past races
2006race facts 1. Team Salomon Suisse 2. Tieto Enator Adventure 3. Nike ACG Holland 4. adnatura.hr 5. Langlauf company race maps
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Terra Incognita 2006 final report The 7th Terra Incognita in Croatia was very different from previous races as we decided to change the team format form the traditional 4 member teams to pairs. The aim was to make it easier to get a team to the race, but for those who still wanted to race as a four the option was there to enter two pairs and race together. So TI 2006 was going to be the first expedition race for 2 member teams in the world! We were aware that if one member dropped out the second would not easily be able to continue (it is really hard to paddle alone in double sea kayak alone). So, we gave 3 choices. Teams could bring a reserve to race only if one member withdrew and the team would be ranked after the last team to complete entire course, or the remaining racer could continue alone or join another solo racer. Yet the course kept its hardness and "no mercy" terrain and length. It was a course for highly prepared athletes but those who came to Croatia and wanted to enjoy the race and landscape as much as possible would be ranked on how far they made it around the course. The pairs version of the race meant less competitors taking part but the quality was improved! X-adventure Raid winners Alain Berger and Jan Beguin from 'Salomon Suisse' were taking part and racing against 'TientoEnator Adventure' of Sweden (Ola Olsson and John Anders) and the Dutch team 'Nike ACG Holland' (Raymond Beeren and Peter Hollerbrand). Austrian team 'ATT 360' with Marcus Gartner and Stefan Juen were also taking part as were several Croatian teams such as 'Adnatura.hr', who had won TI 3 times in the past. The 7th edition of Terra Incognita started in a very unusual way for adventure racing - with rappelling! Teams from 12 countries (Australia, Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Italy, Belgium, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Croatia) started the race with a short 5k sprint to 100m high cliffs and the first to arrive had the advantage in the 400km long race. (There were 2 ropes, 1 per team). The first day was the most dynamic part of the race. In just 12 hours teams were running, rappelling, mountain biking, trekking, sea and river kayaking! The rappelling section caused some problems for the teams that completed the sprint slowly, forcing them to wait their turn in line. However, they knew there would be a wait and it was not so long it decide this race. The race started at an inland region of Croatia called Lika. This region is the biggest county in Croatia (out of 22), but is poorly populated - just 55.000 inhabitants. However, it's an incredible wilderness for an adventure race! As teams finished the 100m overhanging rappel they jumped into their bikes and rode up to South Velebit Mountain. Then after 70kms of biking on dirt roads they started kayaking section on the river Zrmanja. This 15 km long course is full of rapids and waterfalls. A river rescue team was on hand at 8 critical points, giving teams exact instructions on how to proceed and many of the teams decided to portage their kayaks around the waterfalls - which may have been wise! After 18:00 hrs all the teams were off the river except Latvian team 'RSP'. They were transported by car to a calmer part of the river because it was forbidden to kayak the Zrnmanja river canyon during the night. After few hours on the river, Dutch, Swedish, Austrian, Swiss and German team 'Adidas Langlauf company' were still close (20 minutes between them all) and the first 10 teams were within one hour. Finishing the river section the teams continued by kayak onto the sea. After 12 hours the first teams arrived to CP 10/Transition Area 1 in Starigrad Paklenica. From this point the race changed its dynamic and teams had to overcame a long (80kms) trekking section through the National Park Paklenica. Tough Trek By 04:00 on day 2 all teams had passed through CP11. For the most of them it was a dreadful decision, because they did not take a break, forgetting that it is 5 days race, not a 24hrs sprint. The first part of the trek finished at the Velika Paklenica canyon and Salomon Suisse were the first team to hit this point, before 09.00 on the second day. But, at their back they still had 4 teams inside 1 hour: Dutch, Swedish, Austrian and the Danish team 'Roadrunners Adventure Team'. The first part of the trekking section saw the first withdrawals. 