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Balance Vector Beat the Dark Zone

Rob Howard / 17.11.2005

Faced by the prospect they’d have to camp out on the riverside for 9 hours and lose much of their hard won advantage Balance Vector increased their pace today. It seemed they only had a slim chance to beat the dark zone but they responded in the way champions do, by increasing their pace, and putting even more daylight between themselves and the teams chasing them.

With the trekking on stage 8 reduced by removing one checkpoint they clicked into an extra gear and upped their pace, completing the stage in just 9 hours 23 minutes, and running into the transition area intent on getting out onto the next paddling stage as fast as possible. Even then most observers felt the best they could hope for was to get part way down the 45km paddle and camp out on the river from 21.00 when the dark zone fell. Resuming at 06.00 when it lifted. This would at least preserve part of their 11 hour lead, but it would be an uncomfortable night compared to sleeping in transition.

Balance Vector had other ideas. All are exceptionally strong paddlers and moving downstream they settled into a fast stroke. When they passed under the Inangahua Junction railway bridge, their support crew shouted down, “You’re making 15km an hour!� And once the team had passed they scuttled off saying, “We’d better go set up the transition then!�

Even then experienced race watchers thought it was touch and go whether they’d make it by 21.00, but they kept up an astonishing pace and paddled in with 30 minutes to spare, despite sustaining a broken rudder! The predicted time was 6 to 7 hours but they completed the paddle in just over 4 hours. “We were just going through a pool when the rudder broke,� said Richard Ussher, “so it must already have been damaged. We switched boats as Nathan and Christina have more experience and Nathan steered it. He was amazing but it was tense for a while!�

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