The boats are lifted out. Dark evenings confine the spirit. Sailors loosen the shrouds. And the blinds go down on the NYC like the drooping eyelids of a soon to be hibernating giant. Does anything stir through the short winter days and cold winter nights?

You bet it does! Anyone present at the NYC quiz nights from October through to March would feel the thumping heart of a giant that is racing inside. 22 teams. 11 quizzes. Over 1,300 competitors. About 600 questions. And a suspenseful, dramatic, and epic finale that brought the Brains of the Bay down to one, single, isolated, straightforward question. Could you answer it?

Well Patrick Madigan’s Corner Boys could. Going toe-to-toe with Páid Cassidy’s Wizard into the last night, both of these teams had a chance to be the winning-most team in the Quiz’s 40-year history. If either team won last Wednesday (26 March), then they would be the Brains of the Bay champions. At the end of evening, there were two teams tied for the lead – and it will not surprise you to learn that it was Wizard and the Corner Boys who made that tie. A tie that had to be broken. Four questions later, there was no give: still tied. 2-2 in the tiebreak. Last Question. One Question. One answer. One trophy. One Champion. And one place in history. A tremendous cheer of commiseration for the vanquished champions Wizard. A louder cheer of congratulations for the new champions Corner Boys. Even the Commodore got in on the act and presented the trophy (see pic). A late night. A great night. The beating heart of the sleeping club.

The giant stirs. Sailors appear on the yard. Spring kicks the hour forward. Soon, a swarm of insect-like boats will spew into the bay. One of them could perhaps yet be the youngest Olympic gold medallist.

Ends