The idea was born from a group of traveling friends with uneven but contagious passions and a dream to bring them together in one adventure. “On the one hand, we have always followed the Dakar and the Volvo Ocean Race with enthusiasm and attention, on the other hand, in our travels we have often interspersed trips by car, with those by motorcycle, ferry, boat… It is by putting it all together and uniting a team of professionals from the world of sailing and rallying that we have created Elements race”-comments Guglielmo Fontana-Rava, co-founder together with Danil Kuzvesov, Milanese by birth and Dutch by adoption. It is his idea for this double competition half at sea and half on land that will see participants compete for four consecutive days at sea and on land in the setting of the Maddalena Archipelago and the Gallurese hinterland.
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The race formula includes 2 days sailing and 2 days off-road with loop stages from the Porto Pollo base. Each crew, consisting of 4 participants, will continue the Challenge after the 2 days of sailing divided into pairs to fill the 4×4 two-seater vehicles. Ithe same crew will then have to cover one leg by racing on water and one leg by racing on land. A kind of technological biathlon. The tight 4-day schedule will be baptized by a training day on the water to give crews time to get comfortable with the boats they will use in the coastal race on the second day. On the third day we set off off-road with helmet and roadbook for the 2 regularity trials in the dirt tracks near Arzachena and Luogosanto. All trials will count toward the final standings that will define the overall winning team of the competition.
Thedream? “Coming up with an even more challenging formula”-Guglielmo Fontata Rava, the event’s creator, tells me-“One idea that’s been rattling around in my head is to start in Spain with the Mini 650s arriving by boat in Morocco and continuing in the desert as the motorcycles. Or reach Tunisia by departing from Malta again using the same formula. The elements that in our opinion link desert rallies (Dakar, Pharaohs…) and the big offshore races are the traversing of boundless landscapes in total autonomy, the navigation (in rallies you use the road book, while in sailing you have to follow the weather) and the physical and mental endurance the participants undergo. What we think drives a sailor to do a solo race is not much different from what drives a motorcycle or car racer to participate in a major African or South American rally. In a similar way, (non-competitive) water and land adventurers in our opinion share several similarities, so we want to put them together in this competition.”
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In addition to the unprecedented sports formula, it is innovative also in the approach it offers to its participants, who can configure their race experience by choosing from 3 different ATVs and 2 accommodation solutions. It will be the organization that will provide Este 24 in the sailing department and CFMoto, Polaris and Arctic Cat in the off-road department. Registration is now open at www.elementsrace.com .
