Southern Championship Details
Final Details
Final details can be downloaded here.
Travel Directions
The A30 and the A38 are the two main Trunk Roads into the county; they meet at Bodmin. Continue westwards along the A30 to Carland Cross Roundabout (SW847540 - the wind farm to your right) that is the end of the dual carriageway - keep in the right hand lane to the roundabout. Continue along the A30 to Box Heater Junction (SW822530) where you should turn right onto the B3285 - signed Perranporth - and continue for 3.6 km to Goonhavern. Turn left on the A3075 for 100m to the double mini roundabout where you should turn right (signed to Perranporth). Travel for 2.2 km on the B3285 to the entrance to Perran Sands Holiday Park; follow local signage. Actual parking directions will be carried out by the local Air Cadets.
Assembly Area
The assembly area for the individual day is compact, adjacent to the parking areas and a "ringside" view of the run-in. There will be room for club and individual tents. The features of the site are shown in the drawing below.
Toilets and Showers
The car park and assembly areas are co-located with at least one toilet/shower block. You are welcome to use the showers after your run - please bring your own towels.
Traders
The CompassPoint and Ultrasport will be in attendance. As the Park is fully open at the time of your visit there are numerous food outlets on site. You will understand therefore that the Park owners would not permit mobile food outlets of the type normally seen at orienteering events. Please patronise the Park facilities.
Enquiries
The enquiries point will be sited in the Assembly Area and will be open from 0830 on 14th April.
Out Of Bounds Areas - OOB
Competitors are reminded that all the area to the north of the Perran Sands complex (that is the caravans) and east of the access road and the assembly shown above is OOB. If competitors wish to run in terrain the only areas available are to the SW of the complex. Please respect some privately owned caravan's privacy. If in doubt, do not compromise your competitive run, ask at Enquiries.
SI Cards
The SportIdent (SI) system is being used. The control unit will bleep and the light on the control unit will flash. If the competitor's "dib" produces either of these signals, the "dib" will have registered on their SI-card. If you are not absolutely sure that you have heard the bleep or seen the flash, go back and "dib" again. The responsibility to "dib" correctly is firmly with the competitor. If you are unsure, or the unit has failed, you must use the backup pin punch attached to the metal stake to record your visit by punching the map unit. Any problems with punching should be reported at download.
Competitors on Course 1 will need a high capacity dibber, as there will be more than 30 controls on your course.
Hired SI cards can be collected from Enquiries in the Assembly Area. Lost cards will be surcharged at £35 each.
Start Lists
These will be displayed on the website and hard copies will be displayed in the Assembly Area.
Courses
Note: Course 1 has more than 30 controls and so a standard SI e-card will not be sufficient. Course 2 has 30 controls and so care must be taken not to punch any other controls - for safety's sake a larger capacity e-card may be advantageous.
Competitors who wish to hire a larger capacity e-card should contact the Coordinator via the contact page and select General Enquiry.
Entry on the day courses
Courses will be identified by their course number. Please make sure you know which course number you will be running.
Drinks on the courses - Refreshments
There will be drinks points in the dunes.
Water will NOT be provided at the finish. Food and hot drinks are available at the Park facilities. Please dispose of your own waste in the containers provided around the site.
Safety & First Aid
Competitors are reminded that they are primarily responsible for their own safety. However, a Safety Officer has a team at his disposal to seek out any lost or injured competitor. We hope his plans are not put into practice. A First Aid team will be in attendance to assist with minor injuries. It is required that full leg cover is worn - marram grass can be particularly prickly and the local patches of Blackthorn will damage bare legs. Dependent on the weather, cagoules may be required (the North Cornish coast can be prone to sea mist and anyone with a memory of BRC 2005 will know it can be quite wet and windy); this will be advised in the Assembly Area. In all cases, however, whistles must be carried. Significant lengths of the longer courses run over military training grounds and picking up of metal objects or ordnance is to be avoided.
If any person is concerned that a competitor is long overdue they should report it to Enquiries who will then take the appropriate action. For information, the nearest A&E department is at Treliske Hospital on the A390 just on the western outskirts of Truro (SW796451), approx 9 miles from the event centre. Maps will be available at Enquiries.
