| Organiser’s
Comments No problems
to report... nobody broke a leg on the bluebell-lubricated
slopes, the riding school conducted their lessons
elsewhere; nobody got stung by a bee; the control
boxes all worked; and best of all, the rain
overnight stopped and the sun came out.
We were extremely fortunate
to have the use of Michael Green’s field for
parking and his outhouse for Registration and the
SI/computing team – plus his water, his
electricity and his practical support (like
driving me and all the Start and Finish kit up
the track in his Land Rover!).
It was an honour too to meet
the Club’s Patron, Sir John Cave, who is one
of the landowners on this area. He is clearly
interested in the sport and very supportive of
what the Club does.
I am most grateful to all
the DEVON club members who turned out to help run
the event with demonstrable competence, calmness
and efficiency. My thanks to them, and also to
Roger Green for being the sort of Controller who
also supports the Organiser; he provided much
practical help, materials and advice at every
stage.
Finally thanks to the
competitors for coming. From your comments you
enjoyed the return to Fire Beacon, and the
challenges of John’s courses.
Carol
Pearce
Planner’s Comments
I enjoyed mapping and
planning this event, even though it has been a
few years since I last planned. Unfortunately I
had not been onto the area before the autumn, so
I was unaware of the extent of the bluebells nor
their treacherousness on ‘that very steep
slope’. Indeed what I thought were the most
dangerous slopes proved to be relatively easy. As
a result the Blue and Green courses turned out to
be rather harder than intended. Had the event
been a couple of weeks earlier, these courses
would have been at least 10 mins quicker for the
winner with the time ranges smaller too.
FBH had great advantages for
this type of event. The plateau gave easy legs
for the shorter courses, but there was plenty of
physicality for the longer. However the shape and
size did restrict the long legs and route choice
– thank goodness for the flexibility of SI.
My thanks go to: Roger for
his support; Carol for her ever-efficient
organising; the control collectors (we had
cleared up by 3.30); Michael Green for his
facilities and for allowing me to map his garden
(I very nearly put a control in it); and also to
those of you who shared your (largely
complimentary) comments with me after your runs.
The map will be revised before the Club Champs
with these in mind.
John
Pearce
Controller's Comments
It was a
pleasure to control this event which marks a
return to an area not used for orienteering for
about 15 years. John Pearce’s new map has
made this possible.
In the old
days of pin punches and control cards the big
decision at Fire Beacon was ‘do we go round
the area clockwise or anticlockwise?’. With
electronic punching all things are possible and
John devised some interesting and challenging
courses. The courses were a bit more challenging
than intended owing to planning the event in good
time in March and the subsequent growth of all
types of vegetation in the two dry and sunny
months leading up to the event.
Roger
Green
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