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Saab Salomon Lead on Day One

29.11.2004

The first day of the race was marked by the emergence of surprise leaders Saab Salomon of the UK, the expected strong winds, and some unexpectedly tricky navigation at the start.

The race began at 06.00 on Sunday morning with 25 teams setting out onto the waters of Lago Lacar from St Martin de los Andes. This first stage was a 16km paddle in the supplied inflatable canoes and a chilly head wind and choppy conditions made the section cold and difficult. The most successful tactics were to use a pole or tight bungy cord to increase the hull length and speed against the wind, which all the leaders did.

Ertips Salomon France are exceptional paddlers and took a 6 minute lead over race favourites Nike ACG/Balance Bar, with Nokia Adventure and Spie – The North Face close behind. Saab Salomon were 5th and made the quickest transition, an element of the race they know will be critical. They gained 3 or 4 minutes on all their main rivals at this first checkpoint, before setting off on foot to chase them on the next 53km trekking stage.

This stage was to see the lead change several times and many teams made a poor route choice through the bamboo forest trying to reach a ferry crossing at CP3. Montrail-Revo, who have a team of two male and two female racers, and Merrell/Zanfel took a dog-leg to the East around the forest while Adidas Natventure, among others, tried a route to the West that eventually forced them to turn back to CP2 and set out again. The German team could pay a high price for this as there is a danger they will fail to make cut-offs at the following CP’s. Later into the trek others fell foul of a dead-end, even the polished navigational skills of Salomon Suisse and Ertips Salomon France failed them.

Of the leading teams off the water, only Nokia Adventure managed a relatively flawless run while Saab Salomon who are renowned for their speed over difficult terrain, and local dark-horses AXN-Nike, took the fight to the Finns with incredibly fast times taking them into 2nd and 3rd place respectively. It was the start of an exceptional day for the Argentineans, who made their mark on the race early. Nike ACG/Balance Bar also had navigational problems and fell back out of the top 10.

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