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Team Seagate are racing towards the finish line, cycling their way through to the final paddle from Totaranui to Kaiteriteri.

The team has had a makeover following Nathan Fa’avae’s retirement from the team with Sophie Hart taking charge and putting together an all-female team.

The team had won every GODZone since the inaugural event in 2012, but that wasn’t Sophie’s goal this year. Instead she wanted to showcase what women are capable of.

She said the decision to put together a female only team came when thinking about an incident that took place at last year’s GODZone.

Writing on Facebook, she said: “I made a really dumb decision to cross a swollen river. Chris (Forne) had swum over already, and I followed. I nearly didn’t make it across. It still makes me edgy thinking about it now. Why did I do that? I should know better.

“All of my racing, all of my outdoor adventures, I’ve done with people who are more experienced and stronger than me. It’s natural to let the decisions fall to them. But, what showed in that river crossing, is that I need to make my own decisions. I can’t keep relying on others to lead the way for me.”

Sophie pulled together the team of Fleur Pawsey, Emily Forne and Lara Prince, four of the best female adventure racers.

Sophie said: “Team Seagate won’t win. At least we shouldn’t. But we are sure going to be giving it everything out there on course.

“We’re going to make smart decisions. We’re going to focus on our own race, and in doing that, we hope to be competitive, hopefully within the top 10. We have nothing to prove, we have nothing to lose.

“Who knows what the end result will be, but the journey has been worth it, and I know that when we cross that finish line, the feeling of satisfaction will be as good as any win.”

As it stands, the team are on course to make the top 10. Whatever their end result, they’ve done what Sophie wanted to do, and shown they are more than capable.