Well after an almost disasterous start in our first heat, nearly striking two boats, swamping our own, and discovering that our navigator was not skilled enough to steer a boat with as much man-power as we had, he was subsequently black flagged by the judges and no longer allowed to steer.
We went to the two women who trained us and begged one of them to steer the boat, but they informed us that if he could not keep the boat straight either, not enough strength in either of them to hold it straight. Luckily we did find a pro dragon boat racer who was from the Ottawa Police team, he was a life saver.
We won our next heat with him and a new drummer/Drill Sergeant Alice, suddenly we're in contention for the title, one more win in the next heat and we win the entire local competition. We're neck and neck with the Cornell team, right down the wire beating them only by a foot or so....we then get the bad news......We have to race again!!!
Apparently the judges made some concession to a team that didn't make it to the starting line in time, normally if you miss a heat, you're disqualified, but they allowed them in. Not sure why, but we are told we must race again, immediately. Amongst a lot of complaining and disputing with the judges we line and proceed to win yet another heat, and are the UNDISPUTED champions!
8) :wink: 
