Patagonia Expedition Race

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The Fury of Patagonia Unleashes

Jacqueline Windh / 13.02.2005

Patagonia chose to show her true colours, living fully up to her reputation, on the first day of Patagonia Expedition Race.

The morning dawned warm, cloudless, and still. The first kayak segment (from start to PC1, a total of 94 km by mountain bike on rolling gravel roads) began in darkness. Racers were treated to the most spectacular views of the famous Torres del Paine, lit up in colours that changed from dusky blue-grey to glowing red by the rising sun.

With not a moment’s warning, and at the same time as PC1 closed at 1:00 p.m., a furious wind of 40 knots (80 km/hr) started. By this point all teams were on the water but two – Jean Mermoz was disqualified for not making the PC1 cutoff after becoming lost on the roads, and DAP Antarctica (Chile) had arrived at PC1 two minutes before its closure.

The kayak course consisted of 55 km on the river, then a further 35 km by sea. As expected, river levels were high due to the recent warm temperatures, and a swift current was flowing. One kayak from team Globalstar became trapped against the bridge; both team members exited lately, but they lost some of their gear and the kayak was folded in half. But that was the least of the problems ...

The strong winds lead to extreme paddling conditions once the teams emerged from the river to the sea. By late afternoon, wind on the water was averaging about 50 knots (100 km/h), and waves were a meter or more in height. While a meter may not seem too much, from the point of view of a kayaker seated with their butt below water level, that is large enough! But far worse than the size of the waves was their shape. See All Event Posts