In what was the first race outing for the 2016/17 season, seven Sea Dragons (Vicky, Cat, Siu, Benny, Fung, Sui & Eric) joined forces with the Dragon Masters to form a combined crew "Sea Masters" to contest the Battle on the Barwon time trial event, held on the Barwon River, Geelong on Sunday 11 September 2016.

Preparation for this event happened two Saturdays earlier (last weekend and the day before) where members of the two teams came together, got to know one another and paddle as a team. I must say, we gelled well from the beginning and this certainly proved to be the case on race day.  

Geelong presented great weather and the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed. With 11 crews contesting the 6.4 km course, we were eager to get on the water (even with the threat of water snakes). The boats launched in groups over three rounds, with 1 minute intervals between boats.

Round 1 (Geelong Firecats, DA Peninsula Dragonflies, Golden Dragons Ballarat)
Round 2 (Bravehearts, Albury Wodonga Warriors, Geelong DBC, Southern Storm)
Round 3 (YRD Red, Sea Masters, Melbourne Flames, YRD Black)

With Vicki Shannon on sweep and Beverley Davison on drum, we paddled consistently and strong for the entirety of the race, finishing a very respectable fourth (30:09 min) from the field of 11. Not too shabby!

A big thank you to the Dragon Masters who allowed us to share in this experience. It was a real pleasure. We take from this a great respect and admiration of the youthful drive of our more senior dragon boat compatriots. Thank you to Karen O'Connor as team coordinator and to Vicky Chung on our side for getting us connected. 

To our teammates who came down for the day to lend their support and photography skills, Tina Wee, Oana Sanislav and Mon Lo, we appreciate you!

Check out some other great shots by Oana (which include those appearing on this page) in our photo gallery.

Ps: Thanks Eric for officially introducing Fei-Fei (the drone) to the regatta day photography/videography mix. I'm sure her debut today will be the first of many and we look forward to the bird's eye view!

- Fung Lay