ITERA Expedition Race

Island Adventurers at ITERA

Rob Howard / 14.08.2022

The ITERA teams left Oban this morning on the first ferry to Mull, glad to be on their way to the start and grateful for the relaxed start. All their race bags had to be in yesterday afternoon, so they had a relatively stress free night and as the ferry didn't leave until 09.55, so they got a lay in too!

The Calmac Ferry took them to Mull, then buses drove them for an hour along a single track road between the hills and along the loch sides to get to Fionnphort. The ride started in sunshine but heavy clouds quickly gathered and in no time the rain was lashing down, the sky was ablaze with lightning and thunder rumbled overhead.  The storm passed quickly and by the time they reached the jetty at Fionnphort the rain had eased, but it was demonstration of how fickle the weather on the west coast of Scotland can be. 

Another short ferry ride took the teams over to Iona, which is renowned for its Abbey and as a religious retreat. For most arrivals it is journey's end, a distant and remote island that's hard to reach, but for the ITERA racers it was just the start of their 500km expedition.  

They walked up the hill a short way to the brand new village hall where race volunteers had drinks organised and there was space to relax, out of the rain.  Here, James Thurlow, called the captains into a side room for a final briefing.  Had the turn in the weather spoiled plans for the first sea paddle and the visit to Staffa?

"Relax!" was his first word, and with a laugh the tension in the room eased. His next words brought a round of relieved applause - the paddle would go ahead, as planned.  The organisers have had no luck with sea paddles over the years at ITERA, and had 4 alternate options lined up this year, but they were not needed!

The race began outside the hall at 2pm, and it was still raining steadily, but the teams didn't mind as they ran around the village and then struck out along the coast past the Abbey to a beach on the northern tip of the island.  Here the kayaks were lined up and they could see the flat, boxy outline of Staffa in the hazy distance as they paddled out to sea. The race quickly spread out and at the front it was the smooth, powerful strokes of the SWECO team opening up a lead.

The sea state was calm and the weather soon improved again. SWECO were first to arrive at a narrow rocky beach at Staffa and all the teams paddled past the black cliff face of symmetrical basalt columns, split by the gaping entrance to Fingal's Cave. After scrambling up onto the shore they ran along to the jetty used by visiting tour boats and then made their way across the hexagonal stone blocks on the shoreline to the cave, where a checkpoint was placed in the entrance.  The sea was calm in the flooded channel of the cave, so there was little noise as they wandered among the giant columns and ran over the uneven stone blocks. 

Some teams broke the silence in the cave with a cheer and most were a bit awestruck by the astonishing natural geometry around them, and by the scenery looking out from the island. There was a second CP on the island summit and from there the huge cliffs along the coast of Mull and dozens of other surrounding islands, could be seen. The sun was now shining brightly and the wind eased, making the second half of the paddle easier than expected, though the leaders were still on the predicted 5 hour time.

After another island stop on the way, and with a tail wind to help, SWECO were the first to arrive at TA1, just ahead of UK Adventurers. Craig Tweedie said they'd seen dozens of dolphins, "leaping around, under and over the boat."  As dusk fell, more and more teams came ashore at the transition, which was set up on the shore by the roadside, and at the foot of the hills teams would be going into next.

All of the teams will face choices on this first night of the race. Each stage has some mandatory and some optional checkpoints (which carry a time penalty if missed) and all full course teams rank above those who have missed a checkpoint and are short course.

The trek tonight is 40km and goes over the highest summit on the island (Ben More), which is an optional CP. The quickest full course time predicted is 12 hours.  So teams will have to decide whether to start short coursing tonight, and perhaps most will. Those who are competitive and want a podium place, will have to go for all the checkpoints and do the full route, but if they do, they may later run out of time to make cut-offs.  Tonight's trek across the mountains of Mull, and the decisions made, will set the course for the race ahead.