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Powered by velvet.org.nz in world’s top 10
Brazil’s north-eastern states of Ceará, Piaui and Maranhão provided an exotic and challenging setting for the Ecomotion
2008 Adventure Racing World Championships last month.
New Zealand deer velvet was once
again helping power the elite with
the DINZ-sponsored team Powered
by velvet.org.nz maintaining their
spot among the world’s top-ranked
competitors.
Biking made up the biggest
proportion of the 3-day, 529
km course (46.5 percent). The
remainder was divided between
paddling (26.7%), trekking
(20.8%) and sailing (6%).
The Powered by velvet team
was led by Rhys Burns, with
Sonya Clark, Nathan Peterson
and Chris Morrissey. (Peterson,
a multisport specialist,
replaced team regular George
Christison. George was busy
flying the Powered by velvet
flag back home, racing in the
inaugural “Lake to Lighthouse”
multisport race from Lake
Waikaremoana to Wairoa,
where he came second.)
Team member Sonya Clark
is no stranger to deer, or the
velvet that helps her team’s
performance. She grew up
on a deer farm in Lumsden,
Southland, where her father
Tom Clark still runs a
velvetting herd. Sonya spoke
to Deer Industry News
about the team’s latest
foray into international
adventure racing.
She reports that Powered
by velvet finished 10 th
out of 60 teams, in a
typically hard-fought race.
In touch with the leaders
throughout the race, the
team was placed as high
as third during the earlier
stages. A series of three
punctures and a missed
turn on one of the final
legs saw the team slip
back to its tenth spot, but
Sonya says the experience
has been invaluable.
C’mon kiwis! The velvet-powered team trekking
through the sand dunes on one of the early race
stages
Chris Morrisey and Sonya Clark snatch a short sleep
break during the event.
Powered by velvet.org.nz took a hard-fought 10th spot in
the World Championships. From left: Nathan Peterson, Chris
Morrisey, Rhys Burns and Sonya Clark.
“At this top level there is now very little between the
leading teams,” she says. “It only takes a small slip to
cost you placings. When we did lose our bearings it was
heartbreaking, and made worse by swarms of flies that kept
biting us while we figured out where we
were!
“We’ve learned a lot about tactics and our
strengths and weaknesses; we realised
later that a half-hour break would have
set us up better for that section. We know
we’ve got a lot of potential and we’re
confident with our speed. We can foot it
with the best – next time we’ll race a bit
smarter.”
One interesting variation in this race was
the option to go after a bonus point by
paddling an extra 9 km. This gave teams
the right to rest for only four hours rather
than the mandatory eight. Sonya says
they eschewed this opportunity because
they thought it would fit their rest
patterns better, but on reflection they may
been better to go for the shorter rests.
Sonya says the teams were based at the
Mosquito Blue Hotel in Jericoacoara,
on the coast, racing back towards the
resort from the North, starting with a 13
km trek through the sand dunes. “There
was less racing on foot than we were
expecting. There was a headwind all the
way back, and when we were paddling it
was always upstream or against the tide!”
As expected the tropical heat was a
challenge, with temperatures of up to 46
degrees. “We’d each take out six litres of
water, and come back with nothing! As
long as you kept sweating you were OK.”
The first paddle was in the sea at night.
Rough conditions and strong tides meant
it took an hour and a half to get just
four kilometres. But there was an upside.
“There was lovely phosphorescence
in the water at night – quite romantic
really. I don’t think anyone else noticed it
though!”
They appreciated some good “meaty”
sections, including a 12-13 hour stage
up a river with very little water, which
involved as much bush bashing as
paddling.
Sonya says the sailing section of the race
was eventually canned, as they were in
the hands of local fishermen who sailed
the boats. “Some teams just about sailed
back to New Zealand! It was totally
out of our control, and we couldn’t communicate with the
fishermen – one team had to pay their man to sail faster!”
Unlike the recent Wulong race, when team members were
struck down with illness, everyone stayed in good shape
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Deer Industry News