Welsh Motorsport

NEXT EVENT

TUESDAY 

September 16th 2008

Navigation Run

Organised by Duncan Littler

Experienced organiser Dunx will put on the fifth of his six series championship. Gruffydd Parry heads the championship with a dozen other crews close on their heels. Its far from over. I know Dunx has put a loy of effort into the route, so is asking for new and regular competitors to have a go.

C&A Navigation Runs every 3rd Tuesday, monthly.

Start from Travel Inn (Brewers fayre car parc), Parc Britania, Parc Menai, near the Britannia Bridge.

Starts 7pm. £5 entry fee (just turn up). Maximun of 12 cars.

Need map 114 & 115, romer, pens and a clip board.

Normally about 25 miles long to finish in a pub about 10pm

 

 

Paul Williams plotting a nav run route at the start.

 The official title of these events is a "Treasure Hunt". But in our case the "Treasure" is paper symbols placed along a route, normally about 25 miles long. The route has to be plotted on a 1:50,000 scale OS map (114 & 115 in our case) using a variety of methods. The most common is map references, although some events will use Spot Heights, Grid lines and all forms of "Cryptic" navigation. Don't worry though, everyone plots at the start, and the organisers will help if you get stuck. They have even been known to draw the route in for the newcomers.

Basically these events are a social gathering of members, but in an environment where members can learn more about navigation and the differing forms. An ideal way to tone those skills needed in the left seat on Road and Stage rallies. A navigators MUST!

You can use any road legal car, as these events are timed at about 10mph average speed you can see they are not fast events. Some events in the summer have part of the route "on foot", through woods and parks. This adds to the social side of it, with many members bringing along the whole family, especially young children who love looking for the "Treasure symbols". Come and join us. We'd love to welcome new crews. 

 

August 2008 Navigation Run

The event was organised by Griffy, who used a shorter than normal, 15 mile route from the start venue at Veynol, through the back roads of Y Felinheli, Bethel and Caerhun, symbol spotting ending by Tesco on the outskirts of Bangor, before the run to the finish venue. Nothing too tricky this time, as the event had to finish by 8:30pm, to co-inside with the clubs AGM which would commence inside the Anglesey Arms Hotel.

 Duncan & Merfyn plotting

 The route was defined by Map References to keep things easy. The first symbol was on the hairpin left on the yellow just to the South of the start venue, and then one more or less every quarter of a mile. Once again these took the now common form of "map features" which had to be translated into the english definition from a chart that was supplied. This helped us learn what map symbolic features were, such as "Windmill", "Club House", "Church with a tower" etc. Enjoyable learning technique.

As it turned out, the five crews miscalculated the required pace to complete the route in time, all looking too hard for the symbols, and travelling too slow.

At a cross roads, with 5 miles left, the top 3 cars were bumper to bumper, all on more or less the same score of symbols. Endaf Davies, who was naviagting on a Nav Run for the first time in over a decade, conceeded to allow Lee Matthews to cut route by missing out two loops near the end. They were the only crews to arrive within the time limit, with just 3 minutes to spare.

At that cross roads the two following cars elected to continue the whole route, at a quicker pace. Too quick for Darren Vernon / Sion Matthews who missed a few not-so-easy to spot symbols, while Duncan Littler / Merfyn Williams did find those extra few scores. Both these crews were 3 minutes late at the finish, but the resultant lateness penalties weren't harsh enough to have a bearing on the results.

David Jones / John Roberts clipped a rock sticking out of the undergrowth going down a very narrow road which damaged the steering. They cut to the finish to be classified last.

Results:

1st Duncan Littler / Merfyn Williams                  Focus Estate               770 pts

2nd Lee Matthews / Endaf Davies                    Ibiza                            700

3rd  Darren Vernon / Sion Matthews                Nova                            570

4th  Gwyn Jones / Luke Aormlik                       Landrover                     550

5th David Jones / John Roberts                       Corsa                            OTL

 

 

Big thanks to Gruff for organising. The next run is 16th September. Dunx is the organiser. The previous nav run had 9 crews. We expect even more on the next one.