Posts Tagged ‘MadWaySouth’

Some awesome speeds and distances have been clocked up by kitebuggiers (is there such a word?) this year, 2009.

If you are a regular follower of our extreme sports blog you will have followed, avidly I hope,  the MadWaySouth team’s epic voyage across the Sahara on kitebuggies. They achieved a remarkable 2,160 kms in 26 days. They actually broke 2 world records – that of the longest distance for a kitebuggy and the second for the first wind-only form of transportation to cross the Sahara.

Speed records are of course something else and Arjen van der Tol of Holland holds the record for dry lake bed buggying with a maximum speed of 124kmh or 77.05mph.

The beach sand record is held by Windjammer of England who reached a documented speed of  109.59kmh / 68.10mph.

The fastest lady on a buggy at the moment is Karen Cutbush with a beach sand speed of  77.57kmh / 48.20mph. She was delighted to hear that she held the record adding, “By the end of the day I had covered close to 50 miles, but more importantly I reached a new personal best speed of 48.2mph….I am told that I am now the fastest recorded female pilot in a kite buggy in the world – Wow!”

And then there are the distance records.

We already know that the team MadWaySouth hold that one, but the solo record is held by Jose Maria Coca Rodriguez who managed a total of 441kms in 12 hours and 15 minutes moving at a maximum speed of 74.2km/h.

There is even a Backward Buggying Speed – what next! This record is proudly held by Paul Westlake, aka Pablow of Wales who achieved the remarkable speed of 58.42 kmh – 36.3 mph – backwards!!!

Of course, to be able to break records you need space, preferably with no sauntering sunset admirers and Romo Beach in Denmark is one place that definitely has that, as witnessed here with The Poland Buggykiting Team making the most of it (buggykitingpl):

The ideal space for buggying is hard-packed sand as it provides great traction and better control in a slide. Next best would be grassy lawns. Pavement and roads can be very fast, but a tight turn could flip the unwary buggier out.

Sand and grass require more power than hard-pack or pavement, but they are favoured because of the balance between grip and drag.

Buggies prefer large open spaces and smooth winds, but their small size and easy manoeuverability allows experienced buggy pilots access to areas that might have been deemed completely unsuitable – soccer grounds are frequently used in urban areas. Obviously, the more space you have the easier and safer it will be.

And if you are new to this sport, here’s an interesting video that dots the i’s and crosses a few t’s for you…with thanks to expertvillage for sharing it with us.

A truly incredible journey. An extreme adventure… 4 men decided to challenge the world record for the longest kite buggy journey ever, a UK record which stood at 1,000 kms, by tackling the western edge of the Sahara Desert from Morocco to Senegal – a total distance of 2,500kms.

“It was a lot harder than I thought – very difficult,  very demanding,” said Steve Gurney even though they had taken due cogniscence of the 6 P’s – “prior planning prevents piss-poor performance”!

The reason for this mad adventure? To raise money for the charity SheHome Cambodia who are endeavouring to stop child trafficking and prostitution in Asia. MadWaySouth are hoping to raise awareness of this problem. A worthy cause…

And they succeeded, or very nearly…

To refresh your memory a little, watch this video from maxmarks40.

They eventually had to call it a day about 180kms from Dakar as they had run out of time. For 4 days before they called it a day the skies had opened and rain had continuously poured down, completely changing the terrain they were buggying through and slowing their progress down enormously.

However, their total journey was about 2,160kms (still to be confirmed by GPS) thereby smashing the previous world record.

The two World Records that they achieved are:

1. The first crossing documented of the Sahara Desert by wind power alone.
2. The longest Kite Buggy journey on land ever – 2,160 km achieved in 26 days.

They have successfully raised about $40,000 Ausi dollars for SheHome Cambodia and are already planning their next venture – The Simpson Desert in Australia in 2010???

To conclude, Geoff Wilson had this to say about their awesome journey : “To the wonderful people of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal – we thank you for allowing us access to your beautiful desert places, for putting up with the noise of our intrusion and for being so honest, gracious and helpful.

To the police of Senegal we curse you with the fleas of a 1000 camels and ask for early hemorrhoids and rashes beyond comprehension to be your affliction as you pillage your population going forward.”

Needless to say, they were robbed blind at the Senegalese border – bribery and corruption abounded and they had to part with more than $3,000 to get through!

“It only takes a nano-second lapse in concentration to let a kite drift from safety into the power zone and imminent danger.” Steve Gurney

The Kiwis, now only the one – Craig Hansen, entered Dakhla 90 minutes ahead of the Aussies, but since the Kiwi team was now down to one with Steve Gurney taking a couple of days off to recover from being smashed into a lava rock, the Aussies were, on a technicality, ahead of the Kiwis.

Some decisions needed to be made. A pow wow was held and, bearing in mind the enormous damage to the kit – there were now no spares, it was decided to call the race a draw, but to continue the journey helping each other along the way and nursing the equipment. Being realistic, the team realised that they would not make it to the end if they did not do this and they were still determined to be the first men to cross the Sahara using  wind only for power.

