24 hrs of Paddling

Team Blackheart have left on the remote 60km trek in 4th position. Overnight on the Walsh River they dropped from 1st to 5th place. I haven't been able to find out the reason for this but from the tracker it appeared that they missed a bend in the river and did a couple of hundred metres extra portaging. After which the tracker was stationary for a couple of hours so hopefully they might have had a sleep. I'm trying to get in touch with Ben when there's some phone reception.

After more than 75 hours of racing there is only 2.5 hours separating the top 5 teams and there must still be at least 48 hours of racing to go. Sleep strategy and navigation will be the keys to the race from here.

During the current trek I think they have to get one checkpoint (#16) and if you are looking at the course map I assume it is located where the course line changes direction just north of a knoll. Already straight out of transition we can see very different route choices with Orion and McCain heading south around the first ridge and Blackheart taking a more direct route. This leg will be fascinating to watch for those armchair navigators - hopefully the trackers don't lose signal.