The Club Crew World Championships, organized by the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) and held every two years, are a grand affair. They are not some show-up-with-a-tent-and-a-case-of-Foster’s dragon boat race, no, they are governed by 56-page technical regulations and a host of other rules, including one that apparently you need to wear shoes on the boat.

Paddling at the CCWC was the easiest bit – getting there was much harder. The amount of administrative paperwork, online filings, registrations, payments, etc. had kept LCDR Erne and ADM Colani busy for most of the preceeding six months. We had applied – and were accepted – to race in the 200m standard boat (18 paddlers) category, which we figured was our strongest distance as it was closest to most of our races in Stanley. Eventually our crew was registered and badges issued with our one old problem – the missing helmsman.

Our first heat was race 137 scheduled for 1245hrs, but as we assembled at our lovely car park base camp in TST East in the morning, the races were about 45 minutes behind schedule. According to the information given at the team manager meeting, we were told to marshal 30 minutes before the race, hence we figured to get ready at 1300hrs. Once we had leisurely made our way across the footbridge to the marshalling area, the Admiral realized that they were already marshalling race 144! Realizing instantly that if we didn’t move very quickly right now we would miss our first heat and thus be out of the entire competition and hence would have wasted a huge amount of money and administrative effort to get here in the first place, the Admiral screamed at the crew to get their collective backsides moving. Judging from the sluggishness of their reaction, most crew still seemed oblivious to the consequence of missing our first heat. Getting onto the boarding pontoon was not a simple matter – it required all Sailors to be properly ticked off at the marshalling area – including our missing helmsman. It took a good amount of arguing, cajoling and swearing, but eventually we all made it through and into our boat with not a second to spare.

It was classic military style – sitting around for hours waiting, followed by a short burst of chaotic adrenaline rush. We were certainly warmed up by now, but it wasn’t the ideal way to prepare for a race. We were up against Shunde Dragon Boat Club (who had won the 2000m category a few days earlier and who would eventually go on to also win the 200m category), Monte Dragons from Cape Town, Singapore Paddle Club, Pacific Dragons Sydney and the Los Angeles Racing Dragons.

As the race got underway, we seemed to gain good boat speed in the first half of the race, but as we came to 40 strokes it felt like a car where the air had just gone out of all tires. It just felt flat and sluggish. It was only another 20 strokes to the finish line, but we were not able to pick up any meaningful speed. We finished 5th in 55.103 seconds, a full eight seconds behind Shunde and two seconds behind fourth placed Los Angeles. Monte Dragons Cape Town picked up the wooden spoon.

The delay in the schedule also meant that the Admiral had to run off quickly for a conference call with the Liechtenstein Ministry of Defense and a substitute paddler was brought in for the repechage.

Having learned our lesson from the disaster of the first heat, the crew took plenty of time to properly warm-up, marshal and thus was in the boat early to put in some extra paddling time prior to the race. This led to a significant improvement in race performance – and not the fact that the crew was devoid of the Admiral which, if suggested, would result in an instant court martial for insubordination, treason and defamation of an Officer of the Navy! In fact, the improvement in performance was so great that it resulted in a second place finish (50.759), a hair breadth ahead of the mighty Hong Kong Island Paddle Club (50.852). Filipino Dragons (Singapore) (51.399) and Los Angeles Racing Dragons (51.532) were fourth and fifth. It was a great victory and important morale boost after this morning’s disaster!

It also put us back into the semi finals at around 1700hrs, which allowed about an hour for a late lunch of pasta and pizza. It also gave us time for LCDR Charlie, LCDR Erne and Sailor Benny to sort out the credentials of our helmsman, which they eventually managed by going straight to the top and getting the President of the IDBF to sign off on Ah Wai’s crew card. I hope he keeps it as a souvenir!

The semi finals were obviously going to be tough. The field had now been withered down to 21 teams and we were up against some mighty competition, including Shunde, Hoi Fu Jai and DCH Racing New York. As the brilliant late afternoon sun illuminated the glorious Hong Kong skyline we pointed our bow towards the Bank of China and focused our attention on LTJG Barnaby. However, LCDR Charlie didn’t seem to like the view of the Bank of China and called for our drummer to pull us further to the left, aiming our torpedo towards Wanchai instead. The move somewhat unsettled the front and the balance of the boat and our start shortly thereafter was not as cleanly executed as it should have. As we put down our 'egg beater' strokes DCH New York to our left powered ahead like a rocket. It was a humbling experience, as it felt like we were standing still. By ten or twenty strokes they were an entire boat length ahead and we had to cut our way through their swell, causing paddles left and right to get caught in the wake. Like in the first heat, there wasn’t enough power to make up the deficit and as we hit forty strokes Shunde was already crossing the line in 41.301 seconds, followed by New Dragons Toronto, Hoi Fu Jai and DCH. Seven seconds later (an eternity in dragonboating) we brought in the rear guard in 48.247.

On its own, a 48 second time for 200m is actually highly respectable, but in a CCWC context it meant we were now excused to decamp to the adjourning beerfest, as all tail races had been cancelled due to the delay in the schedule. We didn’t really mind, as most Sailors were now in favor of a Foster’s substitute instead of another gulp of harbor water.

In conclusion, it was a great experience pitting the Navy against some of the world’s best crews. It was frantic and chaotic at times, but that was actually not unexpected. The repechage was the highlight of the day and we’re pleased to take the bragging rights of having beaten IPC. And we learned that San Miguel makes an excellent Foster’s substitute – especially when enjoyed in large and copious quantities.

Click here for full results (the Navy was in races 137, 150 and 172).