Patagonian Expedition Race
YogaSlackers Paddle into a Race Lead
Rob Howard / 20.02.2016
It’s the start of day 5 at the Patagonian Expedition Race and so much has happened already that it’s easy to forget there are still half of the race to go.
I’ve been trying to gather up what information I can while in the town of Puerto Natales, which is CP8 and the current hub for race operations. Life for both the racers and organisers has been made more difficult by the bad weather overnight and this morning. There has been some heavy rain and the wind is gusting powerfully as squalls sweep across the fiords and cloud shrouded mountains.
Most teams are still out on the first trek, and it’s likely they camped rather than try to move overnight in the bad weather.
The latest report we have from CP7 is as follows;
Merrell Adv. Addicts. In – 21:54 Out – 06:57
Mind Over Body In – 22.30 Out – 06.06
Norcal Odyssey In - 23.24 Out – 07.11
As yet none of these teams have passed through CP8; no one since Godzone Adventure in the early hours of the morning. (Later today we will move to CP7 to track what is happening there through the day.)
The East Wind team are sleeping at CP8 which is a school building on the edge of town and the injured Masato Tanaka is with them recovering. Race Director Stepan Pavicic spoke of his admiration for the team. “I have seen them race again, and again, always asking questions and trying to improve, and this time they had the perfect race up to the crash – they would have kayaked and had a big, big lead.
“Yet they did not show their disappointment and accepted the bad luck gracefully. Masato even asked me from his hospital bed if I would run the race next year so he could come back straight away. Already the team are thinking ahead to their next race, still being positive. They are still mentally strong, it’s so impressive.”
At the head of the race Yogaslackers were the first team to reach Estancia Perales (PC9) and will have slept in the dark zone hours, but they had a gear problem. Exactly what we are not sure, but they had placed some gear in their bike boxes which they needed ... and the boxes were not there. The race had instructed teams not to do this, and it wasn’t a priority for them to have the boxes there as the bikes won’t be used again and the race finishes there. (The bikes can always be packed away at the finish.)
Once the boxes were moved to them Yogaslackers set off paddling at 07.12 on the 6km crossing of the fiord – and their timing was good. A short while later Godzone were ready to go and the weather suddenly blew up really badly whipping up huge waves in the strong gusts – Godzone had to stand down and wait, and they could be waiting all day and into tomorrow morning given the weather situation. Their time will now be neutralised until they can start paddling, giving them a long rest ... but a frustrating situation to deal with and less time to finish the course.
Yogaslackers made it across safely just before the storm hit and are now trekking, and it is a brutal start to the trek, straight up for 1000m in the first 3km. (The safety boat with them had a difficult time getting back as the storm came up so fast and waves were breaking over their boat.)
SleepMonsters
