Southern Traverse
The race is on
Claire Hathaway / 20.11.2002
If they want to finish the race tonight they have to get to The Wairau Rowing Club by 9pm. If they do not get there by then they will be camping out until 6am tomorrow when they will be allowed back on the water. Knowing this, the leading teams have applied the pressure for the 61km mountain bike.
Seagate.com are strong cyclists and have increased their lead on Sportzhub.com with about two hours gap between the two. Kathmandu have snatched third position from Lythgoe (UK) and are not far behind Sportzhub.com
The majority of teams are making their way through the mountain trek which punished the leading teams last night.
Seagate.com’s Kathy Lynch said navigation was crucial to the stage and at one stage she found herself hanging off a cliff. “This race is right up there in world standards. Lots of international races are all about hand holding, but in Geoff Hunt’s races you never get your hand held�, she said.
Eleven teams at the back of the course didn’t make it to cut-off two by 3pm so are now doing the short course.
People who are keen to cheer the teams on can go to the Wairau Rowing Club at 9pm tonight where they could possibly catch Seagate.com and the other leaders. The leading teams are estimated to kayak into Blenheim up the Taylor River at around mid-night tonight or between eight and 10 tomorrow morning.
For those who want to get a better idea of how far the teams have raced and where there is a course fly through now available on the Southern Traverse web site www.southerntraverse.com. It is the world’s first 3d animated map for adventure racing. Go to the course page and click on animated 3d map to view it.
SleepMonsters
