Milwaukie Riverfront Dragon Boat Race
July 24-25, 2004

Congrats team! Our FIRST victory in a dragon boat race! We got a time of 2:16, beating the second place team, Wasabi, by 5s!

Now, before we start saying "Remember Milwaukie? Wasn't that a blast winning?", let's not forget the rest of the chaotic weekend... (if it's too much text, go to the photo version here :p)

The "riverfront"
This was more like a sandbox. Rashanna's first comment upon arriving was "it's a pack of sardines!", which was quite accurate: we were packed in there, up against the other teams, with a tent that could cover 3 chairs while the rest burned in the 100-degree sun. Fortunately, Kuo moved us up to the flat, shady, and larger area just above.

The "round robin bracket"
11 teams, 3 rounds, and we race Papa Murphy's TWICE and Castaways ALL THREE TIMES. In the "round robin", we race 6 different teams, none of which are Wasabi, Shibumi, or CCBA (the other competitive teams there). That was a little disappointing, at the least.

Day 1, Race 1
Our first race, the first heat of the weekend. It was -- and we had -- a sloppy, sudden start. Was that really an air horn? Needless to say, we fell into our infamous maniac-panic mode, sped up the rate, and wore out before the end. We finished 2nd with 2:32. Our competition was Castaways, who finished with 2:20 (were we really 12s behind???).

This heat was especially...heaty, because we were out there in the sun forever! The race was scheduled to be at 1pm; when we got back to our tent area, my watch said 2:20pm. Tons of waiting on the dock and in the water.

Day 1, Race 2
Alright, our 2nd chance up against the Castaways. Yeah, we redeemed ourselves! Our start was more focused and ready, and even though it was a neck-and-neck race, we kept our rate steady and remained calm. Everyone felt awesome and satisfied after this race, regardless who won. We didn't know right away, but it turns out we finished with 2:23.70, beating them by 4/10s (you gotta wonder if hand-time is really capable of this accuracy). Here's a photo finish.

A funny thing about this race: just before, there was a boat-cop chase and then the Portland Spirit in the race course. They didn't close off any water traffic for this race, so waves were wakin'.

Due to the heat and slowness, they canceled the third round and let us go home. Everyone was quite relieved, seeing how it was 4pm already. Wasabi finished the day with the best time of 2:16. Yikes.

Day 2, Race 3
They continued the darn round robin and we raced Castaways, again. However, this race was a one of a kind, and is going down in the books.

So, good start, strong hoo-ing, and then, all of a sudden, as we powered it up, paddles were clacking... from the other boat! We had steered into their lane, and our starboard and their port were hitting each other. It wasn't just clacking...it felt almost violent. Believe me. I was totally shaken up in the moment, and couldn't do a darn thing, not even to prevent my hand from getting whacked between two paddlers every stroke. Dianna had to pull out too and I don't know how Derek was timing. There was so much clacking and screaming; everyone else was stirred as well and even our port pulled out for a bit. It was all pretty intensely crazy.

What we learned (from Brett B): talk with the paddle and stick out your elbows. :p But seriously, do not flinch, just keep paddling. It happens, and the other team is not going to stop just for you.

So, after all that pulling out and clacking, we still managed to beat them by 5/10s (what???). But, they complained about our tilling and we got a 2s penalty. Fair enough... because the officials said all it did was move us down to 4th from 3rd in the Div I semi's. We didn't care, because that mean we were still racing Wasabi and Shibumi.

Day 2, Semi-Finals
Here's where things got complicated. I have to mention that there were only 4 teams in Div I, and they still had a semi-finals and finals, with the same teams racing in each -- so the exact same heat, twice. Yeah, it didn't make much sense but my guess is they want to put in as many races as possible.

First we were in Div I and 4th seed. We made it all the way to the marshalling area, then they had computer problems and walked us back. Then they came back to get us, and said that teams dropped out and messed up the rankings; heats got moved around; and now we're in a different one. I asked if we were still in Div I, and the volunteer said there were no more divs. Ok fine, we'll just get through this race and move on. It was against Papa Murphys (whose times were 20s slower than us), and Providence (a totally new, also slower, team).

