December 12, 2001
By Susan McKenzie
After almost two full days of racing, only eight teams remain in official competition at Expedition BVI. King Oscar/Adventure Training.com has led the pack virtually from the start, with Nokia Adventure and Red Bull/Buff nipping at its heels. NYFIX/ racingahead.com, Epinephrine, Rogoff, Carleton Restoration and Sun & Ski-AT/AM Capital have never been far behind.
In the Expedition category, the homegrown team Caribbean Star is in the lead. Racing on a shorter course than those in the Competion Category, the team is nonetheless keeping pace with the leaders.
The morning yacht regatta took its toll on the competitors. Seasickness hit virtually every team, sometimes almost every member of a team was hit. Katrina Jensen of Athena was too ill after the regatta to compete
"She was really hurting on the boat," says teammate Julie Minahan. "She tried, but she just couldn't race. We're hoping she'll feel better tomorrow (Thursday) and we can race. We really want to be able to do the dive."
Athena continued on course unranked, with NECC's Noel Hanna hopping on board to make up a second for Mac Brown's double-seated kayak. NECC did not finish Day One, and elected to stop racing, as did Dupont Adventurewear/Challenged Athletes Foundation. Hummer's Stefani Jackenthal got sick on the first day, but her teammates decided to race as a trio.
The teams hit dry land early this afternoon, beaching their kayaks at the Prospect Reef Resort, where they swapped paddles for pedals on an abbreviated version of the bike course. They weren't there for long, as they quickly went back to the water.
"I never thought I would say this," said Danelle Balengee of Morgan Stanley. "But I think I'm actually looking forward to getting back on the water. All the mud on the roads, and they're so steep." Her teammate John Hartley was equally eager to get back on the water, as he had been biking without a seat, standing up the whole way.
The mountain bike section pushed all the teams, and their equipment, to the limit. Red Bull/Buff broke a bike chain and lost third place to NYFIX/racingahead.com, though they had it repaired before they hit PC 14. NYFIX had to change a tire, and everyone's aching muscles were caked were splattered with mud by the time they returned to the Prospect Reef and
"We stopped in our rooms and had thirty second showers," said TerraDiscovery/Broker Xtrodinair's Mark Whitley as his team loaded its kayaks into the water. "Even if it only lasts a few minutes, it still felt great."
Virtually all the teams will be racing in the dark once they reach Norman Island, which they will hike and coastaleer before walking the plank on the Willy T. The lead teams, meanwhile, finished day two between eight and nine pm, their positions unchanged from Tuesday, with King Oscar/AdventureTraining.com followed by Nokia Adventure and Red Bull/Buff.
