The beginning of another National League campaign for ExeCalibre was filled with a sense of expectation and excitement that has not been seen in any of the previous seasons. This was to be the time when ExeCalibre stepped out from the shadow’s of mid-table contentedness and finally took their rightful place at the top end of the Standard League… Or at least that was the plan anyway.

After a successful second half of the previous season, culminating in the glorious success of their Plate Victory at the nationals announcing their presence as a serious racing club within the BDA, ExeCalibre were ready to do battle in their first heat against Thames Raging Dragons, now enjoying their Premier League status, and the old enemy Bristol Empire Dragons.

Lining up on the start line with a lot of old faces and a couple of new ones too, we awaited the start and planned to record a fast time to seed us into a good second heat.

Are you ready… Attention… GO! ExeCalibre hit the start possessed and flew out of the blocks, finally turning our starts from our weakness to our strength. We were level with two premier crews after 100m. We powered on for 20, staying close (literally!) to the other crews. As the drive came at the end, the crews started to converge and Raging Dragons started to collide with Bristol! But ExeCalibre stayed on their line, powered through and earned a fantastic 2nd place, with a sub 57 second time!

Going into the second heat as the 7th FASTEST CREW IN THE COUNTRY was a big morale boost for the crew. Do the same time again and we have the hallowed 16 NL points!

Lining up again Pershore and Amathus was a bit of a strange combination – last season’s league winners and the slowest crew on the day, but regardless we were going to race our race and go for time. We planned to stay with Amathus and for the most part we did. A good race, not as great as the first one, but somehow a time of 1.01?

So onto the 500m. (Well not quite on this course, but I will refer to them as such.) First heat was pretty uneventful, a good time and onto the Plate as suspected. Nothing much to report.

This is where it all started to go a little wrong.

The second heat was one we needed to win to get into the semis. Otherwise it was a fastest runner-up scenario – basically a lottery.

The main competitor in the heat was Cool Runnings. They were currently top of the Standard League, doing excellent times and are going to be one of our main rivals this season.

So we are down on the start line, waiting for the go… GO! And ExeCalibre flew into action. By the end of the start sequence we were 2 seats up Glen called for a reach on the front and we started to dominate them. By halfway we were half a boat up and cruising.

Then… well I don’t know what happened to be honest. They called for a push and maintained their speed. We just kept getting slower as if we had stopped paddling. They just kept taking seat after seat after seat. By the end of the course we were a good 2 seconds behind them.

We waited nervously. Looked like we were in the tail, and had thrown away our chance to gain maximum points… Thankfully the gods were shining upon us that day and we managed to squeeze into the Semis as the 3rd fastest runner up (read slowest in semis)

So last chance to get into the final. We had to do a great time or win our semi.

After a change of boat and a reshuffle of the crew, and a bit of a telling off, ExeCalibre showed their character and managed to bounce back, getting 2nd place in their semi but with an extremely fast time which put them as the second fastest crew in the semi after Amathus Bees (a premier crew).

So the stage was set. Plate Major Final, Worcester, Amathus Bees and ExeCalibre. Beat Worcester and get 16 points. Beat all the crews and get a first place trophy to match. Could we do it?

As we lined up in race 3, borrowing a Worcester boat due to some problems with our own, we awaited the starter.

As the race began, we again hit another massive start and by 100m we were ahead. Glen called for a lift and we continued to hold our lead, staying 2 seats up on Amathus and another two on Worcester. At the halfway point the other crew were still behind us but catching. We knew we had to hold on. The last 100m and the crews were all driving for the line. Amathus started to take the narrowest of leads but we were still just ahead of Worcester…As we crossed the lines, the finish horns went off without any break between them. It could have been anyone’s race. We had to wait for the presentation ceremony to find out.

The officials called out:
In third place, Worcester! 16 league points are ours!
In second place, ExeCalibre!
And in first place, Amathus Bees!

So we didn’t quite get first, but we got what we deserved. Maximum 16 National League Points for the first time in the club’s history!

Exhausted and exhilarated, ExeCalibre tidied up for the day and relaxed to reflect upon a great comeback and a great result. From looking like the tail to 2nd in the plate – amazing.

Well done to everyone who was involved – all the paddlers, and in particular Glen and Sparky.

So onto Cardiff as we look to make it 2 National League maximum point hauls out of 2.

Can it be done? Watch this space…

Full Race Results (pdf file)