Controller’s Comments

Well done to Warwick University for successfully staging this event and to Iain and Rob for all the effort they put into it. The BBQ was a real winner as well, if you didn’t try this time then you missed out on good value, good quality food.

I heard many appreciative comments on the courses, especially on the little loops and rapid direction changes that Iain worked into the Green and Blue. A few people did comment that they had found their course rather hard but I thought Iain’s courses were very good and provided challenging and fair orienteering in line with the British Orienteering technical guidelines.

I was impressed with how well so many juniors coped with their courses, particularly those who are relatively new to the sport and those who took the opportunity to run up a class. Well done to you all.

One potentially significant issue did arise however, repetition of which would risk the future use of Hay Wood. As you will all now know, a block of Hay Wood is used for archery and was therefore placed OOB to all orienteers. This area was overprinted on the map and spelled out on the map descriptions. Key parts of the perimeter of the OOB area were also taped and labelled to remind people not to venture inside.

I spoke with the chairman of the archery club as he left the wood. He was not happy. He complained that adult orienteers (no children), in full “O” garb had appeared in full view on a regular basis throughout the morning, apparently oblivious to the swish and thud of flying arrows. This disrupted the archery and meant that these competitors were placing themselves at risk of serious injury.

I hope that everyone who did transgress did so unwittingly. If anyone deliberately entered the area, they should think very carefully about what they have done and what the future consequences might be.

Andy Emmerson