Avon Water Regional Event 17 February 2008
Lost Property - one child's anorak (Black Age 10-12) found near Start. Small Silva compass, Boots neoprene wrist support (blue, small size) left on bus/in sports centre.
Simple Results (corrected & updated 20/02/08. The voided legs on course 1&2 refers to the road crossings, the times for which are automatically deducted by the OE2003 program)
Organisers report.
I hope that you were warmed in body and spirits by Wimborne’s Regional event at Avon Water. Temperatures in the middle of the day may well have been unseasonal and welcome but certainly minus 6 early in the morning when putting out the controls must have been great fun for the planner John Shucksmith and his team of helpers. No less hard work is the bringing in of the controls at the end of the day. Thank you hardy ones.
Extremely limited parking facilities within the New Forest meant that bussing from a suitable centre was vital. Brockenhurst College was happy to allow us to use the campus and the bonus was that the Sports Centre manager was prepared to open specially on the Sunday. No portaloos required and showers on tap! Is this what they call a “no brainer”
Whilst every one involved from WIM put in a flawless days work the one glaring flaw in the day was created by “government legislation”. Coach drivers can work no more than four and a half hours without taking a 45 minute break. There are small amendments to this and with hindsight we would have been better to stand down one of the coaches early on and have him available at the more vulnerable peak return times. I apologise to those of you who had such a long wait to return. If the weather had been really bad it would have been advisable to hire a third driver.
Many hands make light work and the task of organiser is really just co-ordination of the considerable expertise and enthusiasm contained within the club. Thank you all.
In my long absence during January, Richard Brightman kept things moving and with two centres of activity on the day he as joint organiser was invaluable at Wilverley.
I note that quite a number of participants on the day were “independent”. All clubs in the area will welcome new members but foremost would be our desire to encourage you to learn the skill of navigation which to the newcomer can be quite daunting. Don’t be put off if you had difficulties and do approach any of us to find about our coaching and teaching schemes.
Keith Henderson
Planners Comments
I could not have asked for better weather for a Sunday in February. Wilverley is in excellent condition for orienteering at this time of year, and had drained well after the recent rains. The winning times look reasonable for the conditions, and from your kind comments at the finish you mostly enjoyed the experience. My only regret is the difficulties that even experienced competitors had with control 555 on courses 4 and 6.
My thanks to John Warren for updating the map and producing the new 1:10,000 version. Thanks also to my Controller Richard Arman for meticulously checking everything, and to my team of helpers who put the SI boxes out when it was still well below zero and then collected them in again in the afternoon. Thanks are also due to Richard Brightman for his help and particularly for spending half an hour in Avon Water pulling logs out in order to lower the water level for courses 1 and 2! With the memory of the ‘Swim O’ in 2002 which went well on the day but was nearly cancelled because of the stream level, I kept all but courses 1 and 2 in Wilverley and Yew Tree Bottom. The Forestry Commission also insisted on the buses going to Wilverley which fixed the start. However these constraints actually made for better courses than my original ideas for a start in Broadley Inclosure.
Finally thanks to Dick Keighley for all the SI and computer work, a job made only slightly easier with our decision to go for online entries.
John Shucksmith
Controller's Comments
One forgets what a nice area the Wilverley Enclosure is, and the open Yew Tree Bottom area is really just as good. There were no adverse comments about the other areas and I heard no one complain about the icy waters of Avon as crossed by courses 1 and 2.
I had no reason to put a hand on John’s courses and he did well in keeping senior courses off the paths as far as possible. Courses 4 and 6 were not overjoyed about their first control, a depression. Cutting in off a bend is often perilous and the vegetation boundaries in this instance were difficult to interpret. For most courses a longish run to the first control and a cluster just short of the finish seemed to work well.
We could not believe it when quite early on a gathering of about 100 New Forest Runners, with their vehicles of course, clogged the parking area near the bus point, and together with endless dog walkers and horse boxes made it a very congested area. That I suppose is the penalty for laying on such wonderful weather!
Why does Brit O (Nicer than BO don’t you think?) insist on a taped route from the final control to the finish? It satisfactorily negates the final control; never mind allowing us to run to hit the tape and then back up it to the last control!
Richard Arman (WSX)