GODzone Adventure - Chapter 4
Another Day in Paddling Paradise
Rob Howard / 04.03.2015
Well, it would be if the teams were not so tired and into day 5 of the race.
It’s been another fine sunny morning here in Wanaka and both short and long course teams have been arriving at Dublin Bay to start the final stage of the race, the 28km paddle around Lake Wanaka.
One of the first to arrive this morning were Torpedo 7, who thought they are placed 3rd until race marshal Neil Jones gave them the devastating news they’d missed a checkpoint! They’d failed to mark CP26 on their maps when they received them in Wanaka during the race and bypassed it on the final cycling stage of the race. Jones said they took it pretty well, but they will now be unranked and opted to carry on with the race to the finish – it was too far to go back and they were not giving up.
The next full course team to arrive were Tiki Tour, who found they’d gained a place and set off across the wide expanse of the bay in high spirits in the white race Baracuda AR Duo kayaks. The route took them up Stevenson’s Arm to the first checkpoint on Stevenson’s Island, and then back down the same way, so they knew they would likely see any pursuing teams on the water.
They are being chased by Team Chimpanzee Bar who were not far behind and passed them near the island so the race is on for 3rd and 4th place. We caught up with Chimpanzee Bar on the island where they were setting out to walk to the CP, one of them in bare feet on the rocky shoreline which isn’t ideal.
I asked Emily Forne if the team thought they could catch up and she said, “Well it’s a tall order but we are sure going to give it a go, you never know what will happen!” A more difficult question was, “How did you feel when you heard about Torpedo 7’s mistake?” There was silence for a while before one of the team came up with, “Sorry for their navigator.”
The next full course team were Bivouac Outdoor, who were in transition while Chimpanzee Bar were on the island and they were busy eating and prepping, but knew they were under no pressure from other teams as there is a big, big gap behind them. The only time pressure they face is the impending storm due to come in later in the day and into tomorrow – but with luck that won’t affect them.
However, the race has warned teams out on the course it may be necessary to cancel the kayaking tomorrow if the storm is as fierce as predicted.
At the moment we are waiting for Columbia Vidaraid to come into the finish in second place and they had a difficult time on the lake last night, asking via their YB tracker if paddling conditions were OK to continue. They said waves were breaking over their heads but race staff on the water said it was fine and the team stopped to camp on the shore of the Peninsula until daybreak.
You can follow the race live at http://godzoneadventure.com/
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