'ATT' from Austria had to drop the race because of stomach problems for one of the team. Later in the day several teams stopped the race at CP15 in Velika Paklenica. The last team, SART form Singapore arrived 14 hrs after the Swiss, but they wanted to continue. The second night was maybe the toughest for navigation. The trails are marked, but it is hard to find even a marked trail on Velebit Mountain during the night. This caused some teams to stop and have a good sleep, instead of wandering around and maybe going in the wrong direction. For most teams the second part of the trekking section was a really hard challenge due to a shortage of water. There was only one water source in 40kms, forcing the teams to carry a lot of water with them. A few teams has asked the organisation to supply water, but it wasn't possible and those who were out of water had to get down from the mountain to the Adriatic magistral road or risk dehydration. On the morning of day 3 'Salomon Suisse' finished the long trekking section and continued on the second MTB section on North Velebit National Park. The were already 5hrs ahead of the second team, 'TientoEnator Adventure', but the 3rd to 9th place teams all arrived within 90 minutes! During that day several more teams withdrew from the race and out of 24 teams there were now 16 teams in the game. For most of the racers the second MTB section was the most attractive part of the race - it took them along 80kms of beautiful trails on the ridge of Velebit mountain, with just a few uphills and lots of downhills. 'Salomon Suisse' finished the second MTB section during the afternoon of the 3rd day and got into the kayaks that took them to the island of Pag. They were only team to escape the sea storm that blew up that evening. For the Swiss it took less than 3 hours to get to the islands. All the other teams faced the north wind called "Bura" that launched 2-3 meter high waves at them and they took 6 to even 10 hours on that section! Harsh cliffs on the shore did not allow them to get ashore and there was not one single beach able to shelter the competitors from the storm. So the Swiss pulled further ahead as they started trekking over the harsh rocky island of Pag. In front of the leading teams there was still a swimming section, where they had to cross a 1km long channel from island to island, another trekking section on Pag island and 15 kms of sea kayaking to the finish line. We expected the leaders on Saturday, early morning, but ... Stormy Weather At CP24 the leading team arrived just before nightfall. They had to go along the rocky coastline to find the point from where they were supposed to swim the channel and a Police boat was waiting for them but 'Salomon Suisse' took almost 4 hours to arrive. Usually, during the day, it takes only 1.5 hrs for the average tourist to get from CP24 to the swimming point, but these were not normal conditions. The storm had not calmed down, but was even stronger! While the rest of the teams did battle on the sea kayaking sections, being caught in the storm during the night, the leaders finally arrived at the swim. At that time we made the decision to cancel the swimming and to transport the leading team to the other side of the channel. It was far too dangerous to go ahead with the high waves and dangerous cliffs. After we transported the leaders across on the police boat the Swedish team approached CP24 and we decided to close the swimming section totally and make the teams to continue that section by kayak. But, this information never get to the Swedish team, ranked as second, because they left CP24 before we made the decision. In the early morning, around 5am, they arrived and were told they would have to be transported to the other side. But the storm was still raging and the boat could not even approach the shore, so they had to swim 100 meters in the stormy sea to climb into the boat. It took them 20 minutes to swim just 100 meters, progressing just 5 meters per minute! Finally, they got into the boats and we transported them safely to the other side. Leading team 'Salomon Suisse' started last trekking section just after the midnight, in the first hours of day 4. We expected them to finish this section around 6am, but it took far longer and they arrived at 11am! We asked them if they stopped to sleep or got lost but it was simply that the wind was so strong they struggled to make progress and not get blown away! Finally, the first team started last sea kayaking section and finished the race in Starigrad Paklenica on the 4th day of the race at 14:00, after 78 hrs and 01 mins. The winners were Team Salomon Suisse, Alain Berger and Jan Béguin! 5 ½ hrs after them the Swedish team 'TientoEnator Adventure' of Ola Olsson and John Andsen reached the finish line. They were followed by Dutch team 'NIKE ACG Holland' with Raymond Beeren and Peter Hollebrand who arrived around midnight, just 30 minutes before the first Croatian team, 'adnatura.hr' with Darija Bostijančić and Elvir Sulić. They were also the first ranked mixed team! By 15:00 on the 5th day 11 teams had reached the finish line and completed the entire course. In my opinion, it was the best edition of Terra Incognita in 7 years! Next year? We will offer both 2 and 4 member team options and are thinking about a stage race including overnight stages - and of course we will still have the fantastic terrain of Croatia to test all the teams who come to race |
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