GICONESEN at the 18th Dragon Boat Festival

Difficult conditions at the battle for the Cup

This year the GICONESEN competed at the the Dragon Boat Festival, part of the Elbhang Festival, under difficult conditions for the Cup: the Elbe River flowed at Flood Stage 1, as a result the competitors had to paddle approximately 200 meters upstream - against the current!  

In the preliminary heat for the High Achievement Cup, GICONESEN defeated the "Eisbären" (Polar Bears) by one boat length.  However in the semifinal heat we had to compete from the unfavorable inside lane (stronger current) and as a result of the less than optimal pace, we were soundly defeated by the Cup winner "SiegLinde".  Small consolation: this boat only narrowly defeated "DREWAGainer", which had many years competitive experience as a professional boat.    

Therfore, out of 8 boats we achieved 3rd place, which was awarded an ice cream cake.  By the way, the race on Sunday afternoon was cancelled due to high water on the Elbe.