MCC Scatter navigation Rally 2018

[Paul K]

Jonathan, thanks for organising a brilliant event.  This year, I've don't recall seeing such a variety of wildlife; the only animal missing was deer, but that is all for the good.

I still don't understand why the event doesn't have more entries .  In many respects the rally is tougher than a main trial.  There is the initial planning of a route, which is the equivalent of the 'travelling salesman algorithm' and the constant concentration required to ride/drive the approximately 180 miles of each stage, through mostly narrow lanes.

By comparison, a main trial supplies the route and, ignoring break-downs, can be quite relaxed.

[Jonathan Laver]

I appreciate that you had quite a trial prior to the start of the event – not ideal. It was always going to be a long day and I understand that you had to get back home afterwards.  As for all the wild life you did miss some of it. The evening meal gathering was very cordial but the Clerk of the Course managed to throw a pint of larger over the scrutineer (accidently) which brought amusement to all but Neil !  The Party did go on.

[Paul LeCornu]

Thanks for organising the scatter.

It was a lot harder than i imagined - gentle cruise round somerset, how hard can that be?
I lost count of the missed turns, wrong turns, and footpaths that the plotaroute tried to send me along.
I think i may need to come up with a better plan for next time! (and perhaps check the suggested route a bit better first)

All in all at the end of the first year of events with the MCC all of them have been a steep learning curve, but really good challenges.

Paul

[Jonathan Laver]

Thanks for that Paul - we are part the way though working out the results and it looks like your did better than you thought.

[Jonathan Laver]

The main features of a Scatter navigation rally are the location of the controls and the clues that are set to confirm competitors have visited a specific location. If you ask thirty individuals a question you are likely to get more than one answer, so the questions have to be very specific. As organisers we are caught out every year by the unforeseen. 2018 was no exception. Q. How many miles to Exford. A. Someone has nicked the sign! Another question was regarding a sign upon a foot path which featured a tall brown dog with long ears. Q What animal features upon this sign. A. a deer!  The answers are in themselves an indicator to the results team and not disallowed because it was not what was expected. In 2017 one of the controls was a remote car park and the question was regarding a warning sign. Unfortunately, the post upon which the Caution thieves operate in this area sign had been taken and the sign thrown in the hedge. We also used a layby information sign of which half the competitors said it was not there and half got the correct answer. The explanation turned out to be an HGV was parked against it. The 2018 provisional results have now been completed. For the first time the guys upon two wheels performed better than those on four - good for them !