Texas Water Safari 2009 – Abu Dhabi Camels

It began a dream. But in the nd it became a triumphant reality as the pioneering members of the Abu Dhabi Camels made history – the first team from the UAE to enter the Texas Water Safari, hailed as the world’s toughest boat race; and they completed the course.

The trio of paddlers who faced the challenge of the 260 miles along the San Marco River – James Dauman , Jean-Marc Laventure and Simon Dowker – crossed the finishing line at seadrift, Texas after an agonishing 97 hours and 55 minutes. After the equivalent of over four full days and nights of nonstop paddling, they came in a full two hours ahead of the race’s 100 hour deadline.

This year’s race was regarded as the hardest in the event’s 45 year history because of record low water levels, and just 52 of the 96starters reached the finishing line. The weary UAE team members, who had travelled 8,000 miles to compete, were left mentally and physically drained. Each of the triumphant threesome suffered hallucinations, heat stroke, and canoes capsizing in pitch blackness.

The team had carry all of their food and equipment with them, and to stay competitive teams had to travel all day and all night with little or no sleep. But the Camels were greeted by a rapturous applause as they crossed the finishing line. “This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done”, said Laventure. Laventure also revealed how his most frightening moment in the race came midway into the fourth night of paddling. The battery for the light mounted on the front of the canoe failed, and the team were stranded helpless for an hour and half in the pitch black surrounded by 5m long alligators.

For Dauman, personal trauma came outside the boat. ” The low water was by far the biggest challenge as it meant we were constantly getting in and out of the canoe and carrying it in pitch balcness with no idea where we were going – literally for miles on end. He added, ” The river was a huge challenge and was far more technically challenging than we ever imagined, with numerous twist and turns, boils and rapids – not to mention sheer drops of up to 15ft.”

The Abu Dhabi Camels hope to raise AED 50, 0000 in the Middle East for the Red Cresent and 5,000 EURO in the UK for The Calvert Trust. As Dowker put it; “when times were tough, we also thought of the charities we were supporting and how the money we raised would assist people in need across the world.