Dear Eco-Challengers,

As the dates for the Sabah Eco-Challenge rapidly advance, I wanted to remind everyone of the skills and conditions that will be most important during the race. Every Eco-Challenge race course is determined by the terrain that is available. The island of Borneo is characterized by dense rainforest surrounded by a spectacular ocean setting. Being able to travel in these environments will be paramount.

Successful teams will come prepared to paddle very long distances on both rivers and ocean. I have told you in previous newsletters that the paddling in this race is significant and I cannot stress this enough. There is more paddling in this race than in ANY OTHER Eco-Challenge.

Successful teams will also arrive prepared to navigate and travel efficiently in very dense vegetation and with very few navigational landmarks. It is essential that all teams practice navigating in these conditions prior to arriving in Sabah. Remember, search and rescue is NOT POSSIBLE on some sections of the race course! Remember also to read the Notes from the Field section on the main web site - our guides said it was the most challenging navigation of their professional careers.

In reviewing the team bios, I see that the majority of you are preparing by racing in shorter races, which is excellent. With the amount of opportunities to race in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Europe right now, there is little excuse for teams to show up with no race experience. We design courses to challenge the best. The jungle navigation will never be forgotten.

"The level of competition is increasing each year and we intend to provide a challenging race experience for the previous winners".

We have only a short time to go before you will begin the journey to Sabah. Use this time wisely to work out any problems with team dynamics, fitness, paddle strength and especially jungle navigation skills. The level of competition is increasing each year and we intend to provide a challenging race experience for the previous winners - this means you should all be prepared physically and mentally to make smart race decisions.

The time to ask questions is now. If you are unclear on any of the information we have provided with respect to skills, equipment, requirements or race format, it is your responsibility to ask.

Last but not least, I am happy to inform you that we have officially confirmed Columbia Tri-Star as our international TV distribution partner. This will allow us the ability to air the Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000 four-hour mini series on previously never seen before “free to air” TV networks reaching up to ten times the number of viewers. After the “free to air” broadcasts, Sony will also re-air the show on their AXN network in Spain, South America and Asia. AXN is distributed in 35 countries with over 26 million viewing households. A press release regarding this new partnership will be posted on the web site shortly.

Best,