Jita, The Forge - More than 20 pilots rushed from Jita to the Eve Gate during the first 'Ships Of Eve' race this past Friday.
Held by the 'Ships of Eve' lottery to promote ticket sales, the event was described by T'Amber as being a success. She said: "Although a lot less people than I thought would turn up, it was enjoyable. There was drama and ganking and people made it through and had fun."
Mister Tregiew and mystiq pwnzorg, both flying Ares class vessels, completed the route in 23 minutes and were both awarded the first prize as the race was too close to call. They each won a set of +5 implants, 20 tech2 frigates of their choice and 20 free tickets to the lottery.
The third spot was occupied by Ikthyace Notbright, flying a Vigil. He completed the route in 27 minutes and won a set of +4 implants, 10 tech2 frigates of his choice and 20 free tickets to the lottery.
Capsuleers flew through five checkpoints systems, encountering pirate gank fleets and with some pilots experiencing navigational issues. While checkpoints could be traversed in any order, most racers decided to take the shortest route: a 29 jumps course, of which 18 were through low security systems.
Upon entry to the Ami system, racers found - to their dismay- the gate camped by SCUM. alliance. Some racers only lost their ships, while others (including T'Amber) lost their pods as well.
Lars Zundi of SCUM. explained that they were not expecting the race to pass through Ami: "It was a case of right time, right place. We only realised that the 'ships of eve' was passing through Ami when lots of small ships started appearing."
Referring to the lottery and T'Amber's efforts to promote it, Lars said "it is a great and noble undertaking. Especially when it comes through our gatecamp. The reward is all the sweeter if risk is involved. We supply the risk!"
According to T'Amber, all participants received tickets as a prize in various amounts. However, to easily manage bigger numbers, she added that rules might be revised in future races.
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