Raid Gauloises
VSD Eider are the winners
Chris/Raid Gauloises / 04.05.2002
At precisely 08h14 this morning, the French team VSD-Eider paddled their sea-kayaks into Cat Ba and victory in the 11th Raid Gauloises after starting in Bac Ha 6 days, 19 hours and 14 minutes earlier.
The team members of VSD-Eider, Karine Baillet, Yves Masson, Gilles Lelièvre, Sylvain Mougin and Christophe Bignot crossed the finish line in Cat Ba harbour, an island in the splendid Ha Long Bay, this morning at 08h14 to win the 11th Raid Gauloises. After a sleepless night paddling among the abundance of tiny islands dotted throughout the bay, pushing hard to avoid being caught by any pursuing teams, they clambered ashore to the clamour of the watching crowd and the popping of champagne corks.
“This result is the fruit of 1 1/2 years of meticulous and painstaking preparation for all of us�, begins team captain Yves Masson, on this his 3rd victory in only 4 Raid Gauloises. “We managed a fine performance with this hybrid team of ‘old campaigners’ and tenacious, idealistic newcomers. This year was also an opportunity to rediscover the true spirit of expeditionary racing, thanks to the length and non-stop nature of the course. But I think that the most decisive aspect this year and the one that has inspired us throughout the race is the contact we had with the local villagers. One night, during a ferocious storm, we were lucky enough to be sheltered by a family who not only gave us rice but dried our feet, gave us their places around the fire and tucked us carefully to sleep with blankets. The end of the race turned into a ‘war of attrition’ made all the more difficult by the heat and the terrain�.
The night before, the two leading teams, VDS-Eider and Nokia Adventure, had played a cunning game of cat and mouse as they covered the trek into the final kayaking section. Fair-play was the order of the day as VSD-Eider picked up Nokia’s checking card, dropped unknowingly when Nokia was ahead, and gave it back when their paths crossed again later, against a small reward of mandarins.
Central to this victory was the method VSD-Eider employed in apportioning their effort, especially on the final trek. “At one point we were only 15’ behind and we thought it prudent to calm down a little. Fortunately, Sylvain found a hidden path which put us ahead again but Nokia saw us and doubled back, following the same route. Getting to the kayaking section at the same time was good enough for us so we didn’t even bother to accelerate on the climb. We completed it in three stages and even managed some sleep on the path, enabling us to accelerate on the 4000 step descent. When we got into our kayaks, we knew we were ahead but we had no idea by how much. Paddling at night, we had to force the pace on the water to make sure we didn’t get caught�.
Gilles Lelievre, “rabbit� to the team, assumed the role of task master and harried the team with cries of “now it’s war� to rally their strength. This was one he didn’t want to get away, after finishing second in the Raid Gauloises several times already. “It’s the cherry on the cake but the times were also very emotionally enriching�, he said.
Karin Baillet, the “iron lady� of the team had remained optimistic throughout the race: “I realised that the honour of competing was not enough… I’m so competitive at heart�.
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