I hope you all had a great Compass Sport Heat; the weather I ordered did in fact turn up with a little more breeze at times.
Thanks to all my team who sorted all the little issues with dibbers and on the day entries. Also, to those few people with dibber problems you were understanding with helping download deal with the information changes.
Towards the end of the day, I was made aware of a problem with one particular area of the map and a control that had been affected by recent changes to the forest. This was local young people who had created a bike route and encampment very close to control 105. This control was approached from different directions on the 4 courses which used this control. I did receive a complaint and decided after referring to the Rules decided I needed to see the control site, I went over straight away at about 13:30 with the Controller and by the time we got to the control site the control had been taken, this was after the last competitor had been to the control site. There were as we approached a large group of young people messing around and there was recent work on the bike route digging holes and creating ramps. None of this construction had been undertaken when the site was tagged and checked earlier in late January. The controller had obviously seen the bike route when waking the control and checking the site on Sunday morning, but as at this point there were no one around, he made the decision that as the control and pit were correct he at this point saw no need to make any changes. I ask the SI team to review all course that were affected by the leg into control 105 and after assessing the full effect that removing the inward legs to control 105, I decided the best option was to remove this leg from all 4 courses, This had changed some competitors position in the results, but did not change the overall club competition positions. The control site had been affected by the group of young people and their bikes at different times during the day but not continuously, unfortunately the overall effect was that at times the control was not fair for some competitors.
I hope you all can see we the event team have looked at today’s issues and if you need further clarification please get in touch. I have now handed the final confirmation of the results over to the controller to confirm this is the fairest result for all.
Once again thanks to all the help from the East Anglia clubs, the Start team from WAOC, registration, download and control collection from NOR, SOS, SUFFOC and HAVOC. Organising a large regional event is never easy, but I had a lot of great help along the way, special mention to Peter Woods the controller who has been a continuous help with Website and entries throughout.
Michael Chopping (NOR)
Planners Comments
I think it is easier to plan in Brandon Country Park than in some of the other East Anglian forests.Although there are plenty of paths, there are also several earth features and even some contours.
All the longer courses (1-6) had to cross the heathland in the centre of the area, and I tried to make some route choice across this long leg.Some of this was compromised at the beginning of February (after I had sent my final courses for proof printing) when 4 of my control sites were vetoed by Forestry England.I then had to make some last-minute tweaks to adjust all those courses.I’d love to see more routes on Routegadget.
I am sorry that control 105 was problematic, but I don’t feel responsible for the actions of some young people on the days leading up to and including the day of the event.I guess that is a hazard associated with half term.Hopefully the controller and organiser’s resolution in light of this issue will be acceptable to the majority of competitors.
I’d like to thank the following:
·My controller, Peter Woods for his excellent help and guidance with course planning and control siting.
·Phil Halford the mapper.
·My family members, Rod and Bronwen for being my chauffeurs for preliminary visits to the area and on the weekend of the event itself.
·Bob Hill of WAOC for dealing with permissions with both Forestry England and West Suffolk Council.
·All the volunteers from across the region who helped put the whole event together, particularly Michael Chopping as event organiser.
The weather was a dream; with the recent wet and cold spell I had visions of getting really cold setting out the controls but instead was wandering around in shirt sleeves.Not bad for February, and I even heard reports of ticks – so do check!
Thanks to all participants and I hope you enjoyed the courses.
Congratulations to the teams qualifying for the final – HH, NOR, LOG and SUFFOC.
Sarah Mansel (SUFFOC)
Controllers Comments
Firstly, my thanks to Sarah who planned an excellent set of courses and who was always one step ahead throughout the planning process, making myjob as controller an easy one. Thanks also to Michael Chopping for taking on the Organiser's role at relatively short notice.
But the focus of this report is on control 105, which was used on four courses (1, 3, 6 and 7). Prior to the day of the event there was nothing exceptional about this control site - the bike trail did not exist nor were there any signs of amateur earthworks or shelter.
When I visited the control on my checking loop at about 9:30 am, the site was deserted.I did notice the shelter but did not realise the extent of the newly created track, and the control was hung above the pit (noy down in it) and seemed to be readily visible. Sarah mentioned she had spoken to a couple of young boys who told her they were notstayin g (and indeed they had left before I got there).
By the time the first starters reached the site a larger group of children had evidently turned up. The presence of these kids so close to the control was a distraction, the shelter probably obscured the view of the control site from some directions, and these factors combined with the confusion arising from the prominent unmapped track, caused some runners to lose significant time. Clearly in hindsight I should have asked the start team to warn those setting out on courses 1, 3, 6 and 7 about the changes around this control. I apologise for not having not thought to do this in the first place, and by the time I had visited the site with one of the early complainants, and returned to download, it was too late.
But things continued to develop. All competitors found and punched the control, but later finishers told us the control kite had been hidden (although the control box and cane were still in place). Michael and I went out to take a look before the controls were collected in and found the control kite cane and SI box were nowhere to be seen. So maybe we should have posted a marshal at the control.
Eliminating the leg time to control 105 on the affected courses seems the appropriate way to address this issue and although this changes the order of finishers in the individual results, the results of CompassSport competitions are unaffected.
