Typical NWSC weather greeted the crews on the final day of competition with a stiff head wind and a spot of thunder and lightning to disrupt proceedings before the final races. Once again the Premier Mixed swept all before them with a stunning Gold medal and this was matched by the U18 mixed team who continued to thrash their way to victory in Asian style. The breeze intensified through the afternoon until the storm cleared the water and provided perfect water for the last few races. The Grand Dragons were frustrated again with a 4th place by one hundredth of a second, possibly less disappointing than missing the Gold by the same margin. The U18 open faced a stronger challenge to maintain their winning streak over 500m but a Silver medal was added to the collection to make this championship one of their most successful ever. The Premier Women secured an impressive Gold medal with convincing wins in each of the three rounds of racing. The Senior Women mastered the small boat to secure a second Gold medal and fly the flag for the Senior Squad who had an off day in the Blue Riband event against strong opposition. The Premier Open competition was a little less certain after Hungary and Germany edged ahead in close company with the Tahiti Nui club crew in round one of three. GB stepped up in race two to hold Tahiti to quarter of a boat and sealed the Gold in round three, leading the European challenge across the line by sufficient margin for an aggregate win.

Nineteen medals over the three days of racing provided a convincing points tally to secure the European Nations Cup for Great Britain.

GB paddled off with 7 medals after a busy 200m programme that brought together all the divisions in a typical National League style race programme which gave a relative position to all the teams. The BCS and club teams also took part with Tao finishing respectably in the small boat category and Pool of Life (and friends) securing both standard and small boat competitions ahead of Plurabelle Paddlers and Florence Dragons.

Both U18 Mixed and Open were magnificent against strong opposition to secure Gold in the morning and afternoon. They were soon joined by the Senior Women in the small boat category taking a hard earned Gold position from a full race programme. The Premier Mixed sustained their challenge for honours with a Gold in category and first place overall in the mixed competition. The Grand Dragons, tenth overall on the day, missed Gold by millimetres behind Ukraine in the tightest race of the competition, just one hundredth of a second determined from the photo finish. The result could easily have gone the other way and was only decided by the resolution of the photo finish, a dead heat was given for fourth place in a later race.

The Premier Women were frustrated by the Germans in their grand final securing a close Silver medal and they were followed by the Premier Open taking Bronze and 5th place overall in the ranking competition. The Senior Squad battled in vain in mixed and open but will be back fresh for the 500m competition on Sunday (29th July).

There was a spectacular start for Team GB in the 10th European Nations Championships. While the rest of the world prepared for that 'other' event it was business and racing as usual for our sport. The lottery of the 2K provided the usual excitement and spectacle with the guest crew from Tahiti swamping barely metres over the finish line after completing the race in a blistering time. GB collected four Golds, a Silver and a Bronze, only missing out in one division.

The Senior Mixed crew set the tone with a Gold just 0.1s ahead of Russia. The Premier Mixed lead the way from Russia again but with a comfortable margin of 6s. The Grand Dragons had to fight their way through the mix of crews from fourth off to chase down a Silver medal behind Ukraine who lead the field.

The U18s completed the whole race with a short choppy stroke at a rate similar to many Asian crews but were rewarded with a Gold medal, nearly 5s up on Poland. Just a few strokes and less than 2s separated the whole field in the Premier Open race. The result was impossible to call by spectators and GB took Bronze, 0.06s off Silver (Russia) and less than a second off Gold (Germany). All the Premier Women crews faced a level playing field when they followed the Premier Open crews. The GB Women were seeded first and proved it with a convincing win in front of Germany, despite a minor short cut.

Today (Saturday 28th July) it's a tenth of the distance but it could be 10 times as many races for those crew members doubling up in open and mixed. A full National League style programme will mix all the divisions in open and mixed racing to establish an overall ranking before the divisions break out in to their divisional Grand Finals to decide the medals. It's going to be hot.

It is with great sadness that we pass on the message from our President, Mike Haslam, of the sad loss of his wife Phyll Mackeddie on Tuesday 24th July after a short illness. Phyll was well known and liked by all those who were lucky enough to know her through her support to the sport over many years and many National Cup finals. Funeral details and details of a Service of Celebration and Rememberance for Phyll will be posted as soon as they are available. If you would like to leave some thoughts or a message for Mike visit the Register of Condolences on the EDBF website.

A link to the summer edition of Dragon Line has been emailed to all BDA members at their registered address. If you haven't received the email then contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with your name, preferred email address and BDA membership number.

Congratulatioons to Christian Burton who has won the over 18s photo competition in this edition.