AUSDBF National Championships 2005-2006 Season
April 2006
Venue Nagambie Regatta Centre, Victoria.
Sunday
Opens Wrap
Sunday was a fun day had by all. The sun was out, easter eggs were shared and we were National 500m Champions. The specialness of the day was further enhanced for me by having none other than El Presidente, CYL Paddler of the Year 2001 Wa Mio grace us with his presence in row eight.
Heat
We followed exactly the same plan as for the 500m ie I would arrive 5 mins late and watch from the sidelines. But unlike yesterday the DC boat looked good. It stayed in time till the end and won by half a boat from Sydney Navy and Gold Coast.
Semi
We had drawn lane 4 with ACCA in Lane 5 and Sloths A in Lane 3. We knew Sloths A, after their utter humiliation the day before, would be tough and would be a good gauge for us in the final. At the start we were sluggish and Sloths had bounded away and after the the first 40 strokes were a 1/4 boat ahead. We held our nerve and we’re paddling solidly when in from the left came ACCA smashing into our engine room. The left side lost about 5 strokes and the hit knocked the balance of the boat. When we got it back together we were nearly a boat behind Sloths but to our credit we stuck at it and managed to come in third only half a boat behind Sloths. There were some angry words exchanged after the finish but really it’s all part of Dragonboating. In City Dragons first race ever we managed to clean up Snatch and in last years country event we smashed into PDs. Acca did apologise at the end of race and all was forgiven. There was no need to raise a protest as even with the hit we managed to qualify 5th fastest.
Final
The final went according to plan
a) Carlos went the paddle
b) there was an incident in the final
But there was so much more.
We had Lane 1, Next to us were PDs, Lane 3 Arab Bank, Lane 4 Sloths, Lane 5 Mavericks, Lane 6 CYL.
After we got in the boat we milled around the finish line waiting for the minor final to end. On our first practice start ………………calamity. The drummer’s seat had come loose and Connie had fallen into the water. After fishing her out we went back to the marshalling area and swapped boats. Connie, looking decidedly blue stayed on as drummer.
The race started and PDs had got off to an absolute blinder. We were a bit messy and had a bit of a sluggish start and in a 200m race that’s about all there is. Looking across at the finish we were either third or forth (officially forth). No sign of Mavs or CYL as they had collided halfway down the course leaving the CYL drummer in the water. After adjudication it was decided to rerun the event. This time Carlos replaced the frozen Connie on the Drum and we had the Incomparable Wa Mio back in row eight. Wise move by Carlos as he has come to realise that he is good for one race and it is pretty much rubbish after that.
Back at the start and again PDs were off to an absolute flyer and had us by half a boat in 20 strokes. Our start wasn’t bad but it was no comparison to the flying lightweights of PDs (We may have to look at going back to our 75 spm for the first 20 like we had last year when we had the fastest start in the country). The boat was travelling well. But with the first call to lift at about 50 m to go there was a boat wake under seat 5, then seat 6, then seat 7. At the finish we looked across and we were within a bee’s dick of slamming into the PDs boat.
We were unsure where we had finished but we all pretty much assumed it was either third or forth. But when the official results came out we were second with a blitzing time of 50.641.
It was a great effort by all but special mention should be made to Steve DaCosta who beautifully took full advantage of the wake created by the PDs boat and showed supurb sweeping skills to keep us on the right side of disqualification.
OK this year we lost the novelty short course stuff to PD’s but once we get our start back (Like Stella got her Groove Back) those pencil necks won’t know what hit them. And Sloths well they might have three times the numbers but they only have one third the heart, the desire and the passion. They wilted like lillies in the summer heat in the only event that really counted and deservedly walked away with nothing..nada..bupkus.
These teams might go to Toronto this year and who knows they might do well but they both know that there is one team in Australia that can kick their arse from hear to next week. And that team my brothers is us.
regards, Joe
