THE PUNCH

June 2001

Editorial

I've tried to adapt this online version so that you can follow the links from where I found the information to put in the printed version of The Punch.I

I've included information about the types of orienteering events available. If, like me, you wondered what the local club’s abbreviations stand for, click on this link .

I’d also like to welcome new members to Suffoc club...

David Hill
Walsham le Willows
Bury St Edmunds

The Smith Family
Bury St Edmunds

Ian Price

Chairman’s Chat

My contribution in the last edition of Punch swiftly became irrelevant with the arrival of Foot and Mouth and the consequential cancellation/postponement of just about every orienteering event in the Country.

With both Rendlesham and Shrublands needing to be called off our Spring/Summer event calendar was effectively ‘zapped’. The next scheduled event in Suffolk at present is at Sutton Common on November 4th !

Do spare a thought though for John and Bert , our Rendlesham organiser and planner and for Paul who had just started to plan the Shrublands courses. Event officials put in many hours in the months running up to these events in order to ensure that we get a good fair competition. It is so frustrating after all the effort not to have the satisfaction of staging the event – thanks guys for your commitment in dovetailing these tasks around normal family life.

There is still little point in trying to anticipate when we may be allowed back into areas to plan and run serious events. All clubs in the East Anglian region have agreed that we needed to follow the guidance coming from BOF – the fixtures will be curtailed for the foreseeable future until such time that MAFF lift restrictions regarding access to the countryside and the respective landowners are happy to invite us back. Realistically there will probably need to be a 6 week gap between being given the green light to hold an event and getting an event staged.

Sadly it now looks as if it will be August at the earliest before we can orienteer in Suffoc land. We are approaching land owners of some of the parkland areas around Ipswich to see if they will allow some low key orienteering for club members. If we are successful we will post details on our web site and circulate details via our email distribution list. If you are not on email please ‘phone a friend’ who is.

So for the next two months we will probably have to fall back on previous Summer pass times – the garden, the beach, home decorating, even shopping. Have fun – see you in the autumn !

Clive Coles

PICOVER

The club now has PICOVER, a computer suite which is an aid to course planning and controlling. The software links the map to the courses to produce description sheets, in either international hieroglyphics or plain English, including course lengths and climbs, master maps if needed, and punch checking sheets if you are using pin punches. Alternatively it will load the course and class information into SportIdent if you are using electronic punching.

The great thing about it is that if at a late stage you decide to change a course, it changes everything that matters in one go, reducing the chances of silly errors. Once you have found your way about the software and the logic it uses, it is quite simple, but it is a bit of a struggle the first time. I am therefore proposing running a hands-on course for half a dozen or so people in September or thereabouts. If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible, so that we can sort out a suitable time and date. If the places are oversubscribed, preference will be given to people who are already committed to planning, organising or controlling an event in the near future.

Each person on the course will be given a map on which to plan a couple of courses. They will then be guided through the complete process for setting up their courses for either a conventional pin punch event or a SportIdent electronic one.

John Webb

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Notes from BOF Council Meeting - 19th May 2001

[Back in February I was approached, by the chairman of BOF, to stand as one of the 4 BOF Councillors. Councillors are elected annually, at the AGM, to represent the views of the membership. In recent years Councillors have been hard to find; by the closing date for nominations this year, only 3 members had been proposed, so I was elected without a vote. Would anyone like to stand for the remaining vacancy?]

At least 10 minutes spent discussing whether Technical Committee should be renamed Events Standards Committee. Decision deferred!

Coaching Committee has no chairman, no-one having been found to stand. Any offers?

The Foot and Mouth Crisis is costing BOF about £2000 per week, mainly in lost levy. BOF membership has hardly been affected, but it is appreciated that local members will have found other things to do. Once orienteering restarts in earnest (there are already a few colour coded events), clubs will need to publicise their activities to get local members back.

The JK and BOC 2001 events will now be run as JK and BOC 2002. The original BOC 2002 will become BOC 2003, filling the gap created when EAOA couldn't find a suitable area.

If Foot and Mouth permits, BOC 2001 will now be held at the rescheduled Newborough National Event on 21st October. An announcement about the Scottish 6 Days is due at the end of May; signs are currently positive.

The Junior Inter-regionals are now pencilled in for 3rd/4th November.

The BOF AGM, convened at Easter in the Forest of Dean, was not quorate, so had to be postponed. It is now proposed to hold the AGM on the Saturday preceding the Newborough National Event/BOC2001, on Saturday 20th October 2001.

Also on 20th October a Club Delegate Conference will be held to discuss the proposals put forward by the recent Membership Working Party, including the recommendation that regions should be funded by clubs, rather than by individuals, as per the EAOA model, and that non-club members should be charged an extra £1 at colour coded events.
The Club Development Conference, to be held on 23rd June, will concentrate on how clubs can recover after Foot and Mouth. Publicity Officers are encouraged to attend.

Dick Towler (NOR)

EAOA AGM
The AGM was held on Friday 18th May in Newmarket. The minutes will be posted on the Internet and here in The Punch when available.

