The Lilydipper Games 2006

The 2nd annual Lilydipper Games took place at Trap Pond State Park on
Saturday, May 13, 2006.

This year's Lilydipper Games featured four races:

The Solo Stern Race - The Rules: One paddler, facing the bow. Either
sitting on the stern seat in a tandem, or kneeling in the stern of a
solo. Out around the marker and back. First boat stern to touch the
beach wins.

The Bow Only Race - The Rules: One paddler, facing the bow. Either
seated on the bow seat in a tandem, or kneeling in the bow in a solo.
Out around the marker and back. First boat to touch the beach wins.

The Tandem Nathan-esque Race - The Rules: Two paddlers. In a tandem
the paddlers must sit bowman facing the bow, stern paddler facing the
stern. In a solo the paddlers must sit back-to-back sharing the center
seat facing in opposite directions. Out around the marker and back.
First boat to touch the beach wins.

The Stand and Deliver Poling Competition - The Rules: Pole out past
the buoy, make a 360 boat turn, perform a stunt or maneuver of your
choosing and head for the finish line. Each participant begins with 500
points, 30 points deducted for every 30 seconds of elapsed time and an
independent panel of judges awarding bonus points for style and
difficulty of the stunt performance.

The Results

The easiest of the Lilydipper Games races, the Solo Stern Race brought
out the competitive side of Joel; a side I have been warned about
eliciting. Having spent the winter months secretly practicing his
Lilydipper skills in Florida Bay Joel was not to be denied 1st place on
the medals stand. Even the yellow flag brought on by Laura's capsize
at the starting gate couldn't damped Joel's competitive spirit.

But the McCrea boys were not far behind, and were in fact plainly
aiming for the 2nd place award, generously provided by new minted
Duckheads Lowell and Doreen.

1st Place: Joel Beckwith - Custom made c2g paddle
2nd Place: Cooper McCrea - Stainless steel Swiss Army knife with LED
light
3rd Place: Tyler McCrea - Duckhead sticker
(Tyler passed his Duckhead sticker along to Bill, on the condition that
Bill race his Yellowstone in the 2007 Lilydipper Games)

The most challenging of the Lilydipper Games, the Bow Only Race
involved an added degree of difficulty this year with the decree that
only single bladed paddles could be used in the paddling races.

The start of the Bow race saw Joel off to a quick lead, which vanished
after 15 feet when his canoe came to a sudden stop. It seems that
"somehow" the bitter end of Joel's stern painter had come loose
and become wedged under a spectator's foot:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...50436027aPgTIJ

Meanwhile youth and stamina was gaining an insurmountable lead over age
and (lack of) guile, as a lead pack of Generation II Duckheads rounded
the buoy marker cleanly and made for the finish line.

The McCrea Boys lost some ground as they spent a few critical moments
bulldozing Joel off course when he finally caught up, and with Lauren
Wilhelm now leading the field,
Tyler and Cooper again battled it out for 2nd place. Cooper, having
chosen the Dagger Tupelo as his race boat, had interpreted the
instructions "...kneeling in the bow of a solo" to mean kneeling as
far forward as possible. With knees wedged into the stem of the Tupelo
the bow was nearly submerged:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...50436027xHhnMF

And, crossing the finish line, a lot more than nearly:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...0436027HzIwgJ#

1st Place: Lauren Wilhelm- Custom made McCrea paddle
2nd Place: Cooper McCrea - Stainless steel Swiss Army knife with LED
light
3rd Place: Tyler McCrea - Duckhead sticker
(Cooper generously trading prizes with his brother, so that each took
home a coveted stainless Swiss Army knife with LED)

The most awkward of the Lilydipper Games, the Tandem Race requires
teamwork and coordination. A rearview mirror wouldn't hurt either:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...50436027SrpIjY

Kathy, coveting the first prize of a custom NT paddle, spurred Joel
into action with a promise to model her camouflage bikini in return for
a winning race, and Tyler, having been bested by his brother in the two
previous races, teamed with his 2005 partner Emily to again defeat the
parental units.

1st Place: Joel Wilhelm & Kathy Carpenter - Custom made NT paddle
2nd Place: Tyler McCrea & Emily Obert - Stainless steel Swiss Army
knife
3rd Place: Jim Obert & Kathy Poff - Duckhead sticker

The final event of the 2006 Lilydipper Games was a new addition, the
poling competition. This event, being the brainchild of CWDH, required
considerable description and instruction. Description and instruction
from CWDH tend to serve only to further confuse matters, so Tom
provided a demonstration, poling the Curtis Ladybug and performing a
Ballenchine-esque Sissonne that nearly resulted in a Topher-esque
Renverse.

