No bling - but plenty of points!

A 27 strong crew travelled to Nottingham Trent Bridge on 17 May for the 2nd race day of the BDA series and although not coming away with any silverware, picked up some very valuable league points.

The Royals first race event of the day was a 200 metre race against Amathus and Powerhouse and we powered home in second place. As we went out in heat one, we had to wait as six other heats took place, but eventually we found that our time was enough to take us into the Cup semi-final.

We lined up on the start line and off we went at a blistering pace, and we crossed the line not knowing who out of the three teams had won.  A photo finish was required, and when the result came through it was announced that all three teams had come home with just 0.54 between them, and that we had come second in the Cup Minor Final.  But more importantly we beat Wraysbury, one of the top two teams in the premier league.

Following a short break, the Royals went on to race in the 2000m race.  Placings for this race were decided based on the seedings from the 200m. The Royals were seeded 5th from the first event, and we were drawn in the second heat.  This is a hard race of endurance and tight turns and despite putting their best events in the Royals finished in ninth place.

Better fortune was to be had in the afternoon as we continued into the fun Relay Races.  We were paired up with Pershore Phoenix, (who were placed 7th in the 200m Plate races), and the teams battled it out against other nine other pairings in 2 x 200 relay races.  We went on to qualify for the semi final as the second fastest pairing of the afternoon, and following some good racing and times, we made it to the final.
 
In the final the Royals got off to a good start, leading the first leg of the race by about 1/3 of a boat, and then Pershore Phoenix took up the second leg.  But the teams in the other pairing were just that bit faster, and beat our combined time by just over 1/2 second. 

For Thomas Evans (12) (see picture below) this was his first proper main team competitive event, he had competed once before, but only in a mixed junior team at last years National Finals, and he was pleased to be picked to paddle in the fun relay races with the main team.  Thomas said: "I love training with the Cambridgeshire Royals each week, and was really happy to race today.  I learnt a lot from the experience of racing with The Royals for the first time in a proper race. I loved every minute of it and can't wait to do all again."

All in all it was a great day, with some on and off water banter with some of the other teams, as the Royals battled it out with the best of the best - and kept up with them!

The Royals will next be in action again at Wraysbury on 31 May, where once again they will be hoping to keep up with the top teams.