2017 Essex Winter Rally - 19th November

[sparky_spit]

The 2017 Essex Winter Rally – 19th November  – “Sand, Sea and Herrings”

The 10th edition of the Club Triumph Essex Winter 12 Car Navigation Rally will be running again this year in November, on Sunday 19th.   This is the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning using your Triumph in an event which can be as competitive as you want it to be, as there will be a Beginner “Touring” class as well as the usual Expert and Novice classes.

The title above gives some hints as to where the route this year might take you; suffice to say that we will be visiting some of  the more coastal and “watery” areas of Essex and southeast Suffolk.  The event is being run over a wide mix of roads; some nice flowing roads, interesting little lanes, etc., none of which are damaging to your car. In previous year’s events we have been blessed with some perfect, crisp, early winter sunshine and some great close competition, and this year’s event is hoped to be just as good.

The start location is in Brightlingsea, Essex, which is on the coast to the east of Colchester, and the finish location is very close to a main road which gives easy access to the A12 both north and south. Start times are from 10:00am and there should be approximately three and a half to four hours of driving before reaching the finish. There will be breakfast available at the start, a Sunday lunch in a pub at the finish, and about 75 miles of navigation and driving between the two.  The route will be the same for novices and experts, but with the navigation clues being different to suit the differing skill levels. If you do not wish to, or are not able, plot the navigation yourself for the route you can always enter in the Beginner class. The Beginners will get a marked-up copy of the map to use, and can opt to answer some treasure hunt type questions as they go round, with the chance of winning a bottle for the most correct answers.

This event is always very popular, strictly limited to 12 cars, often oversubscribed, and is suitable for raw beginners and seasoned crews alike. Have a look at the Regulations, which long with the Entry Form, are available to download below and, if you fancy a great morning’s competition, get an entry in straight away.

The Regulations and Entry Form are available here:

[Rutty]

SEPT is this how they say November in Essex.  

[Rutty]

Quoted from sparky_spit

[b]

In previous year’s events we have been blessed with some perfect, crisp, early winter sunshine and some great close competition, and this year’s event is hoped to be just as good.

You forgotten we needed a boat on one event

[thescrapman]

Quoted from Rutty

You forgotten we needed a boat on one event

Ah yes, the Essex "Water" rally.

The fords went up over a foot between checking at 8am and car arrival at 11am, except for the one that was already over 10ft when I checked the day before.

[sparky_spit]

Glad you saw the error....   Just checking on your observational skills 😉

I'll correct it I think.

If you remember correctly, the Essex Water Rally was organised by someone else.  No chance of floods on mine  

[mikeyb]

19th of Nov is a bad choice of date for me.  It's Ivi's birthday, so I guess I may be otherwise engaged  

[thescrapman]

Quoted from mikeyb

19th of Nov is a bad choice of date for me.  It's Ivi's birthday, so I guess I may be otherwise engaged  

I just despair of your lack of imagination.

Offer to take her out for a drive followed by a nice lunch. Nothing untrue in that.

Plonking the map on her lap may be a bit suspicious, but it is too late by then

I too am busy that day sadly, so probably not able to take part.

[G_Cam]

Quoted from mikeyb

19th of Nov is a bad choice of date for me.  It's Ivi's birthday, so I guess I may be otherwise engaged  

Aye Aye.. Nudge Nudge Wink Wink   😉

[Ellis]

Charlie & I should be there... thought I was going to miss this one Mike, but changed arrangements and have managed to keep it clear!

[richard w]

19th November's good for me. Don't have a co-driver yet though 🤔

[Rutty]

I hope to do this one. Pete has just got to see if he can take the time off work. It could be a couple of weeks till he knows.

Mark

[Clive]

Lucy and Gill have had a game of rock/paper/scissors. Looks like Lucy is going to be the nav on this 🙂 Think she may be a bit rusty though.....

[Radders]

Count me in for this one. Just need to find a navigator due to most of the Essex crew being on domestic duties. 🙂

[richard w]

I'll navigate for you Steve if you want.

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I'll be there, but with Joe as nav rather than AJ.

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I'll be there, but with Joe as nav rather than AJ.

[thescrapman]

Quoted from Jonny-Jimbo

I'll be there, but with Joe as nav rather than AJ.

Have you and AJ fallen out after that 45 right Saturday night??

[Jonny-Jimbo]

Haha, no, she's got a family engagement thing.

[Radders]

Quoted from richard w

I'll navigate for you Steve if you want.