The demonstration having made the requirements clear the first heat of
Diane, Tyler and Laura lined up for the start.

Several things were quickly apparent - Brian's creation of a pole
with small paddle blades at either end offered Diane a distinct
advantage in speed rounding the buoy and making her 360 degree boat
turn. And Diane's stunt of wiggling around suggestively like an
epileptic exotic dancer scored the highest cumulative points from the
three judge panel.

At the end of the first heat the scoring stood:
Diane - 331 points
Laura - 267 points
Tyler - 266 points

The second heat was the "Youth Heat", with Nikki and Tim taking on
Cooper. Here it became apparent that the time element far outweighed
the bonus points for a well performed stunt, as Nikki and Tim both
earned the highest scores possible for their stunt maneuvers and were
still trounced by Cooper's elapsed time:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...50436027kZgiPe

Scoring on the 2nd heat:
Cooper - 274 points
Nikki - 75 points
Tim - 75 points

The last heat was the "Novice Poler's" competition, with Peach,
Shar and Emily proving that peer pressure can overcome anyone's
better judgment. A highly competitive heat, Peaches and Emily finished
within 10 seconds of each other and the addition of stunt scoring
points saw them tied at 273 apiece, necessitating a rock-paper-scissors
tie breaker.

Peaches - 273 points
Shar - 214 points
Emily - 273 points (tie breaker winner)

Somehow, in the chaos of totaling points and awarding win, place and
show rankings it was overlooked that Cooper's had in fact edged out
Peach and Emily by a single hard won point, 274 to 273, denying the
McCrea boys a clean sweep of 2nd place in every event of the 2006
Lilydipper Races.

1st Place: Diane Hollingsworth (331 points) - Pewter wine bottle
stopper
2nd Place: Emily Obert (273 points) - Paddle storage bag
3rd Place: Peach (273 points) - Duckhead sticker


In an odd twist of fate Emily's second place award in the tandem
canoe race came home in Cooper's swag bag and he is willing to
exchange it for the paddle storage bag and official recognition as the
2nd place finisher in the poling competition

There were of course other events and activities at Trap Pond,
including a delightful night paddle up the feeder stream under a full
moon on Friday night, concluding with a 2:30am gab fest 'round the
campfire aided by JSaults Holy Hand Grenade, many circumnavigations of
the pond on the newly completed Trap Pond bike trail, numerous
thirst-quenching forays to the Squatter Bar, the first Hennessy hammock
in Duckheaddom (happy birthday Cooper), David Pauza returning to camp
on Saturday morning to find his Bluewater Freedom littered with
cigarette butts and smelling faintly of dog urine and, best of all, the
usual sight of 20 solo canoes waiting at the water's edge for pond
and feeder stream explorations.

The trip and the games were a rousing success. My apologies to anyone
who arrived on Sunday to compete in the games - next year you'll
have to come for the weekend.

Full Cast of Character: Mike McCrea, Diane Hollingsworth, Tyler McCrea,
Cooper McCrea, Tom Wilhelm, Jane Michalski, Lauren Wilhelm, Nikki
Wilhelm, Mobey Wilhelm, Brian Sill, Anne Sill, Connie Sill, Eddied
Sill, Joel Beckwith, Kathy Carpenter, Theresa Alexaander, Paris Hale,
Laura Totis, Buck Totis, Vic Chenowith, Jim Obert, Kathy Poff, Emily
Obert, David Pauza, Maria Salvato, Victoria Pauza, Bill Schaeffer, Joan
Schaeffer, Lowell Stevens, Doreen Stevens, Jim Saults, Dave Warner,
Terri Warner, Melissa Warner, Tim Warner, Vitas Eidukevicius, Mary
Eidukevicius, Joe Steiner, Pam Gunter.

Missing, but there in spirit(s): Doc, Topher, Tana, Molly & Ruthie


Albums of Lilydipper Photos:

Bill's Photos:

http://community.webshots.com/album/550372417jIvKyR

Vitas & Mary's Photos:

http://wobey.net/paddle/EasternShore/TrapPond/