Corsica Raid

Day 1: On the coast of Pietrosella

Anne-Marie Dunhill / 18.05.2013

The rain showers stopped late in the afternoon and the race briefing for the organization took place in a lovely municipal hall over looking the gulf of Ajaccio. After the traditional aperitif (drinks) the race director Michel Baccioch presented the many volunteers who will be working non-stop throughout the week in the various posts.

The actions starts tomorrow with a briefing and equipment checks for all teams at 09:30. Some teams will be arriving directly from the continent tomorrow morning, due to ferry schedules; not an ideal start, off the boat and in to the race. There is a system of jerseys on the race, with 3 different jerseys awarded to the top teams of the day at the end of the stage for the top Corsican team, the top team of the day and the top team in the overall ranking. 

The first section will be a short sea kayaking of three kilometers taking off from the Plage du Rupionu, going along the coast of Pietrosella to Mare e sole. After a  quick transition the teams will embark on 35 kilometers of mountain biking in the Pitrusedda forest. They will do two loops with a time cut-off at 15:00. Teams who have not completed the loop by this time will be taken off the course and have to wait until the start of the next section to resume their race. 

A second section of sea kayak will follow from the Mare e Sole to Sette Nave. There is a lovely local legend concerning the Sette Nave. This is the location where one of the canyoning is going to take place. Seven majestic  boulders face the sea and according to the local lore, villagers who were exasperated by continual invasions took the statue of Saint Roch down to the beach and prayed to him to protect and preserve their lives and their villages from the invaders. Saint Roch answered their prayers by petrifying the seven invading boats.

It is in this setting that a tyrolean will take teams directly into the water, then climbing and rope works on the blocks and a leap into the sea of six to twelve meters. Not for the faint of heart. All of the canyons and rope works will take place off the clock. A final sea kayaking section will close the first day.

Equipment checks took place this morning on the beach. All race volunteers have changed in to bright red jumpsuits and they circulated among the teams’ trucks with trays of coffee, tea, orange juice and croissants for all of the teams. It was a nice touch that made for a relaxing moment before the official start of the race at 13:00.

Afterwards teams trooped to the municipal hall. It is pouring with rain again so the official team photos have been delayed until later on in the morning. The race briefing for the teams started with a presentation of each one and then the race director spoke about todays sections. It is a supported race so the teams assistants are listening carefully as well. Translators are working hard for the English and Spanish speaking teams. All received their road books and maps Tuesday and some of the questions asked show who has or hasn’t done their homework in advance.

There are several strong teams present amongst the nineteen that will be racing. There is a Danish team, a Czech team as well as several top French teams. After being narrowly beaten by Lafuma last year, Quechua is back. The Canadian Yves Bilodeau is team captain for this race and Emmanuel “Manu” Lang from Raid 74 has joined their ranks and is a talented navigator. Lozere Sport Nature (LSN) is another strong French team. At the equipment checks their captain Benjamin Monier confided that he is recovering from a week of stomach flu and he is looking like a waif. Their lady racer, Audrey Ehanno who usually races with Ertips , will be one to watch as she has extensive experience in international adventure racing and is hard as steel. The North of France is largely represented and there are also several novice teams present, such as the three teams that the company Vitalliance has entered. One of their members kayaked for the first time two weeks ago on the Seine and judging by the looks of the sea today one can only hope that he is a quick learner.

20:35 The first day has finished and teams are gathering in the municipal hall for the awarding of the three jerseys for day one. Weather conditions meant kept the organizers on their toes. The tyrolean at the Sette Nave and the sea canyoning were cancelled at the last minute due to the high waves. The sections were simply sea kayaking and mountain biking. Audrey Ehanno of Lozere Sport Nature said that she was disappointed it was to be the highlight of the day. She added that she understood the safety concerns and that despite that slight disappointment, the scenery had been beautiful today. 

On the mountain biking section the lead teams battled fiercely. Quechua had to deal with a flat tire and a minor crash. Team captain Yves blocked his brakes reaching for a gel and ended up in a ditch. One of the Lozere Sport Nature kayaks capsized at one point and the safety boat took the decision to intervene to right the kayak because of the high waves. At the end of the day team Quechua filed an official complaint because the race rules state that there is a penalty for outside assistance. When the results were announced Lozere Sport Nature were none the less ranked in first place with the Swiss team Neuchaventure coming in second place three minutes behind the leaders. Their team captain Luc  Beguin had raced with Karine Baillet in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Race in 2010. Quechua came in third in the overall ranking. The complete results are available on the official website. 

After an aperitif teams piled in to their vans to return to the Europe camping. Tomorrow is an early start with teams leaving the campsite at 04:00..

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