our instincts that Sailorette Brooke would be fine, we paddled on, slowly building back speed. HKIPC and the Men in Green (Artland Dragon 40) were clearly gone, but the other boats were still within reach. And as every Sailor adjusted to the new reality (a drummer-less boat) and sort of eased back into their stroke, we gained fantastic boat speed. So good in fact that by something like 160 strokes (feels like eternity) we crossed the line in third. However, our boat was DQed (disqualified) on account of a rule that says “A boat has finished the race when the foremost part of the boat (The nose of Dragon Head) crosses the Finish Line with the same number of Racers in it as started the race.) Fair enough.

Sailorette Brooke was well and unhurt, in a bit of shock I guess from an unexpected swim in the harbour. Our helmsman was very apologetic, of course. These things can happen, but if we take anything back from this season to the next it is that we have to have our own steersman next year. It remains one of the biggest weaknesses of our team.

So into the repechage we went at 1430hrs. Given that only HKIPC which won the first heat was qualified for the final we would find a lot of strong opposition in the repechage. BUZZ Dragon was there, the Artland boys were there again as was Universe Candles United Fishery Dragon (the longer the name, the more dangerous the team!).

With Brooke strapped to her seat, the helmsman planted firmly on the back and everyone else locked solidly into the boat, we were good to go one more time. All went swimmingly (i.e. not) this time with a good start and solid race piece. Due to our DQ position we were in the far left lane and had left the two boats to our right in our wake. However, the heat of the action was closer to the harbourfront, where Buzz, Artland, the Candles boys and another Chinese outfit were battling it out for the top three spots. Despite our most valiant effort we only managed to finish in fifth position.

You can always argue that Chinese boats are lighter and faster, but 500m has not been our best distance this season. Nevertheless, racing some of these top boats is always a pleasure and paddling in the harbour was a joy for everyone (not counting the drummer, I guess…)

We thus adjourned to the San Miguel Beer Garden where our Sailors' skills were put to the test in the Warm Beer Drinking Competition, the Stealing the Microphone And Singing Loudly From The Stage Competition and the Chatting Up Beer Girls Championship. Predictably, the Liechtenstein Princely Navy came tops in all categories!

P.S. For the record, South Eagles won the Open in a blistering 2:07.57. HKIPC was 5th in 2:10 and Buzz 7th in 2:12. Back to training for all of us, I guess...

P.S. P.S. And just to put it all into perspective, the International Open was won by the Thailand Team in 1:57.280. South Eagles came 5th in that final in 2:04. Even they have to go back to training...