ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
Keeping a Cool Head in the Heat
Rob Howrd / 15.11.2015
Teams set off up the River Paraguay on the first stage of the race in the hottest part of the day, and through the afternoon they struggled in the intense heat. On the open river there was no escape from the direct heat of the sun and all of the racers were feeling the effects, some more than others.
The first team to have a problem were Team No.9. Enigma-Papaventuras of Brazil, but it was as a result their boat starting to sink, luckily only just after they had passed the start line. They came back to get a spare and I was told the problem was a rubber seal or bung which split in the heat. This wasn’t the only equipment malfunction due to the heat either, some of the video cameras in the media team stopped working due to the heat.
It wasn’t the only boat problem during the day either. Peak Performance had a similar problem and lost time as another kayak was brought to them and captain Mikael Lindnord was bemoaning their bad luck.
Fellow Swedes Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team (SAFAT) also lost time, but through their own error, taking a wrong turn on the river with Merrell Adventure Addicts (RSA) and both lost about an hour. They were highly placed before the mistake, but slipped well back by the time they regained the right channel. Some of the media tried to talk to them, but they were not in talkative mood.
Some of the Brazilian teams were leaping into the water regularly to cool off and this may have been a good idea. Seagate, who were leading through the day looked calm and collected as they always seem to, but others were more stressed and everyone was sun reddened, despite sun block and sunhats.
The heat was a cause of the first retirement of the race with Mountain Designs of Australia pulling out on the first afternoon. Gary Sutherland had been feeling poorly from the outset and the team stopped more and more frequently. “We were stopping every 10 minutes,” said Dave Schloss, “and we’d pass teams again as we were reading the river better, but then had to stop again, until eventually Gary said he couldn’t go on. He hadn’t peed all day and the medics said his blood sugar was really high when they picked us up.”
The team were able to retire to a fishing village on the River Paraguay and were later picked up by tenders from the Kalypso, with all the team brought aboard and Sutherland given the treatment he needed. The team say they will continue tomorrow as a team of 3 if they can and will spend the night on the race boat. “We’ve come a long way,” said Schloss, “so we may as enjoy as much of the course as we can.”
All of the teams felt this would be a race of attrition, one where looking after the whole team was essential, especially in the heat, and its proved so right from the start.
[During the evening one of the Race Directors also had to head off to placate on the landowners. This is very common during races, but reason was new one – the farmer was complaining he didn’t like the navy boat being anchored outside his house!]
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