Field Mission: The Liberia Invitational
Each April, more than 400,000 racing fans descend on Melbourne to witness the long-celebrated Australian Grand Prix.
The perfect distraction.
With the entire racing world occupied, secret preparations have begun for the planet’s most prestigious racing event. 14,000km away, separated by the entire Pacific Ocean, the opening ceremony begins for The Liberia Invitational.
The Liberia Invitational is like no other race.
There are no decked-out pit crews, no cushy sponsors, or black-tie receptions. Challengers use nothing but their bare hands and the materials available to them on the forest floor to fasten world-class sailboats.
Maritime acumen, primitive survival skills, engineering principles, and resistance to sunburn are rigorously tested throughout a single afternoon. The course is a deadly gauntlet. Ships brave water laced with treacherous rocks, ripping currents, and whirlpools that could swallow an unfit frigate in a single gulp. Not to mention, The Falls. To win this race, not only do boats have to showcase elite maneuverability and reach the finish line before their opponents. Ships must also boast the structural fortitude to plunge from a waterfall of unmeasurable heights.
Locale
Reachable only by Toyota Hilux, the racing grounds are set deep in a remote theatre of lush wilderness.
For the protection of this tradition, no further information can be disclosed about the location of The Liberia Invitational.
Once the wagons have circled, teams are announced.
The Teams
Team Pilfer: A team of one, Pilfer’s design is inspired by classic sailing motifs.
Team Bounty: A duo living at the intersection of vision execution. Team Bounty draws power from the sacred triangle and hoists two potent skyward sails for propulsion.
Team Bork: An experienced shipbuilder and well-travelled maritime professional. Bork builds a seaworthy vessel with a coconut shell gyroscope at its core.
Preparations
Rivals greet one-another with a handshake before feverishly dispersing to their own corners of the battlefield.
Competitors trade suspicious glances while teammates conspire amongst the dusty underbrush, foraging for key structural components. Sunlight filters through the forest canopy. Polka-dots of light dance in the dirt. Barbaric cold-cut sandwiches are hastily fashioned together and washed down with cold Imperial lager. The unrelenting sound of cascading water provides the soundtrack, a persistent reminder of nature’s duality: beauty and brutality.
The Race of a lifetime
A severely over-equipped event photographer squats into position as the racers set off for the starting line upstream. Challengers grasp their vessels in sweaty palms, waiting for the starting whistle. A local family of picnickers look on in admiration and awe, sharing whispers and covertly wager apuestas on the winning boat.
And they’re off!
A pace boat (humbly fastened from a tuna can) leads the way, followed by Team Bork as the 2023 Liberia Invitational ignites. Team Pilfer drafts the leader, waiting to make an opportunistic surge to the front. Team Bounty stumbles out of the starting blocks, but appears sturdy and unanxious as it navigates in last place. Team Bork leads the pack from wire to wire and approaches The Falls confidently. Team Pilfer raises its sail full mast and closes in. Upstream, Team Bounty has snagged on a rocky outcrop. While speedier competitors brace for The Falls, engineers from Team Bounty race to free their land-locked vessel.
Team Bork’s coconut cruiser careens over The Falls and immediately capsizes, vaporizing any passengers that may have been aboard. Instant disqualification. Not too far in its wake, Team Pilfer goes for glory and faces the same violent fate. A wrecking crew salvages the damned ships 15 meters downstream.
Danger beckoned as Team Bounty - now the only remaining craft left afloat - charged towards the same abyss that claimed its adversaries. The river’s babble grew to a roar, crescendoing as the sole survivor fought mightily to stay upright. Several giga-currents combobulated, generating a massive tidal wave. Yet Team Bounty’s craft fiercely defied. Against all odds, the boat leapt forward with grace and tamed The Falls, descending to the winner’s circle with both sails fully erect.
Triumphant cries echoed across the forest floor as the surviving vessel was hoisted aloft by the race official.
Team Bounty: Winner- 2023 Liberia Invitational
