Report from the Fleet Week

 

Another spectacular fleet week has come and gone, providing much fun for all the people of the Steamlands and beyond. Almost all the nations have been part of at least one event and everybody looked happy in the end.

The week opened on Sunday the 13th with the opening Ball at the Fleet Week Headquartes of En Garden Island, in Winterfell Anodyne. It was a great event, organized by her bunnyness, Miss Eilidh McCullough, and with Miss Soliel Snook DJ'ing.  Over 50 people showed up, and we cannot forget the Armada Scoundrels who  sailed in on a barge while making quite a racket with their steam powered marching band for everybody enjoyiment.

The same day the Shipbuilder Exhibit opened. It was simply amazing. Mr. Marcel Ghostraven assembled the most fantastic group of gifted creators of Steamers, Ironclads, Airship, Sailing Vessels and Submarines. Some of the vessels presented were previews of new products or were made available on the market during the days of the exhibit.

Among so many vessels, I'd like to mention Victor Morington's impressive replica of the SS Great Britain, a steamer with 5 schooner-rigged masts, spanning almost 100 m.

On Thursday the Shipbuilder Exhibit area, that extended to Winterfell Laudanum, Winterfell Absinthe and Winterfell Eventide, saw an impromptu party among the ships, with Miss Patty Poppy DJ'ing.

The Battles 

This year we had two fighting events: the Sailships Battle, that premiered at the fleet week for the first time, on Tuesday and the classical Ironclads Battle on Thursday. Sir Cee Edman and Litta Nightfire were in charge of both events.

Sailships Battle

The pirate nation of Fair Winds dominated the sailships event, with Uante Viper who won both battles and  Evvva Viper who sunk Uante in an aftermatch.

Ironclads Battle

In the Ironclads Battle the Caledon Imperial Navy (Wrath Constantine, Rachire Andel and Geoffrey Xenobuilder) won the day and the New Toulouse Corsairs made the news with their fleet of one man little ironclads. They gave a hell of a fight and Gabrielle Riel got an honorable mention for being a die harder as one can be !

The Fleet Review 

Traditionally the peak of the week, the navies of the different nations show themselves at their best to the cheering crowds. This year's event, mastered by Lady Oriella Charik saw the navies of Armanda, the DeS Confederacy, New Babbage, New Toulouse and Winterfell, sailing in formation on the review field in Winterfell Libris and Winterfell Undertow.

After the Review, the nation of New Toulouse offered a ball to all the fleet week's participants aboard a beautiful paddle steamer.

The Shipbuilders Awards

With such a terrific exhibit and everybody deserved to be a winner. Many difficult decisions and the voting has been spread on very many names.

Here are the results:

Submarine Class

A battle to the last vote between Jenne Dibou’s Barracuda and Ford Denja’s Leviathon. Both have collected also vote for best overall ship of the Fleet Week and were clearly very much loved.

At the end … for just one vote ...

• Jenne Dibou’s Barracuda gets the shipbuilder’s award 
• Ford Denja’s Leviathon gets a well deserved Honorable mention

Airship Class

Clearly Jenne had a great fleet week because …

Jenne Dibou’s MTF Baloon wins the Shipbuilders Award
Lexx Bondard’s Airship Aurora get a honorable mention 

Ironclads and Steamers

A most fought class … many vessels got votes and many more deserved to be awarded. But at the end one came on top and …

• Sidney Arctor’s Monitor gets the Shipbuilder Award 

Honorable mentions go to 

• Loken Jewell’s Stingray 
• Aeolus Cleanslate’s Clockwinder’s Postulate 

Sailship Class

This class saw three ships coming with the same number of votes, while a fourth builder got more votes than the others but spread on many ships, so four honorable mentions are awarded :

• Marcel Ghostraven for his Golden Dragon 
• Razi Soyinka for Drakwenwerke Alliance Class Frigate 
• Mean Martina (Martina Lawsey) for her Black Pearl 
• and Evvva Viper for her Grand Galleon, Goelette and Schebeq 

and last but not least ...

… roll of drums … 

The 2011 overall Shipbuilder’s Award in the Third Fleet Week of the Steamlands goes to ….

Jenne Dibou’s for her Steam Barracuda !!!


The Races

The Races traditionally take place on the closing day of the Fleet Week, just hours before the closing ball. Wildstar Beaumont supervised the races, with the assistance of Oriella Charik and Tai Galicia as field officers.

Tall Ships Race

Robin Spocket , from the Armada Scoundrels was the winner, in front of Admiral Bridget Jennings, from Antiquity

Submarines Race

The winner was Kimika Ying who terminated ahead of Jimmy Branagh is an incredibly fast final, both representing New Babbage

The Uniform Ball

The tradition wants the fleet week to close at Piermont in New Babbage, with the Uniform Ball. This year it was definitely a blast with a confirmed attendance in the 70s and unconfirmed reports that more than 80 people have been spotted at the ballroom.

That's all folks ! Good bye from the 2011 Edition of the Fleet Week of the Steamlands. See you next year !