Forget the race results, the question is "How many dragonboaters does it take to change a tyre?

It’s 7am on a Sunday morning in the middle of November, I’m standing on a deserted underground station and immediate thoughts of the film “28 days later” spring to mind. As I think who would be mad to be awake under these circumstances, little do I know that this may be the warmest I will be for the rest of the day. It is of course the day of the first event of the Henley Winter Series, a series of tests that would churn the stomach of any normal dragon boater, but as I am finding out, this is a club of no normal dragon boaters.

Having arrived at a wet and muddy field, it was soon clear how much of a challenge was set in front of us, as the little Chinese guy gathered the troops. Not only did we have 2 less paddlers than all other teams, but we were missing some serious firepower. With only 3 right sided and 7 left sided typhoon paddlers, it wasn’t looking good. Fortunately with this club when we lack in power, we make up for it with numbers and heart, and also with a bit of help from old friends. This was a chance for emerging talent to shine, especially as our two teams merged into one.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this race, as it would be completely different to all others I had done so far. At most we were looking at 45 minutes of continuous paddling, and that would be it; no heats, no repecharges, no final, no rest. We were facing stiff competition from the likes of Masters inc. and Senior Contenders, last year’s winners. These two teams were all of an older generation, but were not to be under-estimated especially as most, if not all, had at one time paddle for the GB team. There were also the long distance specialists and home team, Henley, who where the fastest club team last year. The rest of the teams were mostly of Premier and Standard League quality, including Kingston Royals, Secklow 100 and our good old friends Raging Dragons. While I pondered all of this all other tigers were trying to imagine that they were on a tropical island, far, far away from the cold.

Soon though it was time to load up the boat and after a brief scare where two boats almost floated downstream, we were seated and ready to go. The format was a 7 ½ km paddle around two islands, with a rolling start, with each team starting at 45 second interval and with us being the 6th team to start. I could hardly wait, if only to get moving and keep warm.

After a short warm-up we found ourselves already heading to the start line, and as Richard called us in for a full racing start our 2007 Henley winter series was under way. With even a minute we were far from the maddening crowd, and the mood on the boat was almost serene. On any other occasion this would be a nice journey along the Thames taking in the sights of Henley, but this was a race, and we had a long way to go before anyone would be taking it easy.

With the beat of the drum echoing as we passed under the bridge we soon settled into our rhythm, and were making good progress, or at least I thought. As I said before I didn’t know what to expect, and I certainly didn’t expect what happened next. From the back the boat I heard Richard call to one of the safety wardens to pick up a paddle that may be floating behind us and only later did I find out that it was one of our paddles!!! Our thoughts and wishes go out to Sophie, our long lost friend. With 18 paddlers and 17 paddles our job suddenly seemed that slightly bit harder.

Before long we were nearing the first island, going with the flow of the river, but we were also being overtaken. Richard let us know, and called for us to reach it out. We managed to keep them at bay for a short period of time, but they managed to get ahead of us just before the island. As much we wanted to chase them down we had to keep our composure and keep remembering this was a long distance race, not a sprint. As we rounded the first island, we were suddenly fighting with the current, rather than flowing with it. Our lack of right sided power showed as the boat struggle to turn against the flow of water, nevertheless we pushed on with determination in our eyes.

Eventually the lack of paddlers, and paddles, started to take its toll and we were soon fighting off competition that had caught up with us. As bad as being passed was, it did give us a bit of a boost, and we seemed to get a second wind, driving the paddle in harder. It wasn’t long before we were passing under the bridge again and nearing the second island. As we turned the second island, the finish line was in sight, and we were with the current again. Using that last bit of energy we managed to power through the finish line and heard a huge applause from the watchers on the bank. We had finished in 13th place out of 13 boats, but even the rain couldn’t dampen our spirits, and I’m pretty sure we would have won the award for loudest hip hip hoorahs.

As we enjoyed the new Henley changing facilities (unfortunately the girl’s changing rooms hadn’t been finished, and there were no working showers), we were left to reflect a few things. What if we had two more paddlers, what if we used our own boat and what if we had one more paddle? The day’s event had left me hungry and tired, and it was only midday. Enough time to get some food and possibly even enough time for a nap.

But no, the day wasn’t finished for these tigers as there was more drama on the way home. As we were leaving Henley, we formed a convoy and one of the cars managed to get a puncture. In reply to the question in the title, it takes eight dragon boaters to change a tyre; 1 to actually change the tyre, one to jack up the car, 2 to film the event and 4 to stand around and commentate. The drama was capped with a frantic look for a Nandos that didn’t exist in Maidenhead and finally settling on a Weatherspoons.

The next Henley event should see the return of many first team regulars, but if anything has been shown, it is that every tiger, whether they are newcomers or old hands, is willing to paddle their heart out, is willing to give that little bit more, and is still willing to fight for every inch. We were under-strength at this event, yet still we showed some true heart, so imagine what will happen when we are at full strength.

Special Mentions:

- Dan & Sunil – For paddling on the wrong side.
- Sunil & Joey – For the first time they have ever paddled 7km. Great effort guys.
- Yong Sum – For providing us with the laughs, as she managed to puncture a tyre with a stationary kurb.
- Nilesh – For the quote “I’m sure there was a Nandos here a few years ago”.

 

Many thanks:
- Briony – Our drummer for the day, very kindly borrowed from Henley.
- Pete Wong – The original typhoon. You’re always welcome back in our boat.
- Secklow 100 – For exclusive hire of their second boat.

Boat Line-up:

Drummer	Briony
1	Waihung	Alan T
2	Phan	Ping
3	Sam C	Yong-Sum
4	Dhana	Pete W
5	Jeremy	Andrew C
6	Ben	Jon B
7	Nilesh	Dan S
8	Thanh	Joey
9	Yin San	Sunil
Helm	Richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written By Andrew Cheung