by Jordan Harvey

The results are in! After a gruelling six-day battle including daily rain, ferocious winds and even hail, English team Helly Hansen-Prunesco crossed the finish line at Cape Froward on February 16, 22:36.

Starting strong in the glaciar-filled opening kayak stretch and never looking back, the first-time competitors blew away the field as they moved methodically, averaging of an hour sleep daily, through the 600 hundred kilometres in the toughest weather conditions the WPER has ever seen.

Last year’s winners French team Easy Implant was in second entering the final section - a 155 km trek through a dense forest containing drastic ridge traverses flanked by Eiffel Tower cliff drops - having distanced themselves from the pack while struggling to keep pace with the English.

Trailing the French are the Canadians and Americans as they battle for the last place on the podium. Two days ago they were separated by only a few hours, but that’s the most current update as the Canadians lost their satellite tracking system while dragging their kayaks through a bog filled 20 km portage known as the Paso de los Indios.

2006 champion team Buff of Spain withdrew prior to entering the final trekking section due to injury, leaving only those four teams fighting to reach the elusive finish line at Cape Froward, and little doubt that this adventure race remains the most challenging physical and mental test of them all.