Once
again the Weardale Off Road Centre was the setting for a great
weekends off roading.
Saturday's
driving day was well attended as members took the opportunity
to put themselves and their vehicles through their paces on
the site's varying terrain. The mix of severe and easy routes
around the site allowed everyone to find a suitable level.
Sunday
was the competition day with an off road orienteering event.
Competitors were supplied with maps and grid references and
set off, compasses in hand, in all directions to locate their
allocated punches. The punches were issued in groups of 3 and
after each group was successfully located a return to the control
point resulted in the issue of their next group. Scores were
given for the punches located and also for locating the small
letter cards randomly scattered around the site. Penalties were
applied to those who failed to make the finish control in time
at the end of the day. Last year the event turned into a neck
and neck competition between Brendan Brew teamed with Kevin
and Ruth Mulholland and Paul Everett teamed with Tim Frankland
and Jo. The result was decided when Tim took the wrong route
on his way to a punch and ended up with his 110 stuck in a bog.
This
year saw a surprisingly similar battle with Brendan, this time
teamed up with Phil Harrison, once again returning to the main
control around 20 minutes before Tim, Paul and Jo each time.
A third team, Bob Christmas, Alix Craven, Mark Robson and Amanda
Taylor were also always in contention throughout the day after
a bad start. With 20 minutes remaining of the day it looked
like Brendan and Phil had it sewn up being the only team to
set off in search of their 5th group whilst the other 2 teams
in contention were still on their 4th. From the vantage point
at the control we could see that the team had picked up 2 of
their 3 allocated punches and headed off for the 3rd punch which
was at the other end of the site.
As
the 4pm deadline loomed teams were checking in for the last
time and by 4pm 3 teams were overdue, including Brendan and
Phil. The resulting 25% penalty when they finally arrived 5
minutes late saw them drop from 1st to 3rd place. Tim and Paul
had obviously learnt from last years mistake and reaped the
reward by getting to the control point in plenty of time. This
year it had been Brendan who had gone for that extra punch and
ended up stuck in a bog.
Pictures
from the driving Day can be seen here.
Pictures
from the orienteering event can be seen here.
Results
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| Team |
Vehicles |
Letters
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Punch Groups |
Penalties |
Total |
Position |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
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| Paul Everett,
Tim Frankland, Joanne Ackroyd |
110
110 |
40 |
300 |
300 |
300 |
250 |
- |
- |
0 |
1190 |
1 |
| Bob Christmas,
Alix Craven
Mark Robson, Amanda Taylor |
90
90 |
30 |
300 |
205 |
- |
300 |
300 |
- |
0 |
1135 |
2 |
| Brendan Brew, Stuart Weston
Phil Harrison |
90
90 |
40 |
200 |
200 |
300 |
300 |
- |
300 |
335 |
1005 |
3 |
Nick and Sarah Buckham
Tom Perrin, Dave Thompson |
90
Ibex |
40 |
205 |
- |
- |
- |
300 |
300 |
0 |
845 |
4 |
Clive and Neil Raistrick
Graeme Christie |
90
90 |
60 |
200 |
205 |
300 |
- |
- |
- |
0 |
765 |
5 |
| Jan Carr, Nigel Ward
Steve Preston |
Discovery
Range Rover |
20 |
- |
200 |
300 |
255 |
200 |
- |
243 |
732 |
6 |
| Tom Zimmerman
Phil and Hilary Thornley |
110
110 |
20 |
- |
- |
205 |
- |
200 |
300 |
0 |
725 |
7 |
| Ian Humphries
Nigel Hill |
Discovery
Discovery |
30 |
- |
- |
- |
300 |
- |
300 |
0 |
530 |
8 |
Robin Sermon
Tony Handley |
Series 2
Lightweight |
0 |
300 |
- |
- |
200 |
- |
- |
125 |
375 |
9 |
Richard Spencer,
Max Richmond |
Hybrid
Series 2 |
10 |
- |
- |
200 |
- |
- |
- |
0 |
210 |
10 |
John Davies
Tony Bullock |
Discovery
Series 2 |
Retired |
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