The Liechtenstein Princely Navy came overall First Runner Up in the Men’s A Cup at the Stanley Championships! Not bad for a team that essentially started off as half a team six months ago… Here’s what went down:

Men’s A in Stanley is three heats of the same top 11 teams (the best of the best, of course) racing against each other. A final every time, essentially! The one with most points out of the three heats wins. Easy.

Heat 1 and a fairly poor start for the Navy. Not connected, not aggressive enough. It took us 10 strokes just to get the boat back together. P4.

Plenty of risotto and ham to think over the strategy. “Let’s add more yoga”, says Chief Focus Officer Fred, and he’s right! The stretching and squatting adds focus and aggression. A better start for Heat 2, plenty of connection down the course and P2. Hello! We’re back!

The plan for Heat 3? More of the same! Yoga! Stretching! Squatting (Sailor Woody can’t take it anymore!). A quick start with no fussing about, into the chug and to the beach! Open up! Be a tall paddler! Look at your partner (why is Sailor Dan grinning like that in action?). Across the line in third… but who was first?

It’s a mathematical issue now. Royal X clearly won the day, clocking in 1:05s while the rest of us were slaving away at 1:09s, 1:08s and eventually 1:07s. But somehow, out of nowhere, Po Leung Kuk Leadership Camp (who?) goes from 9th, to 3rd to 2nd or 1st in the final race. The word on the beach is that they swapped half the crew for some guys from Aberdeen, which clearly would be uncool for a team that essentially is a charity (you’re not supposed to cheat!). Be that as it may, if they came 1st, we would be tied on points for 2nd overall (and they would likely win given that they beat us in the last race). But if they came 2nd in the final race, the Navy would be 2nd overall. And thus we suddenly find us in the unusual position of rooting for the Royal X (who themselves were in no doubt that they won the third heat). Confirmation eventually arrives: the Po Leung Kuk were 2nd in the final race (31 points in total), confirming the Navy’s 2nd overall place with 33 points in total. And while the announcer inadvertently tries to reverse the result, the Navy will have none of it and we’ll take that second place trophy all the way back to Liechtenstein!

All in all, a fantastic day! We came late, left early and we are Men’s A Runner Up Champions!