Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge
Leaders Lost in the Bush
Will Gray (Webber Challenge) / 09.12.2011
After two sizzling days, the first in Freycinet National Park and the second on the Tasman Peninsula, the race took a wild ride through the Bruny Island bush and the less visited island, accessible only by a few ferries per day (or a tough kayak paddle as experienced by the teams) offered some amazing wilderness trails, while race directors Rapid Ascent had a few surprises up their sleeves.
A gentle, if slightly delayed, ferry ride from Kettering kicked off day three for the following media pack, but it was a fresher start for the teams as they braved the elements to paddle across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in their two-person kayaks.
There was a brisk wind to add to the mix and some teams came a cropper – including leaders Team Iron House and Aussie AFL legend Glenn Archer – when the choppy waves rolled into their boats and those without spray decks (or those with large weight differentials from front to back) began to submerge.
The overnight leaders, Iron House, had to stop on the point and empty out their kayak – finding it tough to lift with the weight of the water – but they still came in just a few minutes behind a trio that included F1 driver Webber’s Team Tasmania, now in the hands of Guy Andrews and Darren Clarke.
A quick chase up to the viewpoint on ‘the Neck’ saw competitors counting the stairs to prove they were there, but it was the navigation around the optional bike section after this that changed the whole shape of the race for the early leaders – which includes a Hobart-based Brit in Mark Hinder.
“We had a very big down moment,� said Hinder. “It was 50 minutes in cutting grass up to our heads. We made a good strategic decision early on but then made a big error and took the wrong road, and it got worse and worse, but we were going on a bearing and were confident we were going the right direction. From then on it was playing catch-up the whole race.�
SleepMonsters
