2004 VATC Nav Rally

Report

After 5 pre-drive trips to set out the rally and many night shift hours staring at a computer screen the weekend had arrived when all was to come together, hopefully. After getting away late myself, Acacia and Steve Schafer arrived at a vacant Nash Creek Campground just before midday. Not long after the friendly local ranger arrived and after some light conversation he was on his way leaving us with rubbish bags, clean fire pits and fresh toilet paper in the not so fresh long drop toilet.
Once we had set up camp and had a fire started Steve and Danni arrived so myself and Steve set out to pre-drive section 1. Tracks were very good until the rain started half way through the drive which changed the conditions considerably. With some minor adjustments made to the notes and some track maintenance tasks carried out we returned in just under 7 hrs. Not bad seen we spent nearly two hours mucking about with the notes and the tracks.
 

Upon returning to a very wet camp a few teams had already arrived including Jason, Hazza and Kevin with the BBQ trailer. Jason ran through the theory of the skills day for thos ethat hadn’t done it while others kicked back around the fire. With plenty of competitor discussion about what to expect the following day myself, Steve and Kevin headed out and pre-drove section 2 without any hiccups and were back at camp within 2 hrs. With the time pushing well into the am hours everyone retreated to bed eager to see what the weather had in store for us come sunrise.
Saturday brought clearer skies with no rain! Once Jason had completed the practical part of the skills day scrutineering was carried out with all teams showing up with all the mandatory equipment, well done! Following this was the days briefing then teams were asked to be in their vehicles ready to start. Before the teams were given their notes for their stage they were asked to carry out a navigational exercise. This involved entering a lat/long waypoint into their GPS, converting it to UTM/UPS, plotting it on a map as a grid reference and then answering three questions. The questions were what was at the grid reference, how far away is the grid reference and what was the bearing of the grid reference. Without being able to answer these they were not allowed to start.
With some teams needing a little guidance the correct answers were given and all teams were on their way by around 2pm, either on section 1 (approx. 6-7 hrs, yeah right!) or section 2 (2-3 hrs). The 4 teams who headed out on section 2 returned after just over 2 hrs but all missed numbers as part of an observation question and a secret checkpoint. Team NFI had a handicap of a GPS that kept dropping out and having it set on the wrong map datum that was apparently my fault!!!!
While back at camp the 4 teams completed a novelty called “Where is that Bow Shackle?” This involved them getting 10 items out of there vehicle as quickly as possible and then jumping back in with seatbelts on before the clock stopped. After this, and with my GPS now in the Team NFI vehicle, the 4 teams headed out on section 1 not long before nightfall.
Not expecting any teams to return for a few hours and with no one to talk to you I kept the fires going and caught up on sleep while waiting. Around 9pm Wally, Trish and family along with Acacia, Simon and Catherine returned from the compulsory winch stage with news that all vehicles had been through but think there has been a hold up not long after them. About an hour later Team Stressed and The Mobsters returned sporting busted winches. This had held the other teams up a bit along with Team Jackass having some tyre issues as well. The other teams pushed on to where Steve, Scotty and Kevin were manning a down hill obstacle and a novelty. There novelty was “How far away is that anchor point? This involved teams guessing how much rope/cable would be required to reach a designated anchor point. The winner being the closet to the anchor point. A good laugh for those watching.

Eventually teams started returning from completing section 1 after some 10-11 hrs out on the tracks! The first 3 teams back still had the second loop to go but after relaxing for a while were more concerned about sleep for the next day rather than going back out. Team Stressed and The Mobsters, with busted winches, had headed out on section 2 safe in the knowledge they would have radio comms with base if they ran into any problems. This was fortunate as The Mobsters took a wrong turn and found themselves off the track with assistance required. Wally and Acacia took care of the recovery while I waited for the remaining teams to return. With The Mobsters recovered and back at camp the last team to return was Team NFI who went back out on section 2 to run the stage with the assistance of a working GPS. All this and it was now only 4am!!!Bed time for all.
Sunday brought with it another clear day and with breakky, Maccas style of course, and the days briefing out of the way co-drivers were given their notes at 9.40am with 25 plots to chase for the day and 50 bonus points up for grabs for returning before the cut-off time of 1.30pm. Believing a few of us not competing would have some time to relax we proved that theory to be wrong. Myself and Kevin managed to recover 4 very incapable vehicles and equally very silly owners from tracks that the competitors were to drive that day. After finally returning to camp the scores for section 1 and section 2 were tallied up and along with the return of the teams from the plot hunt the scores were totalled and the presentation was held.
Once the fires were put out, the camp was tidied and the vehicles packed the last group of vehicles left at 4.30pm just in time to be home before dark.
The Nav Rally from an organisers point of view was extremely successful. From all reports all competitors enjoyed it and learnt something. The damage report was reasonably small considering the standard of some of the tracks that competitors tackled. Everyone who participated did so in the spirit that is expected at a club event like this with many teams taking time out to help out other teams and others who needed a hand that weren't even involved in the event.
 

Congratulations to Team Alpine, Joe and Mick, who won the event with a total score of 685 pts out of a possible 875 pts for the weekend.

The positions were as follows -
Team Alpine 685 pts
Justhi 680 pts
The Cable Guys 675 pts
Team NFI 617 pts
Team Gonna Be late 542 pts
The Bottomleys 475 pts
Team Stressed ??? pts
Team Jackass ??? pts
The Mobsters ??? pts

1st family home was won by Stu and Nat along with winning the Russel Coight for a blemish on a car that was going to”stay straight and shiny”. Yeah right Stu!
1st Simex team was won by Team Alpine.
Winner of the “Where is that bow shackle?” novelty was Team NFI who completed the task in 1min40secs.
Winner of the “How far away is that anchor point?” novelty was Justhi with a nearest the anchor point measurement of 200mm.
A very big thank you to the sponsors of the event as with out their support it wouldn't have been possible.
 

They were in no particular order -

Frankston Toyota
Dynamic 4x4
ARB Southern
Pro Comp 4x4
Tait Timber Somerville
Tradelink
McDonalds Mornington
Excellent Plating Works Moorabbin

Please support those sponsors that support us.
Another big thank-you to the people that helped. They include -
Kasha, Wally, Simon, Warren, Steve Schafer and Kevin for helping me recce the tracks and map out the entire event.
Wally, Trish & kids, Steve Schafer, Scotty Alison, Trevor Batty & Kevin for running the compulsory winch stage and the novelty on section one.
Jason for organising the catering, Steve Schafer and Kevin for towing up the trailers.
And lastly and certainly not least Kasha for putting up with me while organising, laying the tracks and doing the recces for the event.
Even though nine teams was enough to run the event it would great to see more teams compete as a lot of effort goes into the organisation of an event like this and it would be good to see more people learn and benefit from this.
Once again congratulations to the competitors and the winners.
Cheers, Shane.

P.S. Can't wait till next year to relax and enjoy the event while someone else runs it!!!!

PICS