Organisers Comments
I hope you all had a great Compass Sport Heat; the weather I ordered did in fact turn up with a little more breeze at times.
Thanks to all my team who sorted all the little issues with dibbers and on the day entries. Also, to those few people with dibber problems you were understanding with helping download deal with the information changes.
Towards the end of the day, I was made aware of a problem with one particular area of the map and a control that had been affected by recent changes to the forest. This was local young people who had created a bike route and encampment very close to control 105. This control was approached from different directions on the 4 courses which used this control. I did receive a complaint and decided after referring to the Rules decided I needed to see the control site, I went over straight away at about 13:30 with the Controller and by the time we got to the control site the control had been taken, this was after the last competitor had been to the control site. There were as we approached a large group of young people messing around and there was recent work on the bike route digging holes and creating ramps. None of this construction had been undertaken when the site was tagged and checked earlier in late January. The controller had obviously seen the bike route when waking the control and checking the site on Sunday morning, but as at this point there were no one around, he made the decision that as the control and pit were correct he at this point saw no need to make any changes. I ask the SI team to review all course that were affected by the leg into control 105 and after assessing the full effect that removing the inward legs to control 105, I decided the best option was to remove this leg from all 4 courses, This had changed some competitors position in the results, but did not change the overall club competition positions. The control site had been affected by the group of young people and their bikes at different times during the day but not continuously, unfortunately the overall effect was that at times the control was not fair for some competitors.
I hope you all can see we the event team have looked at today’s issues and if you need further clarification please get in touch. I have now handed the final confirmation of the results over to the controller to confirm this is the fairest result for all.
Once again thanks to all the help from the East Anglia clubs, the Start team from WAOC, registration, download and control collection from NOR, SOS, SUFFOC and HAVOC. Organising a large regional event is never easy, but I had a lot of great help along the way, special mention to Peter Woods the controller who has been a continuous help with Website and entries throughout.
Michael Chopping (NOR)
Planners Comments
I think it is easier to plan in Brandon Country Park than in some of the other East Anglian forests. Although there are plenty of paths, there are also several earth features and even some contours.
All the longer courses (1-6) had to cross the heathland in the centre of the area, and I tried to make some route choice across this long leg. Some of this was compromised at the beginning of February (after I had sent my final courses for proof printing) when 4 of my control sites were vetoed by Forestry England. I then had to make some last-minute tweaks to adjust all those courses. I’d love to see more routes on Routegadget.
I am sorry that control 105 was problematic, but I don’t feel responsible for the actions of some young people on the days leading up to and including the day of the event. I guess that is a hazard associated with half term. Hopefully the controller and organiser’s resolution in light of this issue will be acceptable to the majority of competitors.
I’d like to thank the following:
· My controller, Peter Woods for his excellent help and guidance with course planning and control siting.
· Phil Halford the mapper.
· My family members, Rod and Bronwen for being my chauffeurs for preliminary visits to the area and on the weekend of the event itself.
· Bob Hill of WAOC for dealing with permissions with both Forestry England and West Suffolk Council.
· All the volunteers from across the region who helped put the whole event together, particularly Michael Chopping as event organiser.
The weather was a dream; with the recent wet and cold spell I had visions of getting really cold setting out the controls but instead was wandering around in shirt sleeves. Not bad for February, and I even heard reports of ticks – so do check!
Thanks to all participants and I hope you enjoyed the courses.
Congratulations to the teams qualifying for the final – HH, NOR, LOG and SUFFOC.
Sarah Mansel (SUFFOC)
Controllers Comments
Firstly, my thanks to Sarah who planned an excellent set of courses and who was always one step ahead throughout the planning process, making myjob as controller an easy one. Thanks also to Michael Chopping for taking on the Organiser's role at relatively short notice.
But the focus of this report is on control 105, which was used on four courses (1, 3, 6 and 7). Prior to the day of the event there was nothing exceptional about this control site - the bike trail did not exist nor were there any signs of amateur earthworks or shelter.
When I visited the control on my checking loop at about 9:30 am, the site was deserted. I did notice the shelter but did not realise the extent of the newly created track, and the control was hung above the pit (noy down in it) and seemed to be readily visible. Sarah mentioned
she had spoken to a couple of young boys who told her they were notstayin g (and indeed they had left before I got there).
By the time the first starters reached the site a larger group of children had evidently turned up. The presence of these kids so close to the control was a distraction, the shelter probably obscured the view of the control site from some directions, and these factors combined with the confusion arising from the prominent unmapped track, caused
some runners to lose significant time. Clearly in hindsight I should have asked the start team to warn those setting out on courses 1, 3, 6 and 7 about the changes around this control. I apologise for not having not thought to do this in the first place, and by the time I had visited the site with one of the early complainants, and returned to download, it was too late.
But things continued to develop. All competitors found and punched the control, but later finishers told us the control kite had been hidden (although the control box and cane were still in place). Michael and I went out to take a look before the controls were collected in and found the control kite cane and SI box were nowhere to be seen. So maybe we should have posted a marshal at the control.
Eliminating the leg time to control 105 on the affected courses seems the appropriate way to address this issue and although this changes the order of finishers in the individual results, the results of CompassSport competitions are unaffected.
Peter Woods (WAOC)