Black Sheep Marines

GWN Cocoa Beach Dragon Boat Festival - April 20th, 2013 @ Cape Canaveral-Manatee Sanctuary Park

Crossing the Atlantic intracoastel bridge to Cape Canaveral the day before the premiere Cocoa Beach Dragon Boat Festival could have sent chills through the spine of any seasoned dragon boat paddler who was competing in those waters the next day. The winds had not stopped since January said the locals, and the white capped tumultuous waves of the Banana River were intimidating to say the least, but stop the winds did that next day for a much calmer day of racing under cooler and overcast skies.

and the 2nd place Silver Dragons, who made a valiant effort across the sandbar in Lane #3, with a respectable time of 2:22.33. With the challenge of the sand bar looming in the more difficult lane #3 in the A final, again the Black Sheep fought hard and dug deep for their near winning effort time of 2:23.69, falling short by only .95 second to the first place Leathernecks team in the most advantageous lane #1 and .78 second short of second place which fell to the determined Silver Dragons in Lane #2. Lane placement was no doubt an advantage in the two 500m races due to the sandbar becoming progressively more challenging in the outer

In the gulf intracoastal waterway of Punta Gorda, the 3rd annual dragon boat festival, War on the Peace, was held at beautiful Laishley park with 25 teams competing. Many team members stayed over Friday night and enjoyed a team meet and greet party at the park,hosted by the Charolotte Harbor Paddlers, where they indulged in an abundance of great homemade appetizers. Many thanks to the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce and the Charolotte Harbor Paddlers for their display of hospitality and a well run event! Intimidating Friday night winds and waves calmed for the Saturday races and the Black Sheep competed in the first race of the day in their 350m qualifying heat, placing 1st with a time of 1:39.23 which seeded them into the A Division semi-final with the 4th best time in the 1st round.

The Black Sheep came back to Tavares with paddles blazing for their 2nd year of competition at Central Florida Dragon Boat Festival at Wooton Park on the shores of Dora Lake. In contrast to the previous year when weather conditions flipped their boat in the C Division Final spoiling their chances of a medal, it was a perfect day for racing and a perfect day of wins for the team. In their 500m qualifying race they posted their best time of the day, 2:32.45 finishing 3rd behind the two fastest teams in the competition who were seeded 1st and 2nd. The Black Sheep were seeded 9th of 23 teams placing them into the B Division semi-final heat where to the Black Sheep guys delight,

first race of the season and their first time at this venue, a beautiful 178 acre nature park. The skies cleared in time for the Black Sheep's first 350M qualifying race, the 5th race of the morning. Thirteen teams competed in the 2nd year of this dragon boat challenge at Turkey Lake, of which 5 teams represented The Villages. In the first 350M heat, 3 Village's teams placed within a fraction of a second of each other: Leatherneck Warriors - 140.06; Silver Dragons 140.48; Black Sheep Marines - 140.53. The Leatherneck team had the best qualifying time of the Village teams - 139.36. In the semi-final Senior C Division, the Black Sheep team won their semi-final heat racing with the Leatherneck Warriors and the Hawthorne Dragonflies with a time of 1.41.73. The Black Sheep placed 2nd of the 6 Senior C Division teams in the Semi-Final and went on to capture their first medal of the season, placing 3rd in the Senior C Division Championship final, a first race accomplishment for several new team members who got their feet wet at Turkey Lake.

First Season Highlights - Spring 2012

We started off our first season and first race as a 6 week old team with a test of sheer determination in a grueling 7.5 mile race in Rick's Mad Paddler's Rally in Tampa on February 18th. While many new paddlers who had never raced were asking themselves "what did we get ourselves into", we did finish with a respectable time and WE DID FINISH!

Next race was Homosassa's Dragon Boat Festival on March 17th where our previous 7.5 mile race paid off in endurance training for the 3000 meter race that felt like a sprint in comparison. We finished 2nd among the 5 senior teams from The Villages and our confidence was growing.

2012 Season Finale

The Grand Finale to our first racing year at the 2012 Walgreen's Orlando International Dragon Boat Festival in Downtown Disney on October 19th-20th was the pay dirt we had worked hard for all year long. Could it have gotten any better? No, it was beyond our expectations...coming home with 2 medals. We accomplished what we set off to do winning the Gold Medal in the coveted Military Cup race in a competition with our fellow Villages' military teams the Leathernecks and the Leatherneck Warriors, who always give us stiff competition forcing us to attain our highest level yet as a team. We congratulate both their teams on their successful day as well and especially the Silver Dragons who posted the best time in the first 500m race of the day. In our 2nd 500m race, the mixed A Division semi-final, we came out on top again, winning the heat with a 1.05 second better time for us than the military cup race, which placed us into the Mixed Division A Grand Final, our highest level of the year in a final race. Achieving our best 500m time of the day and shaving a whooping 5.01 seconds off our semi-final time, we placed 3rd in the A Division final, and we were thrilled to take home our second medal of the day. Will we be resting on our laurels, at least until the start of the new season rolls around...not according to our Coach Greg Walker. We will be right back at it this week training as hard as ever because we all know we must continue to push to reach a higher level and there is only one way to do that...PADDLES UP!

YES! THE END OF OUR FIRST YEAR COULD GET EVEN BETTER AND IT DID ...at the premier Villages' Dragon Boat Challenge held on December 7th, 2012 on Lake Sumter, the Black Sheep Marines finished their year as the Villages' Challenge Champions. Winning 3 of their 4 races; both of their 200m races against the Leathernecks and the Leatherneck Warriors and their first 500m against the Leathernecks; and finishing a close 2nd in their last 500m against the Silver Dragons, a team to be reckoned with and 2nd place finishers of the day. Competing with a boat of only 16 paddlers due to holiday absences, the Black Sheep Marines surprised everyone with their strength and endurance and accomplishments for the day. The combined best times of the day for the 200m and 500m races determined the Villages' Champions. The official results: