Brent Edwards, Ash Whitehead, Stu Lynch and Georgia Whitla, from Nelson, opted to head around the front of Walter Peak on the edge of Lake Wakatipu, trying to mountain bike to Halfway Bay in the eighth stage of the race, which began on Saturday morning.
They were chasing Tiki Tour's Tom and George Lucas, Mike Kelly and Floortje Grimmett, and Team Yealands Family Wines' Chris Forne, Dan Moore, Dan Busch and Simone Maier.
Race director Warren Bates said instead of the Swordfox team saving an hour or two of brutal uphill mountain biking, they were forced to turn back.
``The track disappears once you get past Table Bay and that's where they turned around and headed backwards along the shore.''
Swordfox would now have to work hard to maintain third position, just 15 minutes ahead of Christchurch team Sneaky Weasles (Straun Webb, Mitchell Munro, Tane Cambridge and Isla Smit). ``If the Sneakys discover Swordfox is only now 15 minutes in front of them, it will be serious game on.''
Last night Tiki Tour held the lead by about half an hour from Team Yealands, both teams having transitioned into the final alpine trek through the Eyre Mountains for 27km from Halfway Bay to Kingston.
From there, the teams will finish the race with a 47km kayak from Kingston Beach to Frankton Beach.
