With the National League at an end, it's time for the annual trip to the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham to compete for the National Cup.

After 3 weeks of beautiful weather in the UK we set our sights on the National Cup in Nottingham, praying for the first year of good weather for as long as we could remember.  Clearly our prayers fell on deaf ears (is that because training always clashes with church?) because the wind picked up just in time for the start of racing.

As we arrived at the NWSC for breakfast on Saturday morning the lake looked more like the sea and the wind sock was close to horizontal.  Luckily that wasn't enough to put us off as we launched both boats and claimed our corner of the sports hall as 'Camp Henley'.  The program for Saturday included the Open and Ladies 200m in the morning, the Mixed 200m in the afternoon and the Open 1000m to finish off the day.

First up was the Open 200m which started with a qualifier round to get into the Cup, Plate or Bowl competition.  Up against Kingston and 4 other crews, we needed to finish in the top 2 to get into the Cup.  The wind made the lake a fairly terrifying prospect, as turning the boat behind the pontoons involved everyone bracing to make sure we didn't go in.

Lining up on the start was even worse, but at least it was a head wind rather than from one side.  After what seemed like forever we managed to get all the boats lined up and we were off, finishing in second and looking more like we had been for a swim rather than a paddle.  Job done, straight into the cup competition.

The second race of the day was the heat for the ladies 200m.  All year Henley have been joining forces with Secklow to form the Tiamats, a team which beat Kingston at Nottingham and have been hoping to repeat that ever since.  With 8 boats taking part in 2 heats, we had to be in the top 2 of the heat or one of the 2 fastest losers overall to make it into the final.

The Tiamats heat saw us take on Kingston, Worcester and Exe-Calibre.  Lining up on the start took even longer than in the previous race and we nearly broke the tail a few times, being blown back towards the pontoon at high speed.  However it didn't put us off and we finished in third with a fast enough time to take the fastest loser spot in the final.

The next race was the heat for the open cup competition.  After warming up we headed for the boat, only to find an announcement on the big screen that racing was suspended.  The wind was getting progressively worse and the safety officials were becoming concerned.  20 minutes later and a crew managers meeting confirmed racing would stay suspended for at least an hour.

Eventually the decision was taken that the racing could resume, but only the cup crews were being sent out as guinea-pigs to test the waters.  As we paddled up to the start, each of us was wishing we could go back to the bank instead of racing.  The race itself was somewhat farcical as it was impossible to line the boats up for a free start in the wind, and the waves made their best attempt at swamping the boat with every stroke.

Getting off the water as soon as we could, it was back to dry land to let the sea sickness feeling pass.  Another crew managers meeting confirmed what we all suspected.  Racing was cancelled for the rest of the day and the results up to this point were declared void.  The 200m competition was therefore not to be.

However nobody ever said that a lack of racing would stop Henley from having a good weekend...  There was much fun to be had at the Goose Fair (apparently the largest fair in Europe).  After many hours of searching, a couple of people were thoroughly perplexed about the lack of livestock.  It seemed nobody had pointed out to them that it was a fun fair, not a country fair!

The team met up again for a meal in the evening where, despite not having booked or even thought about it in advance, we managed to secure the entire upstairs floor of a restaurant.  Much fun was had by all, particularly when teasing certain crew members about their cosy drinks for two before dinner, or speculating on the whereabouts of another crew member who had "other plans" for dinner that didn't involve Camp Henley.

On Sunday morning it was like being in a whole different place; the lake was calm, the sun was shining and spirits were high after the previous day's controversy.  With all the results from Saturday being declared void, the 200m racing was completely abandoned however the 1000m race was so popular that it was reinstated at the end of Sunday.  But before then, there was 500m racing to do in the mixed, open and ladies category.

The mixed competition was first, with 15 teams competing in 3 heats.  Our heat included Kingston and Secklow, both of whom intended to make our morning very difficult indeed.  As we pulled away from the start line we were level with Kingston, until about 100m down the course where we seemed to loose the plot.  Kingston finished the race over 4 seconds ahead of us, but luckily we managed to keep second place with a 5 second gap to the next nearest team.  Unfortunately it was only the heat winners who went straight to the major final, so we would have to do a rep.

However to add some variety to the day, the next race was the ladies race.  Again teaming up with Secklow, the Tiamats took to the water, albeit a little late so we missed our heat.  Thankfully there was space in the next heat where we took on Notts, Amathus and Thames Amazoons.  The program was designed so that 8 teams would compete for 6 places in the major final, but 2 teams had withdrawn on the day.  However we didn't know that at the time and raced as hard as we could anyway and took second place, guaranteeing a place in the major final.

Anyway back to the main Henley crew whose next race was the mixed rep.  With 6 crews in each of 2 heats, it was winners and one runner up to the major final.  It could have been anyone's race but we managed to make it ours as we pushed down the course and finished just over a second ahead of Thames Titans.

So it was into our first major final of the weekend!  The mixed competition was always going to be our best chance of winning something, as we have competed all year with a mixed crew against clubs with a majority of male paddlers.  The other teams in the major final were Amathus, Thames Taniwhas , Kingston Royals, Kingston Pretenders and Thames Titans.  It's very rare to have one club with 2 teams in a major final, but for 2 clubs to achieve that in the same race is spectacular!

This was the most important race of the day.  In fact for most of us, it was the most important race of our dragon boating careers.  Our chance to win a medal at the National Cup.  So far our times had been consistent, both in the 2:13 region.  Amathus had also recorded a time of 2:13 in their heat and Thames had done 2:12 so we stood a reasonable chance.  There was no room for messing about.

As we sat on the start line, it was all about concentration.  As Amathus drew up to the line, we heard the starter issue them with a time penalty.  Suddenly this was even more achievable.  We flew off the line with the other crews and held our own for the first few hundred metres, but slowly Amathus, Thames and Kingston were edging away in front.  We knew that as long as we stuck close to Amathus we stood a chance, as we didn't know how big their time penalty might be.

We crossed the line in 4th place, but it was a long wait to see what the results board showed.  After what seemed like an eternity the times were up - and we were still in 4th place.  We were all so disappointed to have missed out on the chance for a medal, but 4th place is still an amazing achievement

Time for a quick aside to show how consistent our mixed team really is; the times from our 3 races of the day were 2:13:42 for the heat, 2:13:95 for the rep and 2:13:72 for the major final.  Usually crews slow down as they become more tired, so that's pretty good going really!

Now that the mixed competition was out of the way it was time for the ladies final.  The Tiamats took to the water for one last race of the season and were surprised to find that Amathus ladies had decided not to race.  With only 5 crews to fight it out, there was a good chance for a decent result!

The line up was Notts, Tiamats, Kingston, Thames Amazoons and Exe-Calibre.  As we charged down the course it came as no surprise to find Kingston (in their Pink Ladies t-shirts) quite far out in front, but the battle for second place was on - Tiamats and Amazoons were matching each other stroke for stroke.  Across the line it was so close, but when the times came up Amazoons had finished 0.82 seconds ahead to take second place, with the Tiamats taking third.  At the officials' request, we headed for the pontoon and were over the moon to receive a trophy!

To keep you in suspense, the final installment of racing with the open 500m and the open 1000m will follow shortly.

For more photos from the event, click here.