(added 3rd July 2006)

BLING BLING GALORE AT HAMILTON ISLAND 2006

Hamilton Island in 2006 marks the year that the Grizzlies made their mark on the World Outrigger circuit.

In an unprecedented turn of events the Grizzlies won 2 gold, 2 silver and a bronze medal out of six events competed and also won A$3,500 in prize money!! A fantastic achievement!

Entered in the highly competitive Senior Master Men division, the Grizzlies expectations were modest.

Rating themselves as medal chances in the sprint events, the highly prized Hamilton Island Cup 42km race has always been a monumental challenge.

The difficulties of firstly obtaining a competitive boat and support craft, then adapting to vastly different boats and water conditions have undone previous Grizzlies assaults on both this race and Molokai and there was the uneasy feeling that this year would prove no different, despite the recent good form of the crew.

The first significant breakthrough came with the decision to export our much maligned Bayleys Mirage back to Australia. This was done with the endorsement of our generous sponsor, Darling Daryl Devereux and the management team at Bayleys North Shore and facilitated by the indefatigable (and exceptionally forgetful) No Show Lowes who arranged and funded all of the shipping and Customs clearances both ends.

Arriving at the Island, it was a great and very uplifting sight to see our new (ish) Mirage sitting on the trailer waiting and looking FAST!

And so the regatta began in earnest.

On the first night the usual International Paddlers Barbecue was held. The Grizzlies, all dolled up and looking exceptionally attractive, were as usual completely ignored by the hordes of unusually beautiful Swedish, Guam and Hawaiian female paddlers. Sadly these fine looking women demonstrated their shallowness and complete lack of judgment by consorting with the glamour Team Hawaii Senior Master Men and other Lords of Hammo.

There was nothing for it but to head for the bar and conduct speculation of what peculations enabled the Hamilton Island Club to continue to acquire such stunning new gear for their club, this time an impressive array of Fuse and Fusion OC1 canoes made by Outrigger Connection in Hawaii.

Talk inevitably turned to paddling, and the learned dissertation on the merits of other international events in far flung places like Hong Kong and Rio de Janiero rapidly descended into a hotly contested debate over what a real Brazilian was!

Inspired by far more alcohol than commonsense, it seemed to a large and very forthright Grizzlie (who shall remain nameless) completely obvious to seek clarification from one of the fairer members of the opposite sex. An unbelievable Gaffe! The Gaffer was told to sit down and behave, and in the stunned aftermath this demand was meekly complied with.

DAY ONE.

There was much work to be done to weigh in the canoe, get it registered with AOCRA and rig it ready to race.

In a repeat of 1997 Grizzlies scoured the Island looking for empty flotation bottles etc and Darling Daryl and John “Lucky” Leonard did sterling work in this regard, only taking a full day to accomplish this massive task. All the while Bunny “the Rigger” Palmer displayed his rope rigging prowess completely unaided by his designated helper Ken “The Gaffer’ Gilbert.

While this went on, Brian “The Brain’ Wilson, Tim ‘ The Beast” Bruce and Rob “You Beauty” Bruce were lucky enough to score the loan of a Hurricane. The Brain blitzed the Golden Masters OC1 500M heat by five boat lengths and went on to win the Final by a boat length to take the Gold Medal. The Beast then backed up by winning Bronze in the final of the SMM Oc1 500M after surviving an atrocious start in the heat.

In a show of incompetence far more typical of NZ administrators than Hammo the organizers stuffed up the placings and sadly the Beast did not get his chance to stand on the podium and receive his medal. After hours of video replays they admitted Tim indeed got third. Astonishingly, the Aussie who got the medal hunted Tim the Beast down and presented him wit the Bronze. And so a very successful day one came to a close – the Mirage rope rigged and ready for action – and two medals in the jar!

DAY TWO

The morning was blustery and overcast and the 16Km race was so rough an alternative course was run.

The start was chaos with much of the field missing the green flag as boats lurched about colliding with each other in the one to two meter swells off Catseye Beach. Both Grizzlie crews were no exception and both crews completely missed the start.

The Gold crew, comprising the Beast, Rigger, The Brain, the Gaffer, Lucky Leonard and the ancient Jedi Master, Bushy “ Yoda’ Richards got the worst possible line. The Mirage wallowed like a Not on your Nellie sea change as Yoda tried to bring it under control  while avoiding any collisions with the 35 strong field.

Meanwhile the Black crew, a very makeshift outfit comprising Darling Daryl, No Sho Lowes, “You Beauty” Bruce, Mike “Midriff’ Mann, Kevin “the Apprentice” Marevich and ring in Burleigh Point steerer Ian “Supersize Me” Munroe fared much better and were hot on the heels of the Golds. After about one km the conditions flattened right out  and the Gold team set out in hot pursuit of the rapidly disappearing leaders. They showed some impressive power, particularly into the headwind as they mowed down the field to finish 10^th( we think) overall and second in the SMM division behind Team Hawaii. Mooloolaba got themselves disqualified.

The Blacks also got things going and blasted past Team Hawaii 2 and Mooloolaba Two to finish midfield.

And so to the  500M sprints. This was a big disappointment.

