Well, despite the heavy rain, it all started really well, we were the first team away and we started at a cracking pace up and over the first obstacle, the SeeSaw.....
Once the cheering from the crowd died down a bit we realised that disaster had struck only meters from the start line! Ray had gone too fast and actually jumped off the SeeSaw before it hit the ground, destroying his front springs and bullbar in the process. It was heart breaking to have to stand around and watch as all the other teams drove past us. We went from first to last in minutes!
We eventually managed to patch up Ray's truck enough to carry on. With the realisation that we no longer had a chance of winning, or even finishing, we decided to slog on and enjoy ourselves, after all it was the best sort of recovery practise we could get! Although we didn't manage to finish, we did get in and out without any assistance from the tractors, and the rain and slippery clay tested the whole team to it's limits. Roll on the next enduro!
(We apologise for the quality of these pictures - it was very overcast and raining)
Pulling Ray back out of the swamp. We didn't realise at first how much damage had been done to the suspension, and presumed he'd get through with the Jungle Trekkers. Andrew and Lance went straight through the swamp first time after this recovery.
Cable recovery using our 50m cable, snatch blocks and winch posts. The Green Patrol and Pajero go one way, and Ray goes the other up the hill.
Due
to the extra bounce from the damaged suspension in Ray's truck, we decided to
play it safe (after a Patrol in the team ahead of us had slid off the track into
the swamp below, almost rolling on the way) and cable pull him up the last
bit of this steep clay bank. We simply hooked the cable on the front, ran it
forward through a snatch block attached to the tractor at the top (it was the
official winch point for this part of the course) and then back down to the
Green Patrol, which simply drove backwards down the hill to pull Ray forward.
Once at the top Ray drove around the corner without any drama, and Andrew and
Lance drove straight up and round. I don't understand what all the fuss was
about with the other teams!
Waiting for the officials to give us the go ahead to over take the other Patrols, trying to recover their team mate from the swamp.
And then we're off!! Ray going sideways, as usual.
The Team ready to take on the Stairways to Heaven - a steep, rutted, slippery clay track. After a few attempts of driving it we realised it was going to involve a lot of winching and towing, all of which takes time. We were getting close to the curfew time, and we knew we wouldn't get up the hill in time, so we sent the codrivers out to scout for other options. It wasn't long before Steve came back with a new route around the bottom of the hill, which would give us a clear run up the hill without all the ruts. It was going to be risky through the first few bits, but if we could get around the corner, it would be plain sailing from there on.
We made the decision to take the risk, and see if we could get around the corner. The first obstacle was a steep side slope, which the green beast got over with relative ease with the lower side airshocks pumped up full, and the high side let right down. Unfortunately the corner proved to be too slippery, and we decided to abandon the idea before we ended up upside down in the swamp.
Time to get the winch out again!
From this point, with the winch cable still attached to the tree, we could hook another truck on the back to swing the back wheels around onto solid ground, ready to back out.
Ray just about rolled it into the swamp trying to back out along the narrow track, which led to another outstanding recovery by Lance and the crew.
After the near disaster with Ray backing out, we decided to turn around and come out forwards. It was a good plan, but we got stuck in the process. so it was time for the longest recovery of the day. We had four ropes between Andrew and Lance, and another to Ray.
Because of the length of ropes involved, and the slipppery conditions, Andrew ended up in the swamp where Ray had earlier, as expected. It was an easy recovery from here, as all the trucks were facing the right way this time. From here we all managed to drive back to the pits without any more drama.
All in all we had a reat day of four wheel driving. Although it would have been nice to have finished, we did get three hours of fun instead of two!, and the crew had a workout that was beyond anything they were expecting.
We have gained a lot of experience from this enduro, and can't wait to continue developing our skills at the next one.
Thanks again to Quicken NZ for their support.
