All four members of Richie McCaw's GODZone Team have recovered, after being airlifted to safety at Fiordland National Park on Sunday.
The former All Blacks captain and teammate Rob Nicol are currently recovering in Glenorchy, after Nicol's burst eardrum forced their evacuation by helicopter.
Their fellow iSport teammates Jo Williams and Tim Sikma joined another team and continued racing.
"Once you're in that area it's three days on your own," says race director Warrane Bates,. "You've no medical supplies realy… they had to reflect on what's best for the team.
Nichol says the decision to pull out wasn't an easy one.
"It's disappointing on a number of levels.. but I guess that's the nature of it all," he said in a statement.
And they're not the only ones to fall victim to the unforgiving 710km course.
In total, there were four helicopter medical evacuations on stage three, and a further two teams who walked to meet their support crews. Another two heli-evacuations took place on Monday.
"This is really hard, it's not a gimme everytime," Bates adds.
McCaw, who was taking part for the fourth time, knew before the race had even started it was going to be relentless.
"It's one of those things you swear you'd never do it again, but it's the intrigue of the adventure," he said before the race.
"Standing on the startline… wondering what's going to happen and what challenges you'll have to deal with.
"The things that are out of your control and how you're going to handle them… they add to the butterflies in your stomach. And when you're out there for five-to-seven days, that's quite intimidating."
There's no word yet if McCaw and his team will be back next year.
Meanwhile, those still competing are expected to finish the race by the end of the week.
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