This decision was also made because the area was not only sowed liberally with landmines, but bandits abounded and the feeling was that to stick together would make it safer for everyone.

Having made this decision the next day was a personal best for the team – 201 km – despite the fact that they were closely watched by a rough-looking team of bandits who were trying to decide whether they should attack or not!

By the 22nd August they had 1,700 kms under their belt and took a well-deserved morning’s break, and then continued another 55km along the beach where a camel herder had arranged a Kiwi – Aussie camel race.

These guys really want saddle sores!

On the 24th August, the team were 3-7 good kiting days away from Dakar… If you have time you really should read their blog. Go to www.madwaysouth.com

When they have completed they will have covered 2,500 km across the Sahara Desert, crossing the borders of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and ending in Dakar, Senegal… that’s quite some record.

…and what a time they’ve been having.

They crossed the border from Morocco into Western Sahara on 10th August. Their main concern in this country are the landmines. The place is pitted with them. Less than 700km from the Mauritania border Geoff Wilson, a member of the Aussie team, had a close encounter with a mine field. Finding himself ahead of the pack, briefly, he decided to take a short cut off a road/track only to be shouted at by a passing landrover warning him “no ways, you go that way you’re a dead man…” They redirected him to a nearby town where he was able to get to the coast via a landmine free track. They will be relieved to be out of this country.

The terrain they have covered so far in their completed 1,000kms has been a mixed jumble of  dried out lake beds, salt lakes, sand dunes, rough rocks, and low shrubs to miles and miles and miles of dunes, killer rock fields, boulders, lava rock outcrops, cactus and shrubs.

The diversity has been a challenge to the two teams. There have been many breakdowns. Craig Hansen broke the goose neck on his buggy in two places after racing across incredibly tough terrain early on and the Spanish (Western) Sahara has taken its toll causing mortal damage to 3 of the stainless steel buggies. These buggies have been sent ahead to Dakhla with the support vehicles for welding, and the teams have converted the frames of the trailers into smaller buggies and have continued racing in these for the time being…

There has been one bad injury. Crossing a sharp lava outcrop, Steve Gurney, one of the New Zealanders, was airlifted about 10 ft and slammed into a lava rock – the side of his body and head taking the main impact.They had to cut his sunglasses off as they were embedded in his left eyebrow and were concerned about a neck injury as he was tending to lose consciousness. However, having ascertained that there were no major injuries he was able to walk the 1,000 ft back up to the plateau where the support vehicles were waiting. A bit of a clean-up and a few veterinary stitches later and they were able to take him to a nearby military hospital for a check-up.

He was kept in overnight for observation but the Aussie’s are suspicious that he bribed them to do that so that he could get a good and comfortable night’s sleep!

They are having a couple of rest days now to give him time to recover and then they will be off again…

The New Zealanders are still leading, but the Australians are not far behind…

The race between two New Zealanders and 2 Aussies has begun after an epic voyage to the starting gates…

It took them 6 and a half days for the Antipodeans to get from their respective countries to Agadir – a torturerous journey of flights, cars and ferries with a healthy dose of jet lag  included.

Having flown via Los Angelos to London, they collected their two landcruisers, trailer and kit which had been sent ahead in containers and barely stopping to catch breath caught the 24 hour ferry past France and began the long journey down through Spain where they caught another ferry across the Straits of Gibralter  to Africa - at last. However, there were still the Atlas Mountains to cross to reach Agadir – the starting point of the race. Altogether about 2,500 kms  from London to Agadir.

It might amuse you to know that I have skied in the Atlas Mountains (Morocco) – a whole different experience! It was a while ago so things have probably improved, but when I did (not that long ago) our equipment dated from roughly the 30/40’s era!!! The skis were not dissimilar to planks and the enormous buckets on our enormously long ski poles gave rise to many an amused chuckle. As for the yards and yards of bindings…. Well!

However, I digress…

Yesterday, 4th August, was spent checking all the gear and getting it ready for their extreme journey. As Steve Gurney says:

“We soon become aware of how close to red-line many of us are. We’ve had very little sleep and some tempers are getting a bit frazzled. It’s testimony to the team spirit that is growing stronger by the minute that the caliber of the team members is strong and we have the resources to achieve our high goal. I’m also aware how many “MacGuivers” we have! This Sahara adventure, like moths to light-bulbs, has attracted resourceful, solutions men. We’ve already been building brilliance with bare hands and duct-tape! Nothing is gonna stop us!” – and this despite the fact that he was knocked off his motorbike shortly before embarking on this trip and is already suffering from a bruised rear end!

The four men, Christchurch’s Steve Gurney, Ashburton’s Craig Hansen, (for New Zealand) and Australians Geoff Wilson and Garth Freeman, are hoping to average 40km/h…

This trip is not all about extremes, endurance and breaking records. They also hope to raise money for the She Rescue Home charity, which helps girls escape the Asian child-sex trade.