Planner's Comments

Thanks for coming and competing. From your favourable comments it seems most enjoyed their runs even if some of your O skills were a bit rusty. 

This event started out as a Saturday series event at the end of March. I was just about to order the maps when Boris declared the Lockdown. When the return to O was allowed TVOC had 3 possibilities with Penn as third choice. As this was the only area for which we were granted permission I offered to plan on the basis that it was straightforward to extend the previous efforts. Yeh?

Replan existing courses moving controls that sat in a sea of bracken. Then add Short Green, Blue and Brown. Argh but BO insisted on 2 starts (at least that was the way TVOC interpreted the Covid guidelines). So replan using 2 starts. Then we found out the Woodlands Trust were carrying out extensive thinning operations during September and October. Oh pooh, or words to that effect. We visited in Mid September and had to replan one of the starts (Orange and the Greens). More thinning work resulted in a few amendments and it was time to order the maps. Putting out controls on Saturday we discovered a band of thinning that affected the final legs on Blue and Brown. I had replanned of course in case this happened but we decided it was unlikely! Wrong call! The maps we printed so I'm afraid Brown had one leg through thick brashings and logs and Blue two legs! 

TVOC defected to SI recently and there were a number of teething problems on the morning of the event before the start. Many thanks to Bob and Pattie for putting out controls and activating them or at least trying! My thanks to my usual partner-in-crime Peter who did his usually excellent job as controller and to Nev and Marie-Anne and the usual TVOC team machine for running the event so smoothly. 

I apologise to the older competitors on Short Green for putting them into deep holes that should not have been on the course. I suspect I replanned the course in one of the numerous iterations and I lost the plot. Thanks to Susan for pointing this out. Sorry. Should know better and should have checked any revisions. 

The last but one leg on the techie courses caused some trouble with several making big errors. The leg was a good one, but it was helped by an unmapped indistinct path. I walked the path, left it on the edge of a distinct clearing and navigated easily through to the last control. The veg was spot on. Of course I was not cream crackered and in oxygen debt. One lady questioned my parentage. A good route choice leg. Thank you for making my day....…

Mark Thompson, TVOC