London Royal Albert Dock 2011 Race Report
So here we are, the 2nd round of the BDA National
League and we're running two boats Anaconda and Anaconda
Challengers, what a great start to the season.
After a very early start for some followed by an uneventful run
down the M1, round the M25 and down the M11 we find ourselves at
Royal Albert Dock in the heart of Londons Docklands where a total
of 26 teams, which must be close to a record outside the National
Finals, had assembled to do battle for the available National
League points.
Once again it was lovely and sunny as it was at Teesside but
this time there was a fair wind which would result in us racing
with a fair tail wind.
We get the boats unloaded and in the water, they have fixed one
of the pontoons so it floats even with a full dragonboat crew on it
complete with boat, though they haven't fixed the other which Julia
was to find out about later on.
Anaconda Challengers were first up in the 200m Heat 1 at 10am
with a tough draw against Hurricanes 2, Tao Dragons, Amathus and
Typhoon Tigers.
With the wind picking up the water conditions were getting quite
lumpy, reminiscent of the usual Saturday weather from the National
Finals, and there was a fair bit of faffing round on the start
trying to get 5 boats all lined up together. Challengers, paddling
in Enterprise, were caught out a bit on the start but still had a
good race in increasingly challenging conditions, coming home in
5th with a time of 58.95s.
Next up in Heat 4 was Anaconda, paddling in Spitfire, drawn
against Worcester Dragonflies, Pershore, Batchworth, Wokingham and
London Business School. On the way to the start the waves were
breaking over the side of the boat, when turning at the end of the
course the boat was side on to the wind and waves and you rapidly
got several inches of water in the boat which meant frequent
bailing was needed.
Anaconda got off to a decent start, but not the best they are
capable of, and chased Batchworth all the way down the course,
eventually coming in 2nd with a time of 49.18s.
With all the heats now finished, Challengers next race was a rep
against Excalibre Blades, Secklow, Crusaders and Hurricanes 2.
Again they were paddling in Enterprise and go out to the start in
plenty of time. They sat on the 250m line patiently waiting for the
other teams to assemble around them prior to moving up to the 200m
start. The other teams jostled back and forth and all the time
Challengers waited patiently, receiving great praise from the
starter as to their professional approach, all credit to their helm
Tim.
This time they got a much better start than previously, but up
against fairly stiff competition they came in 5th with a
time of 55.31s, more than 3½ seconds faster than their first race,
go Challengers.
Anaconda's next race was in Semi 3, paddling in Spitfire,
against Pershore, Kingston Royals, Hurricanes, Tao Dragons &
Cool Runnings. We got a better start once we were eventually all
lined up but in very trying conditions we only managed to finish in
4th place with a time of 48.91s. 4th may not
seem great but our semi was by far the fastest and we were to have
the 4th fastest runner up time from all the semis,
missing out on the Cup Major final by less than 0.6s !!
Challengers final race was in Tail Race 1, paddling in
Enterprise, against Wokingham, Crusaders, Exe-Calibre Blades and
Hurricanes 2. The racing was tight as they sped towards the finish,
you could have thrown a blanket over all the boats providing it
wasn't blown away, and it was only really in the last strokes of
the race that the places were decided with Hurricanes 2 winning
with a time of 52.42s and Challengers coming in 5th with
a time of 55.93s.
What a baptism for all the Challengers crew, tough conditions
and tough racing but they were all ready to get back in the boat
and go and do the business, good on you all Challengers!!
Anaconda's final race was in the Cup Minor Final, paddling in
Spitfire, against Typhoon Tigers, Worcester, Raging Dragons, Ageing
Dragons & Cool Runnings. We had been seeded fastest for this
race due to our 4th fastest runner up time from the
semis.
We got off to a flying start and pressed all the way down the
course, the conditions were slightly better than our semi final and
we came in 1st with a time of 47.33s. So we finished
7th overall from 26 teams, what a great result for only
our 2nd event competing in the Premier Division, go
Conda. Notts Anaconda 4, Raging Dragons 0.
It should also be noted that we beat Worcester in the Minor
Final and we haven't been able to get close to them for several
seasons.
Had our time of 47.33s been replicated in the Major Final, we
would have come 3rd behind Batchworth & Amathus.
After the 200m has been completed, a team managers meeting was
called by the BDA officials and there followed much tooing and
froing as to whether the 500m races would run or not. First they
were going to move the start from 500m to 750m, then they were
going to allow the boats to turn round after the finish in the
neighbouring Victoria Dock, which was totally flat like a mill pond
in complete contrast to where we were racing in Albert Dock.
Concerns were raised about boat safety in the initial turn to the
start and eventually the 500m were cancelled.
So we were to get an early finish and proceeded to get the boats
off of the water. Enterprise was taken off the water and loaded on
the trailer without any great fuss. I was waiting for Spitfire to
be loaded onto the trailer for what seemed like ages. Eventually it
was brought to the trailer and loaded up. I was later told that the
delay was caused by the pontoon sinking which resulted in it going
off it's rollers and resulted in Julia, and some others, ending up
to their shoulders in cold Thames water while carrying a 250kg
Dragon Boat.
It has yet to be decided if the points for the 200m races will
be awarded and count towards the National League for this year or
not. We await the decision of the BDA Exec.
This was a great event for all of us, whether you were paddling
in Spitfire or Enterprise, we were all supporting each other as one
team. There are plenty of Challengers paddlers pushing for places
in the Anaconda boat and we already have a higher crew turn out
signed up for the Nottingham event on 5th June so Mike's
job as coach will be even tougher deciding who is paddling in
which boat on 5th June.
Bring on Nottingham, Condaaaaaaaaaaaa
Oooooooooooos.
Click here for the
full set of results from London