I'll take you up on that Richard. 🙂  Pm sent

[Radders]

Entry in post today from Radley/Warr  

[sparky_spit]

Two entries have now arrived:

Tim Dafforn/Simon Long - TR6 - Beginner
Clive Senior/Lucy Senior - Toledo - Novice

_____________________________________________________

Also, just a reminder of the general rules and format for the event (which have been in place since 2015), copied from the Rallies/12 Car Navigation Rallies section of the website:
12 Car Navigation Rallies - There will be 3 classes in which you can enter: Beginner, Novice and Expert.  All entrants, regardless of class, will drive the same route.

Beginner Class - The Beginner class is a non-competitive touring class and is for those wishing to participate in the event without having to work through the navigation clues. Anyone can opt to run as a Beginner. Beginners will be given either a marked map or a list of map references to plot on their own map, and the individual organiser will decide with you which of these you will use. The route will be exactly the same as the other classes, and driven in the same direction. To add interest there will be questions given to you to answer as you drive the route, or you will simply note down the code boards along the route the same as the other classes; this will be decided by the organiser. No competitive Championship or Challenge points will be awarded in the Beginner class, but you will be given start and finish points as appropriate.

Crews who normally run as Expert or Novice can opt to run as Beginner if they wish, but will not gain any points for use in Championships and the Challenge, except start and finish points as above.

Novice Class - Novice clues will be different to the Expert clues and they will be simple and straightforward with no tricks. If needed, you may be given general discretionary help with plotting or specific navigation queries.

Expert Class - Expert clues will be a significantly harder and may include a small number of very tricky (but still workable) clues, and reasonable measures to stop Experts from having excess time to drive alternative possible routes.

Clues for Novice and Expert classes will be very clear in their meaning with no scope for different interpretations. For example, terms such as "best not to" and "try to" will not be used and terms such as "must", "mandatory", "must not" or "forbidden" will be used.

Additional route proving information may be used, as well as additional information on code boards. For example, the number of bells at the "?? Bells Pub" could be a question for Novices. The same question given to Experts could also provide the 6th digit of the map reference of the next navigation clue, as could an additional character to be found on a code board. There may also be bonus points awarded for these answers which will help provide a tie break, if required. The use of such navigation questions and additional code board information is up to the individual organiser to use or not, and its use will be clearly stated in the Final Instructions.

Scoring will remain as is currently used for Expert and Novice classes, and as stated in the Final Instructions.  Beginners will be given a score within their own class, based upon their accumulated points, purely for their own interest and enjoyment. Experts and Novices will have any bonus points used for tie breaking purposes, if this method is being used by the organiser.

Championship and Challenge points for Experts and Novices will remain as is currently used. Beginners will not be awarded Championship and Challenge points.

Dummy code boards may be used and it will be made clear to entrants that they may be encountered, and that the fact that they may see a code board does not necessarily mean that they are on the correct route.

Panic Envelopes will be used so that Experts can continue the event if they fail to find or work out the answer to a next-junction dependent question, and in case Novices get really stuck with the navigation or become lost. The envelope will only contain the location of the next control.  The penalty for opening will be such that entrants would not open it purely to gain an advantage; normally 3 fails per envelope. The Final Instructions will state the penalty given.

Promotion.  A navigator will move up from Novice to Expert once he or she has had 3 wins within the current class in CT 12 car events, or in similar events with other clubs. A driver will run at whatever class his or her navigator is currently at.

Final Instructions will include a clear statement of what format the event is going to be and be very clear on how the scoring, bonus points, and tie-breaking will work for the event.

Crew members will be limited to 2, even for the Beginner class, to comply with the MSA 12 Car Navigation Rally permit.

Entries will open with publication on the CT Forum, Comps website and (where possible) within Club Torque.  There will be a 10 day period in which Expert and Novice entries will take precedence over Beginner entries. This is to allow entrants who are trying to gain points in the Championship or Challenge a better chance of a place if there were to be a high number of entries for the beginner non-competitive touring class.

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I got my copy of the map through the post today (found a brand new one on eBay for a few quid with free postage!), and the area we'll be covering is going to be somewhat limited being as half the map is water!

[Radders]

Quoted from Jonny-Jimbo

I got my copy of the map through the post today (found a brand new one on eBay for a few quid with free postage!), and the area we'll be covering is going to be somewhat limited being as half the map is water!

That's ok Jon, most of the area that we covered last year was underwater as well. 🙂

[Jonny-Jimbo]

Feel a bit short changed by OS. Couldn't they have drawn some sea monsters on there etc as well to liven things up a bit?

[thescrapman]

That was All land a few thousand years ago. Like the fens we have plans to drain it at some point.