Road to RBRR 2018

[kin74]

Still a long way to go but... last day I met some friends who I tried to involve in the next RBRR. The success exceeded any expectations and, actually, four of us are interested in the run. We now started to plan it and set two deadlines:
- October 2017: guess if.
- October 2018: guess how.

I'd like to ask a couple of things:
1. Is a four-person team allowed to run? Have anyone done it before?
2. Do you know if an Italian team ever run?

Needless to say, these are the first two of maaaaany questions I'll ask you in the next months. 🙂

[Tim Hunt]

No problem entering a four man team, we have had a few over the years. I cannot recall a team from Italy ever taking part but someone may be along shortly to put me right on this. Remember that the actual entrant of any car must be a member of Club Triumph. and based on recent experience you will need to get the entries in rapido as soon as the regs are published.

Tim

[kin74]

Thank you Tim, I'm aware of the CT membership and we will provide as soon as we'll solve some problems. Then we'll cross-finger about the entrance.

[Tim Bancroft]

If entering as a four man team, you will need a car that can take four people, Triumph 2000/2500, Dolomite, Herald, Acclaim or Vitesse being the obvious choices.

[thescrapman]

Only issue 4 up is lack of space.

Sleeping across the back seat when3 up is good.

Sleeping with your head on a mates shoulder is no so...

Cheers

[ferny]

I recommend something with a straight six and four doors. Acclaims and Dolomites will be cramped in the back and underpowered for four adults. Tge boots are far bigger for spares and supplies.

Even better would be two cars and six people. Plenty of room for chop and change to ease tiredness and only the car in front needs a navigator if you find it harder than expected.

[kin74]

Thanks for your suggestions. We're still considering every options but - even if I was quite surprised to realize that all the guys I talked to want to run - I'm afraid it would be quite hard to find two more crazy guys.

We currently own two seaters only (I refuse to consider my Vitesse convertible suitable for more than two adults) but we found a 2500 Mk2 which could be fine after some work. We even guess if it would be possible to borrow/rent the car(s) there to avoid the travel cost (and time) to/from UK.

[Saltddirk]

This year entries included a Herald with 4 adults (might have been a vitesse but Im rather sure it was a herald)
I did quizz them about the lack of space but they thought it was OK..

Having said that 3 seems to be ideal, one driving, one navigating, one sleeping....

D

[kin74]

Quoted from Saltddirk

This year entries included a Herald with 4 adults (might have been a vitesse but Im rather sure it was a herald)
I did quizz them about the lack of space but they thought it was OK..

Having said that 3 seems to be ideal, one driving, one navigating, one sleeping....

I don't know if the saloon (was it a saloon?) is roomier, but I'm quite short and I can't imagine to spent hours on the back seat of my Vitesse.
I agree with you about the 3 ppl team.

[Tim Hunt]

Yes Dirk is right and it was an 1147cc Herald as well!! Just shows what is possible.

Tim

[Ian Perry]

Quoted from kin74

Thanks for your suggestions. We're still considering every options but - even if I was quite surprised to realize that all the guys I talked to want to run - I'm afraid it would be quite hard to find two more crazy guys.

We currently own two seaters only (I refuse to consider my Vitesse convertible suitable for more than two adults) but we found a 2500 Mk2 which could be fine after some work. We even guess if it would be possible to borrow/rent the car(s) there to avoid the travel cost (and time) to/from UK.

If struggling for space, you could of course team up with others already here in the UK to make two teams of three out of a team of two and a team of four. Stick together throughout the route, solve each others' problems and swap round between the cars as you want. You'll find everyone on the RBRR is uber-friendly (and not in a private hire taxi sort of way).

I did RBRR a couple of times in the 90s but then stopped owning Triumphs for a bit - now back in the fold and looking forward to the 2018 event

[kin74]

I wonder if anybody here would hire his Triumph for the Run...

I already contacted many car hires but, predictably, they all said no: 2000 miles in a weekend are too much for classic cars which are supposed to run 50-100 miles per day and a potential break down makes the rent economically risky. An enthusiast would better comprehend the situation, assuming that he's prone to let his car driven by a bunch of unknown strangers.

I know for sure that, in the past, some US guys bought a Triumph in the UK just for the Run. It could be a valid option if someone there could take care of the car before the RBRR, but how did they manage the insure it?

[thescrapman]

Could you put a UK car on your insurance?

The American guys insured through Haggartys I think (though they came over for the 10CR) . Another guy used to bring his car over from the US to take part in the RBRR, I think he also used the same company.

I am sure a master plan will slowly evolve and you will be able to do it.

Cheers

Colin

[TedTaylor]

With my group policy with Peter James which includes all my Triumphs I simply add other person (or two) when I need to have extra drivers (like the RBRR).

Not sure how they would react about people from abroad or if it was my car and I was not with it, but PDJ are very understanding and flexible especially where fund raising for charity is concerned.  If I could help on this with them (Peter is a friend of mine) let me know.