Master Cup
BOF Council have approved that there will be a Masters Cup for age classes 35 and above. It was intended that this would run from January 2002. It will utilise National Events, the British Night Champs, The British Champs as well as the JK.. Further events will be added to make up the agreed number each year and to provide a fair geographical spread. The fine details of the Cup are yet to be formalised.

To add some interest to Autumn 2001 there will be a Masters Cup competition running from September to Christmas 2001. Look for the details in the next BOF mailing list. Any queries on the Cup should be directed to Peter Guillaume, Chair of Fixtures at p.m.g@btinternet.com

 

Events

Date e? Club Event Type Venue
Jun 10th EAOA CANCELLED Santon Downham & Santon Warren, Brandon,
Jun 17th NOR Score Haveringland Great Wood, Norfolk.
Jul 15th SOS Relays High Woods, Colchester,
Jul 16th SI SOS Schools Day Wivenhoe Park & Woods, Colchester, Essex.
Sep 15th SI WAOC CATI & Ltd Colour Coded Wimpole Hall, Orwell, Cambridgeshire.
Sep 16th NOR CATI Horsford Heath, Norfolk.
Sep 16th SI HAVOC Colour Coded Epping Forest South West, Essex.
Oct 7th SI SOS Colour Coded & ESSOL Wivenhoe Park & Woods, Colchester, Essex.
Oct 14th NOR Colour Coded UEA & Earlham Park, Norwich.
Oct 21st SI WAOC Colour Coded Rowney Warren, Shefford, Bedfordshire.
Nov 4th SUFFOC Colour Coded Bridge Wood, Suffolk.
Nov 11th HAVOC Colour Coded Weald Park, Brentwood, Essex.
Nov 18th SI WAOC Colour Coded Maulden Woods, Clophill, Beds.
Nov 18th NOR Colour Coded & NOR Junior Champs t.b.a.
Dec 2nd WASH Colour Coded t.b.a.
Dec 9th SI SOS Colour Coded & ESSOL Roman Valley, Colchester, Essex.
Dec 16th NOR Colour Coded t.b.a.
Dec 30th NOR Novelty Score t.b.a.
Abbreviations used:

CATI - Come And Try It (aimed at beginners)
EAGAL - East Anglian Gallopen (regional competition)
ESSOL - Essex Schools' League
EOD - Entry-on-the-day (surcharge)
NSL - Norfolk Schools' League
SI - SportIdent e-punching

SWESO - South & West Essex Schools' League

 

Types of Orienteering Events

EAGAL
The East Anglian Galoppen (EAGAL) is intended to encourage competition within the region, and each club nominates one of its events each year to be part of the series. Both individuals and clubs are awarded points.
EAGAL 2001 has suffered heavily from foot & mouth cancellations, but as most of the affected clubs are able to use events in the autumn instead, the series will continue.

How EAGAL works
Age Groups
Yellow - M10, Wl0
Orange - M12, W12
Light Green - M14, Wl4, W70, W75
Green - M60, M65, M70, M75, W16, W18, W40, W45, W50, W55, W60, W65
Blue - M16, M18, M40, M45, M50, M55, W20, W21, W35
Brown - M20, M21, M35

Scoring
If you run in the correct class for your age and win, you score 100 points. If you run in the correct class and do not win, then your time is divided into the winner's time to find the fraction of the winner's 100 points that you score. If you run one class lower than your correct class, then you score 50 points if you win for your age, and a similar fraction of the winner's 50 points if you do not win for your age.

If you run more than one course down, then you do not score. If you run up a class, then you compete against the first East Anglian in that class, with your time divided into their time to find the fraction of 100 points that you score. If you should win then you score 100 points and the person in the correct age class will also score 100 points. Others in the correct age class always have their time divided into the age class winner's time to work out their score.

At the end of the year, your overall score is determined by adding up your four best scores over the year. You must also have attended a minimum of three events to qualify for overall positions. [new for 2001]
Club positions are obtained by adding up every single point scored by all the members of the club, including those who score under 100, and dividing by the number of units in the club.

Badge Events
Badge events use pre-printed maps and require pre-entry. Entry on the day is usually possible for an extra fee until pre-printed maps run out. Most badge events also provide a basic set of colour coded courses. To pre-enter, use the BOF standard entry form (available from BOF website).

Colour Coded & Local Events
Registration usually takes place between 1000 and 1200 with starts between 1030 and 1230. Courses normally close at 1500. Master maps are normally used. Base event fees in the region are in the range: Seniors £2.50-£3.50; Juniors £1.00.- £1.50.

SportIdent Equipment
Is electronic punching, where used at an event, it is mandatory for all competitors. For such events, senior fees will include a 50p per competitor charge, to cover the region's costs in supporting and maintaining the equipment. Additionally, each competitor needs an electronic tag to identify themselves when a control is visited. Occasional orienteers can hire tags at EAOA events for 50p. Regular orienteers may want to purchase them; they cost about £15 & are available from orienteering distributors and also, at regional events, from EAOA.

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