It was a fitting finale to the dragon boat racing season as the Lakelse Regatta provided the most thrilling finish of the year.
That came in the A final when the ever-dominant Rio Tinto crew faced the Tragically Quick, who have lived up to their name since first appearing on the scene.
Prince Rupert’s Rainbow Warriors were the third boat in the final and were in with a chance based on times in the heats and subsequent qualifying races that set the line up for the three finals.
Although the Warriors put up their best time of the competition, 1 minute 10.5 seconds, they were no match for the other pair who fought it out bow to bow over the 250 metre course.
And in the end only the electronic timer could separate them, RTA prevailing by just five one-hundredths of a second in a time of 1:06.40.
The RTA Young Dragons, winners of the A event at the Kitimat races in July, found themselves in the B final this time after a less than stellar performance in their qualifying race.
But they took some compensation, beating the Northern Spirit boat by nearly a second and a half in a time of 1:15.4.
And in the C final KMP (Bechtel) had little trouble, finishing in 1:17.9, just shy of three seconds clear of Tyee Lake Dragons.
In the special Ladies of the Lake race the Rainbow Warriors had a great duel with the Northern Spirit team, coming home in 1:15.9, two-tenths of a second ahead of the Kitimat crew.
The regatta ended with the aptly named Guts and Glory race, a 1,000m endurance race.
RTA once again showed they had what it takes when it comes to stamina, cruising home in 5:28.3.
That was fully 15 seconds faster than the RTA Young Dragons with the Tragically Quick wallowing in their wake at 5:54.6.
