While we’re sleeping, the race will roll over into its seventh night… in 45mins it will be 144hrs into this race – a helluva long one.
Thule is still in the lead. They held off Seagate to complete the 89km paddle and they’ll soon complete Section 10, “a short, flat trek of 18km to get racers to their bikes for the longest stage of the race”. This longest stage is a mtb leg.
Reports have Seagate spending a chunk of time at the paddle/trek transition – apparently blister problems…
And nearby is Columbia Vidaraid.
And then there’s us just behind a bunch of other teams halted by last night’s darkzone. Yes, only the three teams mentioned above.
Merrell Adventure Addicts timed it perfectly to sleep at TA7 (end of mother trek) and to then bike early-early to get to the raft put-in after the dark zone lifted. No waiting around for them. This was a guided rafting section.
We’re still tailing behind Adidas Terrex, BMS, Quasarlontra and Tecnu (Tecnu is/was leading this pack – depends on tracker updates).
There’s still a lot of this paddle section to do. It must be painful to paddle those nasty boats. Seems like the max speed Seagate gets is something like 4.8km/hr – certainly similar for us. Let’s see… I think the paddle took Thule 17hrs (22hrs for Columbia).
[21h30 – I’ve just seen a tweet – Seagate is out. Feet trouble. They’re off to hospital for treatment! What a pity!]
Goodness… so, we’re on the paddle and we will be throughout the night. One thing I am sure of is that we’re more rested than the teams ahead of us. Earlier reports said they looked good and focused and prepared going into the paddle.
While Merrell are paddling, Thule will plough through the 156-kilometre mountain bike leg. For sure, my prediction that the 150hr expected winning time was a bit optimistic is proving correct – this was plainly evident two days ago. It’s just really hard and slow going out there.
While the scenery looks stunning and the course is challenging, I’d say that a bit fault of this event is in the boats. Just because there are rivers and oceans, it doesn’t mean that they all have to be included in the course, especially when the craft really are not suited to anything other than the 33km river rafting section that the front teams have completed (big rafts where used here, not even the Tomcats that the teams have!).
A smarter course design would have taken this into consideration to a) reduce the paddling sections or b) use more suitable craft for the types of water presented on the course. I’d put my money on it to say that the boats have been a big part in the race retirements thus far – directly or indirectly in terms of the additional hours, fatigue, cut-offs. The only positive aspect of these boats is that you can sleep in them…
I’d have been totally peeved to put in months of training and prep (never mind the $s to be at the race) and to be given inflatables for these massively sluggish flat water (or very nearly flat water) sections. And to spend days – literally – carrying, dragging and slowing paddling these boats. Peeved – big time.
Inflatables are for children and white water… not serious, trained, competent and proficient athletes.
Till tomorrow…
[update on my comments on the boats – following a discussion on Attackpoint in response to this post]
As far as the water/boats go…
I’ve been to Costa Rica and it is MAGNIFICENT. I ran in the inaugural Coastal Challenge in 2005 (West coast – from North to South) and so yes, the ocean (on both sides) is a HUGE part of Costa Rica. And then there are the rivers – loads of them. Costa Rica is a big time white water location.
So… here’s the thing…
You plan a race in Costa Rica with rivers and sea and mangroves. Super divine. And then you give them Tomcats! And they’re not even used for the purpose for which they are built – white water!
This is like doing trekking legs with both legs tied together at the ankles so that you have to hop!
The attractions of Costa Rica are the water opportunities and the jungle. BUT, if you’ve only got Tomcats, then why, oh why, do you have 65km flat water (Section 2), trek with paddle gear and kayak portage (Section 3), 65km kayak-trek-mangroves (Section 4), 89km down-river paddle (at 4-5km/hr… not very ‘down river’)… Really? Really?
There’s adventure racing and there’s slog-fest… Personally I’m more into adventure racing. A hard physical challenge utilising skills acquired and practiced with the element of technical navigation and bringing in strategy too. Hours and hours in unwieldy inflatable rafts most suited to white water and people who don’t know how to paddle… not my idea of World Championship level.
Boats are often contentious because they’re a huge expense to race organisation. And different types of water really demand different types of boats. There is no one-boat-for-everything.
There used to be that 1:10 ratio rule (or there abouts?) when teams took their own boats to races (or hired from local providers). It gives the opportunity for teams that have put in the work and effort to improve their proficiency the chance to race in boats suited to their abilities – likewise with novices needing stable craft. For sure, there are issues here with costs, weight of craft etc
There too is the appeal of boats being provided by race organisation (best option) and there being a level playing field – everyone has the same craft. But you can’t take a racing kayak on the ocean, nor a surfski down white water…Plastic sit-on-tops are probably the most accommodating (river, flat water, sea). Inflatables, like racing kayaks, are on the edge of the curve – only really suitable for what they’re made for – and that’s not flat water…
If you can’t provide craft suitable for the water offered, keep the section short, use more water that the boats are suited to or leave the unsuitable sections out and do something different with the course.