MUT

[Tim Hunt]

The other guy from the US to whom Colin refers is Pat Barber. For the 2012 RBRR he came over to co-drive my TR4A. My insurance company (Footman James) was happy to put him on my policy for the weekend and made no charge for that. However, since he did not have a UK driving licence I had to accept a £1,000 excess when he was driving.

Tim

[kin74]

Thanks everybody for your replies, I'll keep working on...

[Matt306]

Quoted from Saltddirk

This year entries included a Herald with 4 adults (might have been a vitesse but Im rather sure it was a herald)
I did quizz them about the lack of space but they thought it was OK..

Having said that 3 seems to be ideal, one driving, one navigating, one sleeping....

D

WE had three in my herald convertible... oh how cramped!

[kin74]

Quoted from Matt306

WE had three in my herald convertible... oh how cramped!

Would (will) you do it again?

[Matt306]

Two of us would... It was our first , I had grand ideas of not using Satnav, we didnt but wish we had!

[kin74]

Quoted from Matt306

Two of us would... It was our first , I had grand ideas of not using Satnav, we didnt but wish we had!

I guess the "nope" guy was the one on the back seat! 😀

By the way, I'm a Satnav fan too: I know that the RBRR purists dislike it, but driving in the night in a foreign country on unknown (to me) streets on the wrong side of the road (!), a reliable reference would help. I read that the previous years a willing guy created a turn-by-turn path based on the official road book and I'd definitely used it.

[RobPearce]

It was the use of satnav that caused us to miss a control stop in 2014 - the only time I've got that wrong. We were relying on the pre-programmed itinerary that somebody provided and, early on the Sunday morning, having just swapped drivers due to tiredness for the third time in that stretch, trusting the satnav instead of reading the road book, we completely failed to register the official control stop two miles on from the layby where we'd swapped over.

(It's probably also fair to say that, if I'd not missed 2012 due to incompetence, I'd have known about the stop and wouldn't have forgotten it.)

[kin74]

Quoted from RobPearce

It was the use of satnav that caused us to miss a control stop in 2014 - the only time I've got that wrong. We were relying on the pre-programmed itinerary that somebody provided and, early on the Sunday morning, having just swapped drivers due to tiredness for the third time in that stretch, trusting the satnav instead of reading the road book, we completely failed to register the official control stop two miles on from the layby where we'd swapped over.

(It's probably also fair to say that, if I'd not missed 2012 due to incompetence, I'd have known about the stop and wouldn't have forgotten it.)

I see your point, the programmed itinerary should be double or triple checked and satnav used cum grano salis.
I just wonder how you could read the road book while driving and with your mate sleeping.

[Howard]

I prepare a turn by turn route for a Garmin SatNav (which I usually make available via the forum to entrants). Its a lot more work than simply entering the control points, but it is always a good idea to have them entered separately to deal with unscheduled breakdowns & road closures.

To create my route I use Garmin Base Camp route planning software and Google Earth (Maps & Satellite views) along with the route book. I check the location of the control points on Google satellite view and from this obtain the lat/long coordinates of each control point. Plugging these into the Base Camp creates the initial direct route which then has to be dragged to match the road book - this frequently involves zooming right in to check the route and is supplemented by frequent cross checking on Google.

When dragging the route, I have to be careful to ensure that the dragged point is on the correct side of the motorway, or it ends up creating a loop where the Sat Nav wants you to track back on yourself....

However IMHO for two person crews this makes driving much easier.

Cheers

Howard

PS I believe that Garmin are the only company whose Sat Navs can still be programmed with a route.

[kin74]

Quoted from Howard

I prepare a turn by turn route for a Garmin SatNav (which I usually make available via the forum to entrants). Its a lot more work than simply entering the control points, but it is always a good idea to have them entered separately to deal with unscheduled breakdowns & road closures.

So it was you, I know that's a time consuming job because I did it for myself sometimes. And it seems that you really did everything to ensure that the itinerary is correct.
If I'll join the next RBRR I'd be happy to use it.

Quoted from Howard

PS I believe that Garmin are the only company whose Sat Navs can still be programmed with a route.

You're probably right, I ended up using a mobile phone whose nav apps are way more flexible than the built-in ones.

It's a cheap option too: it's quite common to have an obsolete Android smartphone which we don't use anymore, just reset it to the factory configuration (hence swiping away all the unnecessary and memory wasting apps) and then install OsmAnd. You now have a satnav who doesn't require a data connection, with free maps update and uploadable routes and POIs.

[kin74]

I'm glad to update this thread with good news: the supposed 4 ppl team downsized to a 2 ppl team. In the meanwhile we abandoned the idea of driving there starting from Italy and we looked for a car to borrow/rent. After many refusals a gentleman offered us his car for a very fair price. We were happy and celebrating when a British friend of mine - who already run a couple of times - proposed us to be co-drivers on his 2000, we felt that this option was more comfortable for two newbies like us and we said yes.

Now, let's wait the November issue!