The 2017 MCC Scatter results

[Jonathan Laver]

So what has happened to the results ? Surely it does not take a week to work them out !  Well the event is about navigating from one place to another and you have to answer questions about each Control location. This year some of the answers recorded by competitors were not what was expected. Foot path signs had been removed, Police signs warning of thieves operating in the area had been stolen. One clue was about a “Black Letter box” and the name upon it. After seeing two competitors with the  “same” wrong answer something might have been amiss. A week later we were out checking at these locations (all over Somerset). Sure enough there were two Black boxes within the grid reference. With a total of over 1700 points available we know that there is only one or two points between the leaders. Hence the need for a physical check so everyone gets the right result. These will be out very soon.

[Paul K]

Any chance of the Excel results sheets being available as per last year?  That's the sheets that show which locations we visited.  I'd dearly like to know why I seem to ride around like a headless chicken whereas other competitors breeze along and tell you about having time in hand  .

The night run I'm reasonably happy with, even though, I managed to drop the bike and spent time straightening the bars and tightening a mirror.  It's the day run that turned into a pig's ear, even though, I didn't fall off in the ford this year.

How do other competitors manage to be so good; discounting the answer that I could be so crap.  It's a mystery to me  .

[Jonathan Laver]

Hi Paul,    Your performance was outstanding and we know just how challenging the event was. Those that visited more controls that you did, did so because they were the best of the best. In the first year, competitors recorded their answers in the order they visited each control. Looking at their answers showed the order/route that they took. For the last two years the answers were recorded in the same order that the map references were provided in, thus matching up with the pre-event information given. The results therefore offer not idea of any of the competitors route. Speaking with most competitors, we are aware of the different systems that were used. These ranged from clockwise, anti-clockwise and linear routes. Setting the control locations, I was worried that it would be pushing those ultra-competitive to move on too quickly in an attempt to visit the maximum number. This year conditions and traffic permitted a maximum of 60 locations to be visited. This is a dilemma – should it be reasonable straight forward to hit the maximum or should it be set so it is not possible. I expect the daytime competitors to stop for a lunch break without indigestion.

[Paul K]

Mmm ... well, the night stage worked to plan B, but the day stage sort of fell apart.  I'm still not sure where the plan for the day went wrong.  Oh well, there's always next year.

On a slightly different tack, I recently competed in the ACU National Road Rally and pulled into the Ross on Wye control, which was manned by two members of the Ross and District Motor Sports Club.  Seeing all the photos on the wall, I asked if they did the MCC trials.  "Oh yes" they replied and regaled me with the MCC trials they had entered, including last years Scatter Rally, which they'd really enjoyed.  Small world.