I'd like to break with tradition and start with a thank you to the BBC who recently changed their forecast to a wet August. Up until that point the weather had been lousy but the race conditions in Worcester were perfect. It never got sunny for long but the day stayed a pleasant temperature. The day got even better when we managed to borrow a drummer from Worcester and lend a buoyancy aid to Bristol. All in all a pretty good trade. Even Chris P showed up for some racing and there wasn't a canoe in sight. Being on a river, we were expecting close races all day as always in Worcester. The river was flowing fast so at least it would be over quick.
Our first race in the 200s we got off to a quick start and led the whole way. Unfortunately we surprised our drummer who wasn't expecting us to be fast and clung on until the finish. I'd like to say this happens all the time but this is the first. The next race was the semi. The winner would move on to the major final. We were racing against our hosts and Bristol. We had beaten and lost to both teams in previous races in the year. We got off to a good start and were well up on Worcester by the middle but slightly behind Bristol. Worcester put in a push and were coming back strong and managed to pass both teams to win the race. We managed to win the tail race to finish 7th in the 200s.
The 500s started out the same. We managed a strong race against Typhoon to finish near a boat length in front. This led to a showdown with Bristol again but this time Exe-Calibre on the other side. It was starting to feel like our own version of Groundhog day as we were in the middle lane for every race. The three teams went down the course side by side. At the end it looked like we had managed to beat Bristol but lose to Exe-Calibre but with a scewed finish line Bristol had managed to pip us again. It was off to tail race to face Exe-Calibre again and BA.This time Exe-Calibre fell off the pace leaving a two team race. This time the scewed finish worked to our advantage and we'd squeezed a win to finish 7th in the 500s.
With the boat packed it wasn't quite time to leave. The Henley ladies were teaming up with Secklow again to defend their win in Nottingham. Kingston is not used to losing the ladies race. It was a close three team race but Kingston managed to regain title as best ladies team but not their dominance as both Henley/Secklow and Worcester made it a close finish.
In the end it was a day of could have beens and almosts. Our buoyancy aid had managed to have a better day than we did which is strange since we usually finish at the same time. We were a fraction of a fraction off a place in the major final but because of the way the race program works we ended up in the tail races in both the 200s and 500s. We had gotten used to the major finals so now it is back to training to make sure we get there next time. The ladies did get awarded some hardware for their hard work and it was Henley's turn to take the trophy home.
A big thanks to Worcester for being great hosts and lending us a drummer most of the day. We hope that our first drummer was not too traumatized.
Riding high on the crest of a wave from our success at London Henley Dragons were full of confidence. The next BDA league event took us to Nottingham. A day of competition lay ahead on a stretch of the River Trent in the heart of the city.
An eventful first race of the season with high winds, big waves and the cancellation of the 500s gave us more time to celebrate the hard work of the Henley members representing Great Britain at the world championships in Tampa Bay, Florida. We also said good bye to last year's captain who will be paddling (and working) in Australia for a few years.
With trophy wins from the last two league events, would Henley make an addition to the trophy cabinet for the third time in a row ? It was going to be a challenge.
It may have been the day of the football world cup final between Holland and Spain, but for Henley Dragons there was a far more important sporting event taking place.
With the first event of the 2010 season, it was time to blow the cobwebs off the race boat and get that bad boy back on the water for some serious racing action.