As we go out to race, turns out Providence wasn't paddling anymore, so it was just TWO teams in this heat. It was pretty minimal effort on our behalf (sorry Carrie that you didn't feel the hooing :p), and we won by boat lengths. A true waste of energy.

Confusion in Div's
After that race, I went immediately to check with the officials on what was going on, how many races were left, because things kept changing and it wasn't starting to make sense to me. It turns out we were moved to Div II! Due to the penalty, we got bumped to 5th with CCBA in 4th. And the race we just finished was the Div II semi's and we'd be racing... Papa Murphy's in the finals. AHHHH!!!! But they failed to mentioned that to me... so, I got slightly frustrated.

I sat down and just spilled it to them: I wouldn't have agreed to a 2s penalty and a bump down in divisions, if I had known. We were bored racing the same teams, the round robin didn't work out for us, and why were there semis and finals with the same teams?

At that moment, the semis for Div I were going, and I saw there were only 3 teams racing. I asked why aren't we in that race? Then, I strongly said (maybe begged): We want to race good teams. We don't want to race Papa Murphys and win Div II. We want the challenge and don't care about the status. And since there were only 3 teams racing in Div I, can you put us in there?  I guess it worked, because they put us in Div I!

But it turns out that CCBA was still at the race, but supposedly skipped out on the semis cause they were automatically in the finals. I don't know about all of this, but this may have peeved the officials. I ran back as soon as I saw CCBA to tell the offiicials that our deal might not work out because CCBA was in fact there; I managed to tell them but the officials were so flustered at the moment, they said they'd handle it. I just went back and waited for them to tell me what to do. I guess CCBA ended up racing in Div II and won. I do hope this was OK with them; I didn't get a chance to find their captain afterwards.

Day 2, Finals
This was it. What we had been waiting and waiting for the whole darn weekend: some other competition, specifically, Wasabi! Honestly, I went in not even thinking about winning. I just hoped that we could keep our cool when it mattered (previous races have indicate otherwise). I didn't mind beating Castaways once and for all, and settling our unspoken debt with Shibumi; but I didn't consider beating Wasabi. Here we are, going to the race start.

Wow, what a start. We were in the lead...from the start! Just after that, we hit these huge wakes, and I could hear everyone yelling "recover high, stay calm!", and it worked! We basically stayed ahead throughout the whole race, and pulled ahead. Carrie's sister, was our caller (a natural too!), and she started yelling "you're 3 benches ahead... your half a boat ahead... you're in the lead...go!!!". I was seriously confused. I could hear sound fading but I didn't believe it. Then we powered up -- nearly knocking Chris (our tiller) in the water -- and the finish was awesome. I felt the back half power, more than I ever have before (funny how you guys pull it out when it comes to winning. :p).  When we let it run, I was still confused since there weren't any boats in my sight. We what???....

...we beat Wasabi by 5s, about 3/4 a boat length, with our best time ever of 2:16! Beautiful. And here's proof.

Medal saga
Nope, the story does not end yet. Since we weren't really in Div I, the other three captains met with the officials, and it was decided that we shouldn't get the Div I gold medal, and instead, get the Div II gold medal. Yeah, I know...it was that important. The funny part is that they called me over to be part of this meeting, but as I arrived, everyone quickly broke apart and I was "informed." I immediately complied (probably surprised a few) because I really didn't care. That win was all we needed. No medals. I mean, haven't you seen A Few Good Men???? :p The only bummer is that the times are going down as us with a 2:16 in the Div II final. Oh well... we all know where it's at :)

Great job Maniacs and friends. We all agree that although it wasn't the perfect weekend, it was well worth the wait for that finish and victory. Thanks to Stacey, Greg, and Carrie's sister (???) for jumping in as callers, and Jeff for the paparazzi. And thanks to Patrick, Kevin, Phil, and Brett for joining us.