Worcester 2010 Race Report
Raceday 7 of the British Dragonboat League and were off to
Worcester, via South Wales if you are travelling with Coach
Mike!
Conditions are sunny with a strong flow in the river but not
enough to prevent 20 teams ready in anticipation of a good days
racing, bacon butties are on the go, water is hot, its time to
rumble.
Feeling fairly confident we are ready for a decent 200m. Long,
long, long is the goal for today. First race is against Batchworth
and a Worcester Dragonflies on their home turf and one of three
Worcester teams.
On the tricky roll up to the line on a flowing river, the BDA
reveal their latest invention…. a talking willow bush that calls
the starts. We can't see the line but we trust the tree to
ensure we are all straight and ready to go. Unfortunately the
tree has distracted the Anaconda crew so much so that both
Batchworth and Dragonflies are half a boat length ahead after the
start. Despite coming 3rd it wouldn't be the last
we see of the Dragonflies.
Next race is tail race for 13th -15th with
the Dragonflies and Kingston Pretenders. Will we be able to
anticipate the start from the willow tree and be ready for the
Dragonflies super quick start. No, we are mesmerized by the
tree again however we are able to pull it back only for Pretenders
in Lane 3 to pip us by a club record 0.02 secs.
14th in the 200's.
Heat 7 in the 450m for Anaconda with Amathus and Dragonflies -
current score - Anaconda 1 Dragonflies 1. Time for a good
warm up, stretch, run, stretch, lunge, fall into the river, oops
careful Mike !
BDA decide to ditch the talking tree this time, good news for
Anaconda. No, we get left behind on the start again and come
a lowly 18th overall from the heats, the less said the
better.
Disappointed with our performance we will need to pull something
from the Anaconda reserves. Plate Rep 1 and its Anaconda against
Dragonflies and Pretenders in a repeat of the 200m. Close
racing again and with Alex putting the fear of God into us somehow
we are pipped on the line by Dragonflies by 0.11sec. Across
all the Plate Reps, less than 2 secs cover 9 teams with 0.7secs
covering 7 teams. Either way Anaconda are back!
We squeeze into the Plate Semis against guess who, yes
Dragonflies and guess who, yes Secklow. Game on !
A neck and neck and neck race ensues with a fantastic Anaconda
effort able to finish a race off with uber-length taking us home in
a clear 0.16secs(!) with possibly a moment of the year, an Adie
Downs smile…or was it wind…we will never know the truth ;)
In untypical Anaconda fashion we have fought our way back from
18th fastest in the heats to a place in the Plate
Major final. Anaconda sure know how to do things the hard
way! Winning the semi means we have new opponents - Henley
and Crusaders with Dragonflies and Secklow dropping down to the
Minor final alongside Typhoon Tigers.
Henley and Crusaders have been consistently quicker than
Anaconda throughout the day so expectations are managed but we are
going to give a crack even though we are in bogey lane 1.
Time to shake those Lane 1 gremlins off. Clear instructions
for the team and helm Ian O and we are off.
Anaconda have a decent start having started in Lane 1, we find
ourselves in good water somewhere in the middle of the river,
possibly Lane 2 ish! and again it's a neck and neck and neck race
all the way down.
On the line it is anyone's guess, again it feels we got
ourselves into the right position but not enough to finish the job
off but still no one knows. Down to our BDA timekeepers and
the word is it is too close to call.
On the line, there's only 0.15secs between 1st and
3rd with Anaconda pipped (Note : author is getting bored
of this word!) by Crusaders by 0.03.
So 2nd in the Major Plate final, 11th
overall and some tat….the day finishes on a high and with the final
2 races in particular providing a great springboard to finish the
season off positively.
Today's result puts us in a clear unassailable 2nd
overall in the Standard League in both the 200m and 500m with the
highest season points total ever for Anaconda. Well done
Anaconda !