Just reading through some of the team profiles, and saw that Michael W had some comments about our Moon Shot goal...and thought I would take a moment to post our history (as we do each year about the time of the Virtual Team Challenge. For many of us, 2007 and 2008 was a year to celebrate as we first joined the Lunie team. The forum has provided us a great way to communicate with each other, and share our stories. Happy Team Anniversary to all the Lunies!
The short version is that it did take us 9 years to get to the moon, and it only took us about 2 and a half to get back. We are now on our second journey to the moon, and since we only "count" where we are at the end of each Concept2 season on April 30th, we currently have accumulated 184,258,753 m in our quest to return to the moon. It's a 384,000,000 m journey, so we have a long way to go!!
The Luna-Tics Team History thru 2014 Concept2 Season
2003 - Virtual Teams instituted by C2. Matt Forsbacka, being slightly influenced by his work for NASA founds the LUNA-TICS year-round team. His goal? To row to the moon. Calling all hands...Calling all hands...
The yearend stats show 7 team mates, and the team placing #72 out of 1437 teams that year. Total team meters: 3,874,123.
2004 - The year end stats show 11 team mates and the team placing #94 out of 1233 teams in existence that year. Total team meters: 4,500,044.
2005 - The year end stats show 15 team mates and the team placing #71 out of 1211 teams in existence that year. Total team meters: 8,321,188.
2006 - The year end stats show 19 team mates and the team placing #72 out of 1066 teams in existence that year. Total team meters: 8,507,331.
2007 - Formation of the LUNA-TICS challenge team by Kristine Strasburger. The year end stats show 25 team mates and the team placing #47 out of 1137 teams in existence that year. Total team meters: 14,265,122.
2008 - Challenge team captain discovers the C2 forum, and begins team recruiting efforts for the Holiday Challenge. LUNA-TICS Team Room on the forum established. The yearend stats show 59 team mates and the team placing #11 out of 1234 teams in existence that year. Total team meters: 48,110,121.
2009 – Team forum pages grow into the 200’s; 92K + views of pages. Team finishes the year with 81 teammates and the team placing # 6 out of 1475 teams in existence. Total team meters: 85,778,613 m – meters per team member average is over 1 MM.
2010 - We had 110 team members at the end of the year, and again finished with a meters per team member average of over 1 MM. Total meters were 115,405,350 m. Team placed 5th overall in the team rankings.
March 1, 2011 - Lunar landing after a compilation of greater than 109 MM by 129 team members, team members descend to the lunar surface to begin exploration of the lunar features. Team is currently in 4th place overall in the team rankings, and there is one team challenge yet to go: The World Erg Challenge begins in two weeks.
2011 – We had 137 team members at the end of the rowing year (two posthumously), and again finished with a meters per team member average of over 1 MM. Total meters were 141,637,835 m. Fourth place overall. Our best ever.
2012 – We finished the year with 178 team members. Total meters are 203,752,749 m and we are in third place overall (out of 1,646 teams), both are first evers for the team. Our average meters per team member is over 1 MM for the fourth year in a row. We had two second place finishes in team competitions this year. We encouraged the rowing universe to complete the Holiday Challenge and gain enough meters so that Concept2 met its goal … and exceeded it.
2013 – We finished the year with 168 team members (one posthumously). Total meters are 178,512,167 m and we are in third place overall (out of 1,777 teams). We made it back to earth following our initial landing on the moon in 2011. Took us nine years to get there, and a little over 2 years to return. Amazing how the team was motivated! Our average meters per team member statistic is over ONE MILLION METERS (1,062,572 m) for the fifth year in a row. The entire Rowing Universe completed the Holiday Challenge with sufficient meters to meet Concept 2’s goal…and exceed it. It was an exciting finish to the rowing year!
2014 – We finished the year with 175 team members (one posthumously). Total meters are 184,258,753 m. Our average meters per team member statistic is over ONE MILLION METERS for the sixth year in a row. We started our journey back to the moon, and have about 200 million meters before our second lunar landing occurs.
2015 – Now on our way back to the moon with a new crew. It will be a big stretch to average one million meters per team member this year, yet stranger things have happened on our journey. Rock on, Lunies, rock on!
Stuart 21,097 m ... a half moon to finish 2014!
