Welcome to the WightO
WebO.
Map sales at Firestone Copse.
You are standing by the map
sales car. You need to decide which course you are going to do. You are going
to do a short Yellow course. The courses range in physical difficulty, length
and technical complexity from Yellow (easy, e.g. along almost level paths
which are no problem for beginners), to Blue (hard, e.g. point features in
the middle of nowhere at the top of a 100 metre hill after a 1.6km run from
the last control around a marsh). If you feel you would like to know more,
here is more information on colour coded
and other courses.
Right, you have just paid your
£2.50 (£2.00 for members) for your map, control description sheet
and yellow control card. Keep them carefully. If you loose the control card
you cannot get a result in the event. If you loose the description sheet
you may still be able to finish, particularly if you take a tip from the
experienced orienteers around you and copy the control codes into the boxes
on the control card. Don't forget to write your name, club (for us locals
that's WightO), class and car registration number on the card, don't forget
to fill in the stub too.
Why do we want to know all that? Your name and club are so that your performance can be recorded in the results of the event and published in the next newsletter. Your class is so that you can compare your time with others. Finally, your car number is so that if you don't report back and your car is left then we will know who to look for.
I am in class M35, you can guess how old I am. Women should prefix their class by W, e.g. W21. This will tell you more about classes.
If this is your first time at an orienteering event and all this talk of control cards is too much for you then the best thing to do is to ask one of the experienced orienteers, I'm sure you'll recognise one, they're the ones who look as though they know what's going on! See? There's one! Now go on, don't be afraid, ask them about the tools of the trade. If you been orienteering before, then how about looking at WightO's very own One-page Guide to Simple Orienteering?
Ok, it's time to look at the
map you have just bought. Here it is, Borthurst Woods.
Like all orienteering maps, it is very difficult to see all of it at once!
I have pre-marked it in the style used at major events just to make things
easier. At a local colour coded event like the WightO Web-O you would normally
copy the course from a master map such as this onto your own unmarked map
just after you start.
The start of the course is marked by a triangle, the controls are marked by circles and the finish is the double circle. The course is marked by lines from one control to the next. The lines are not the route you are expected to take. You can choose any route you like, it's up to you to select the route that suits you best.
Your run will be against the clock; we will time you carefully. Walk or run, jump or crawl - get round anyway you can.
You are now standing by
the map sales and registration car. You are in the timber loading area which
is at the top of the triangle on the map below. When you have studied the
map go to the start and get under way. To get to the start, so a little way
south along the track. When you get there introduce yourself to the starter
and he'll see you get away promptly.
Go on, get on with it!
Point and click your cursor on the triangle on the
map. That will get you to the start of the WightO Web-O. Don't
forget to take your map, control card, description sheet, compass and whistle
with you!
This website and all photographs and maps are © Wight Orienteers 1997