The Golds won their heat impressively from Lane 3 but the shallow lane meant their time was 6^th fastest and they drew even shallower Lane 2 for the final. This big crew (Lucky Leonard was interchanged with No Show) suffered severe “bottom-suck” and finished fourth in the final.

The Black crew were assisted ably by “Supersize Me” Munroe whose race strategy of poke steering from start to finish was very reminiscent of a large Samoan 100 plus clubber from previous Grizzlie campaigns to Hammo. Needless to say they ended up with a very similar result!! Dead Motherless Last!

DAY THREE

The 1000m sprint was our best chance of a medal.

The Black crew lineup was changed and despite the Herculean efforts of The Brain at Stroke, No Show at 2, Midriff, The Apprentice and Rob you Beauty at 3, 4 and 5,Supersize Me demonstrated to all and sundry the old adage that if you change nothing you will get the same result! The poke steer for the whole race is simply not a winning strategy you dumb bloody Aussie.

But the Golds had a glorious day! Luckily drawing Lane 7, the crew comprising, The Rigger at Stroke, Darling at 2, The Beast and the Gaffer in the guts of the boat, Lucky at 5 and Yoda steering drew the first heat in equal first place with Team Hawaii.

The all conquering Mooloolaba Masters easily won their heat and the stage was set for the big showdown in the Final of the 1000m.

In a repeat of the glory days in 2002, the Grizzlies lead all the way in the final, winning the Gold by almost two boat lengths from second placed Cairms Beaches. The glamour teams, Hawaii and Mooloolaba didn’t fire a shot - how sad!

The Grizzlies were in town and now everyone knew it!

Day Four , THE BIG RACE , dawned fine, calm and clear and 64 teams from all of the top paddling nations in the world lined up for the start of the 42Km race.

Staring slowly, the Grizzlies hit out crew of the Beast at stroke, The Rigger at 2, The Brain at 3, Gaffer at 4, You Beauty at 5 and Yoda took a bit of time to find their rhythm and their line. But then it clicked and the crew attacked.

They monstered past crew after crew, had demolished the All Star Team Hawaii half way up the first run, and were sitting right on the stern of Mooloolaba at the first turn around Dent Island.

The pace was fast and relentless and at the first changeover point the Grizzlies had passed Mooloolaba to be in first place in the SMM and 5^th overall. The changeover crew of Darling Daryl, No Show and Lucky could not believe their eyes when the crew pulled into sight ! Totally unbelievable – the Grizzlies right at the head of the fleet in this classy international field!!!!

Needless to say the first change was a cracker and the team built on the lead to pull away to 100m led over the Mooloos. Excitement built and the there was even a slight loss of composure in the astonished Grizzlie crew who felt maybe there was a fairy tale was in the making.

There was nowhere near the loss of composure as there was shown by the gob-smacked Mooloolaba crew who had just been “pants downed” by a rampant bunch of Kiwis!!.

But the clearly worried Mooloolaba crew did not win the last 5 Hammos and two Molokai races because they are soft. They showed their class (and their youth) and turned the screws by building the pressure. At the same time the Grizzlies hit a dead patch and over the next five kms the M crew eked out a lead of first 10, the 20 then 30 meters. It was just like back at the Lake at training – no quarter given or asked and every Grizzly giving their guts and a little bit more!

At Pentecost the lead had stretched out to 150 meters and there it remained as the relieved M crew sat on their lead.

The changeovers provided their usual entertainment, none more so than the extraordinarily pathetic effort of Tim the Beast who soundly eclipsed his Molokai effort of porpoising over the hull and out the other side.

Quite obviously his different mind had conceived for some time a new technique for getting into the boat (how familiar!)  Using this auspicious occasion he felt compelled to demonstrate to the boys his world first concept of leaping out of the water and into the boat feet first – an attempt that for some unaccountable reason was not immediately successful!

Somewhat abashed by the unexpected failure of his novel approach, the Beast then resorted to using his head in a more forthright manner, this time diving headlong into the boat. His impressive forward progress was halted by the bulkhead and the Beast was then faced with the unanticipated prospect of paddling with both feet which flapped in the breeze some feet above the cockpit!

Finally accepting that the more orthodox method of paddling with arms and hands did indeed have some merit the Beast  finally righted himself and so continued the relentless pursuit of the Mooloolaba crew.

This wonderful race finished in a time of 3 hours 22 minutes ( smashing last years record by 8 minutes) and at the end of the day the crew came second ( by less than 2 minutes behind a clearly relieved Mooloolaba crew in the SMM and eighth overall in the 64 strong international field.

Bloody marvelous!! An exhausted Yoda showed superhuman endurance, guts and skill by steering the whole way. Not bad for a 58 year old.

It was a slightly emotional Grizzlie crew who received the congratulations of the dethroned Team Hawaii All Stars who came in third place well over 2 minutes behind. They knew there was a new kid on the international block.

The medal ceremony was a blast! Eight proud Grizzlies lined up on the podium to get their silver medal  ( No Show once again living up to his name having been last spotted running to the Airport with forgotten paddles, cameras and other miscellany strewn in his wake!) and to receive the deserved accolades of all.

Best of all we were A$3,500 richer which offset the costs of the inspired decision to return our Beautiful Bayleys Boat to its rightful environment.

And so another Chapter in the rich Grizzlie history has been written!!

Go Grizzlies!!!!!

Snide Line Spy