 By Rob HowardNearly 50 teams gathered outside the Estoril Casino to try their luck at the 2006 Portugal XPD race, but the weather was against them from the start as a torrential shower drenched everyone and flooded the roads just before the start. The recent unseasonable cold and wet weather looked set to continue and had immediate effect on the race as the planned sea paddle for stage one was cancelled due to rough seas … the surf was said to be up to 5m and not the place to go in a plastic sit-on-top … or any kayak.
The alternate was a foot O stage around Estoril and Cascais and teams raced off the start line to a ‘washing line’ on which the stage one maps were hung. (This is a speciality of the Challengers Trophy which is still one of the best known events here.) Maps would be given out at the start of each stage and most were military 1;25.000 of excellent quality – there would be no blaming the maps for navigational errors, or the comprehensive route book.
Everyone raced off for this first urban stage which included a special rock climbing stage on the limestone cliffs at Guia, an area of short climbs graded at various difficulties. Only one competitor was to climb and got only one attempt to claim the CP, but the more difficult grades could ‘win’ an extra one or two CP’s. I thought this meant teams would be credited with them, but in fact they ‘won’ a map showing an extra CP to visit!
In the end no team tried anything but the easiest climb, and few climbed at all. This is because each stage allows teams to visit as many CP’s as they wish, and the final ranking is determined by how many they get. So most teams skipped the climb and opted to move onto stage two safely within the opening and closing times for transition. A pity as the climbs above the crashing surf were a great experience. | 
