What is The Seagate Secret?

Press Release / 08.06.2017

Team Seagate have once again done what quite simply has become expected of them … to win every adventure race they enter. No other team in history has won more Adventure Racing World Series rounds, Adventure Racing World Championships, quite frankly, no other team has won as many races. Sure, Seagate have been beaten a couple of times, but there’s is usually a good reason why, it’s probably not because another team has been faster or stronger. It’s normally because for some reason, Seagate has uncharacteristically gone slower. While it’s always pleasing to see competition and competitive events, when Seagate have a rare 'off day', they tend to bounce back with vengeance and go unbeaten for another long stretch.

So the legacy continues ... the team have recently won the final 2017 round of the AR World Series in Atlay China, they led from start to finish, and while the field was high caliber, no other teams seem to give Seagate any trouble, rather it was more the terrain and conditions that tested the Kiwi quartet.

Nestled in northern China, the team raced close to and sometimes over the border into Mongolia, Russia or Kazakhstan, the fusion of Europe and Asia.  

They were on course just shy of 56-hours, crossing the line nearly 3-hours ahead of Haglofs Silva of Sweden, regarded by most as the top challenger to Seagate, being the only team to beat Seagate since anyone can remember. Third place was claimed by Ace Adventure from Estonia, who trailed the winners by 6-hours. Team Bones of USA took fourth place.

Noticeably absent from Seagate was regular team Captain Nathan Fa’avae who stepped away from the sport after the 2016 World Championships, in part due to a knee injury that he recently had corrective surgery for. Recently in New Zealand he has announced that he will be racing the GODZone Adventure Race in 2018, with his wife Jodie, a former mountain bike racing professional. Seagate racing in Atlay was only the second time since 2002 that the team have raced without Fa’avae, proving that they have the skills and nous to keep the winning formula going. One of the Seagate Executives, the team sponsor, commented that it is a testament to Fa’avae’s leadership that the team continues winning without him, the team culture and pursuit to achieve deeply entrenched.

Fa’avae says “Chris and Stu have a huge depth of experience, they are AR experts, no doubt. Building a team around them requires highly skilled and physically strong racers to support them, Jo and Bob do that brilliantly. I’m really happy for Bob, getting an ARWS win in a competitive field is a remarkable achievement, I think the whole team will be excited for the World Champs in August as a result”.

A huge string in Seagate’s bow is Chris Forne’s navigation prowess, where most navigators come unstuck, well, Forne seems to get stuck in.  

He said of the China race “It was challenging navigation with old, out of date maps, a difficult 1:100,000 scale with inconsistent contour lines”. Somehow though, much to the frustration of the chase teams, Forne finds his way through these places flawlessly, he seems to sniff his way to the checkpoints. He spoke highly of the region and the race “It was very pretty up in the mountains and cool to experience the desert region, although the midges and mosquito's were horrendous, nasty little blighters they are. The misery of the insects was quickly forgotten though with a really enjoyable finish, a sweet mountain bike downhill. We missed having Nathan on the team, but it was awesome racing with this crew, we had a great team feel”

Jo Williams in her second Seagate race will no doubt be pleased with the scorecard. Having won the 2016 Adventure Racing World Champs, she now has clocked up another international win ahead of the 2017 title defence, this experience will be savoured and valued.
Williams appeared to have really enjoyed herself, batting the weather and insects along the way, she said after the race in China “It was a good variety of terrain in this race with high snowy mountains and then to the desert. The weather on the tops on the first trek was very dramatic, if not a little nerve wrecking with lightening and thunder claps. The storm made the scenery even more stunning. I enjoyed going through the countryside dotted with yurts and shepherds/herdsman with all the sheep, ponies, cows and camels. A privilege to have a wee glance at such a different life. I found mosquito's were the worst thing in desert trekking, I guess they kept us moving!”

Williams commented that some of the connecting bike legs were longer than in the initial logistics plan, which played a little on the head. She concluded by saying Seagate is a very enjoyable team to race with.

Newcomer to the team but not a newcomer to outdoor adventure in any shape or form, Bob McLachlan made the most of his debut with Seagate and the region the race was held. Relaxing after the race he had this to say.

“China's far North has been an incredible place to race which is home to not only the famous Mongolian horse people and sheep herders, but the homeland of the great Genghis Khan. This is one of the most untouched areas of China and lends itself to a superb adventure race course. Team Seagate are a world renowned team and to come in on the back of Nathan Fa’avae’s retirement, with his wealth of experience, knowledge and leadership skills is a position not filled but merely filling in. For me this race was a great experience to learn where I fit in the team to make our dynamics work. Chris and Stu make for a formidable navigational pairing and with their experience and strength they led from the front. Jo is always in good spirits and moves well in all of the most trying conditions thrown our way."

It was only recently when Seagate officially invited McLachlan into the team for China and the World Champs. He commented “I took on this race with short notice so I definitely felt under-cooked going in, with a heavy workload leading up to the race, but loved racing with Team Seagate. My highlight for the race was seeing the highest level of navigational prowess, as we moved through the regions, stunning mountains, lakes and rivers. The Russian maps from the 1940’s leave a lot of detail out so it was insightful seeing how Chris and Stu dealt with that.

The most difficult stage I thought was the final trek leg that took us into the mountain desert, and although few people inhabit this area it is abundantly populated with five varieties of flying, biting insects, each and every one capable of finding you in a nano second. Frustratingly unpleasant comes to mind to describe them if swearing is not acceptable”  he finished by saying it was time to enjoy some sleep, local cuisine and get a massage, before heading home to his family and training for the Worlds in Wyoming.

Stu Lynch stepped up to the team Captains role for this race and was also able to bring many years of experience racing in China, having completed over 20-events in China in the past decade. Lynch was very pleased with the teams performance and is keen to take the learning from the race in an effort to lift the level another notch for the World Champs.

He echoed what the other team mates felt about the experience. “I loved the high mountain trek in the snow and thunder, but hated getting absolutely swarmed by mosquito's for hours in the desert. It was satisfying to put together a solid race with new member Bob on the team.”

Looking happy but tired, the team didn’t have much rest during the race, Lynch summing up “we got around 30-minutes rest at the noodle stop but no one got any decent sleep. We took 40-minutes at end of desert trek. We couldn’t all fit in the tent comfortably so I volunteered for the bivvy bag but didn't sleep due to the mosquito's. We had planned to sleep on the final trek somewhere but too many bugs to contemplate that so we pushed on, it was a relatively short race so we knew we could make it through with minimal sleep”.

So Seagate deliver another signature performance, setting the pace, making no mistakes, winning the race. If the adventure racing world take this as a sign ahead of the fast approaching World Champs, the team could very well claim their fourth consecutive World Title. One thing will be assured, they will bring legitimacy and entertainment to main event.  

TEAM SPONSORS

• Seagate
• RAB clothing
• inov8 footwear
• Tineli
• GU Energy
• Pics Peanut Butter
• Saltstick
• Torpedo7
• Gemini Lights
• Ready Set Go Antichafe : MAK technology
• Absolute Wilderness Freeze Dried Meals
• Bridgedale Socks
• Lowe Alpine
• Ems Power Cookies
• Revelate Designs

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