Prize Giving
Prize giving will be in the Assembly Area at 1500 hours. Trophy holders will have been contacted to remind them to return the Trophies to the event organisers. If Trophy holders are not able to return them in person they should arrange for someone who is attending to bring them to the event. Please return the trophies to the Enquiries tent. Please make every effort to comply with this request, as we do not wish to be in a position of having a course winner without a trophy.
String course
We have been challenged to find enough space for a string course close to the Assembly area but we have overcome a few difficulties and we are pleased to say this course will be available on the day. This will be available at no charge.
Dogs
Dogs on leads are welcome in the Park provided they are well behaved and under control. Any fouling that may occur will be expected to be dealt with in a responsible manner. Dogs are not to be taken onto the courses.
Entries
There is no entry on the day to Championship Courses. There is, however, a small range of colour coded courses (White, Yellow, Orange, Long Orange and Light Green) available to non-championship entrants. Registration for colour-coded courses will be at the Enquiries Tent; (£8 Senior and £3 Junior).
Requests for changes (other than error rectification) may be considered although there will be a surcharge of £3 for this facility. Applications should be made to Christine Vince (orienteer999@btinternet.com). Start times will not be changed on the day. Any surcharges remaining unpaid should be settled at the Enquiries Tent.
Results
Simple results will be displayed at intervals during the day in the Assembly Area. Full results will be displayed on the website as soon as possible after the end of the event.
Map
The map of Penhale Sands has been through several incarnations since first drawn by Dale Paget for which he received the Chichester Trophy. Brian Parker, for JK97, made a major redraw and later revisions were added for subsequent events.
Simon Beck has further revised the map for this event in the summer of 2012. The Event and Competition Committee have agreed that all courses will use a 1:10,000 A3 size map - where course presentation may be confusing some courses at A3 will also be split and placed back to back in the one unit. Where a course uses only a small part of the area the map may be printed at A4 size. BOF have approved 1:10,000 maps printed by laser printer. Contour interval on all maps is 5m. On each map there will be boxes in which to punch in the unlikely event that an SI unit fails.
Warm Up Area
A small warm-up area adjacent to the Assembly Area/Parking will be made available - maps available from Enquiries.
Control Descriptions
IOF symbol descriptions will be used for all courses and, where possible, will be printed on the front of the map itself and will also be available in the start lanes. Written descriptions will be available for the 10 and 12 year age groups.
Terrain
The terrain comprises a mixture of fixed dunes and occasional patches of windblown sand. The majority of the fixed dunes is covered in marram grass and short grass - the latter affording an opportunity for very fast running! You may be aware that the whole area is a SSSI - we have been working with Natural England to identify the most important sites - some of these will be taped off (red/white striped tape around bamboo canes). Some of these are marked on maps although they are, in the most part, very small in size. These areas, which are particularly valuable, should be respected - anyone seen violating these areas will be reported - the penalties for wilful damage includes fines up to £20,000 - ouch! We need your cooperation so that we may use this area again along with other SSSI areas in Cornwall.
There is a fence running approximately E-W across the area, which all except the shortest courses will cross twice. You are NOT permitted to cross this fence anywhere, but must use the designated crossings. The crossing points will be marked with red/white tape and marked on the map with the standard symbol.
Starts
The Start will be a short walk from the Assembly Area - less than 15 min and about 500m. Starts will be from 1100 to 1330 with courses closing at 1500.
Finish
The run-in from the penultimate controls will be taped to the Finish and will go through a gate or kissing gate - please take care. Make sure that you "dib" at the finishing line - proceed to the marquee where the usual download facilities will be situated. Anyone with a query will be directed to a "Problems" desk. Hired SI cards should be handed in at this time.
Clothing transfer
The fact that the Start, Finish, club tents and car parking are all so close to each other means that we are not providing clothing transfer arrangements.
Complaints
Any competitor who wishes to make a complaint should in the first instance contact the Enquiries tent in order that the Organiser may be contacted. The procedure for Complaints, and any Protests which arise, is laid down in BOF Rules and Guidelines.