The Liechtenstein Princely Navy clinches the Lamma 500 CHAMPIONSHIP for the first time, having competed at the event for the past eight years since its inaugural run. It is a fantastic early season result, especially considering that we had six Apprentice Sailors with little race experience in our boat. It is testament on one hand to the fitness levels of the crew, but also to the very focused technical training of Lt Barnaby for the past four months.

Bringing six new recruits to their first big race posed some significant challenges in terms of crew composition and the Admiralty scheduled an extra meeting of senior officers two days prior to figure out our optimal configuration. In the end, we opted for squeezing the new recruits in between blocks of more experienced paddlers. We also decided to put our most senior officers on deck – the Admiral and Cpt Streun – at the very back of the boat, trying to ensure a steady pace from the stern and trying to avoid rushing the front on race distance (500m) where consistency and form trumps speed and aggression.

Heading out for our first heat against SMUGZ, UBS, Stormies and Cigna, we didn’t really know what to expect – not having raced any of them so far this season. We ensured during the warm-up that every Sailor was relaxed and composed for the race. Maybe we were slightly too relaxed as the start wasn’t as sharp as it could be and Stormies to our right clearly pulled away early. My immediate thought at the back was that it was unlikely that they could keep up that pace for half a kilometer so we settled into our slow, long chug and predictably started to reel them in. Having repeatedly instructed every Sailor not to look around during races, I have no idea how the race unfolded further down the course, but we finished in P1 ahead of Stormies and UBS. The SMUGZ’ performance seemed somewhat hampered by the fact that they apparently carried quite few lady paddlers.

First place in Heat 1 gave us 6 points and put us back into Lane 3 for Heat 2 in what arguably was a weaker line-up than our first heat. Our start was snappier this time around and we pulled away quite cleanly, allowing us to settle into our groove away from other boats. 139 strokes and we crossed the line in P1 again. Another 6 points in the bag and our entry into the Cup Final secured.

Next up was the 1000m race, where we surprised ourselves last year with a second place finish. Lt Barnaby’s instructions were quite simple: treat it like a training run, keep form and composure and let’s see what result comes from it. Boats are started in gaps of about 20 seconds and we were fourth in line behind UBS. As the starter counted us down we accelerated towards the line and achieved a pretty flawless flying start. We headed up along the wall to the top of the course and then digging hard left for the downwind leg. I suspect that UBS ahead of us took the event a bit more seriously to the extent that they obviously didn’t want to be caught by us and while we had them in torpedo range for the last 300m of the race they did manage to avoid the embarrassment of being overtaken. In the end, our time of around 4:35 was the third best, behind Lamma and Stormies.

But we had more important matters on our mind, i.e. the Cup Final. With the BUZZ to our left and RHKYC to our right, this was not going to be a walk in the park. But at least we knew how to get there, we knew from the first two heats that we can trust the boat and the team to do its job. The only question was whether we would be able to hold it together in a close race. Would we lose our proverbial shit if we fell behind? Would people speed up the rating unnecessarily, shortening strokes and blindingly stabbing through the water in a frantic struggle to the line? And would our Singha beer still be cold when we got there?

The answer came in the next two minutes – less in fact – as we went through the same routine again. Clean start, ready-and-reach and lock it down for 140 long strokes. Composed. A-frame. Look up. Breathe. Kick the boat. Don’t speed up. Stay long! Stay long! Stay long! I still hear myself shouting it every ten strokes from 100 to the line.

And long we stayed, across the line to a ‘toot’ that we clearly thought belonged to us. Sailors patting each other on the back, a thumbs-up from the helmsman and somewhat distraught faces in the boat to the left and to the right made us confident that victory was indeed ours. Plenty of Singha beer and confirmation followed soon after – the Liechtenstein Princely Navy was declared Open Men’s CHAMPION in Lamma in the fastest race of the day. Someone said we also broke a course record, but this couldn’t be confirmed at the time of writing. Also, most announcements were drowned out by the constant chant of the Liechtenstein team song as we collected the biggest trophy ever. The Admiralty immediately proceeded to declare Liechtenstein sovereignty over Lamma island – at least for the rest of the day – given that by now we were stuck on the beach in pitch darkness!

But we eventually made it back. And we’re Lamma CHAMPIONS!