This double-header Championships weekend had something for everyone: a sprint on Saturday afternoon in a fine weather, and a Middle Distance bush course on Sunday morning in somewhat less fine weather.
NavDash7, State Sprint Championships
Christchurch Grammar School & Methodist Ladies College
Saturday 26th July
A fine but cool day made for perfect conditions for the Sprint Championships, held on the Christ Church Grammar School /Methodist Ladies College map. This was only the second time the map had been used, the first being for the National Sprint Championships in 2023.
The map has areas of detailed buildings, with narrow alleys and stairs, and other less complex areas where speed can come into play. The Setter, Oliver Martin, provided plenty of challenging route choice dilemmas and a mix of fine technical detail and larger scale navigation.
The Open Mens Champion for 2025 is Liam Dufty with a time of 16.55. It was a close race with three runners being within a minute of Liam – Sten Claessens, Lachlan Braid and Joseph Coleman.
Another close race was M18, where the top three competitors finished within 53 seconds and Eckart Bosman took the win.
The Open Womens class was won in 15.25 by Kate Braid, recently returned from competing in JWOC in Italy. Amy Dufty took second place in 16.34, and Ceri Pass was third.
Many thanks to Setter Oliver Martin, Controller Anthea Feaver, and Organiser Rosalie McCauley. Thanks are also due to those who helped out on the day – Christine Howitt, Ken Brownlie, Robert Boekelaar, and Tom, Vicky, Archie and Fraser Brownlie.
Results are available on Eventor.
Upload your track to Livelox and compare your route choices with those of your fellow orienteers.
Bush9, WA Middle Distance Championships
Lovers Ridge/Gnoonabbin
Sunday 27th July
An ice-encrusted car in the main street of Toodyay raised hopes that clear skies might last until the afternoon but it was not to be; rain started shortly before competitors began arriving at Gnoonabbin/Lovers Ridge. Then it progressed to heavy squalls and the temperature stayed close to 10C but the chatter in the pre-start shelter was all cheerful.
This part of the map does not offer many technical navigation challenges, so the planners focussed on using a variety of terrain and as much route choice as possible, including on the short legs. The severe weather probably added to the technical challenges. Livelox shows a considerable number of undesirable “deviations” as well as the range of routes taken. Winning times on most courses were comfortably within OA guidelines.
Courses 1 and 2 had two moderately long route-choice legs. Their second leg had a choice of going across numerous gullies or sweeping wider and taking an extra contour of climbing to avoid gullies. The latter was little used but appears to have been significantly faster, and it prevented some of the errors amongst the gullies. The mid-course long leg had a choice of winding creekline or gully crossings (or a mixture). Those choices seem to have made little difference. A longer, sweeping flat-then-down route through open forest, with obvious attack points, might have been quicker for fast runners but it was largely ignored.
The event ran smoothly thanks to many willing volunteers. Chas Lane assisted Mike with control-site checking. On the day John and Janine Taylor arrived early with the toilet and left late. Janine also assisted at the start grid. Paul Dowling brought the caravan to provide shelter for administration, and helped with set-up and dismantling in the rain. Melinda Richards calmly handled all the IT requirements before, during and after the event. Richard Matthews organised bog-free parking and Nicole Davis waited patiently to welcome and instruct the newcomers who didn’t materialise. Many others assisted as needs arose. Due to the weather, presentations and control collection were postponed to dates to be determined.
Controller Mike Howe, course setter Ian Fletcher and first-time co-setter Tucker Ellery enjoyed preparing the courses and appreciated competitors’ comments afterwards. Jan Fletcher was event organiser.
Results are in Eventor.
Upload your track to Livelox and compare your route choices with those of your fellow orienteers.
Photos: by Rohan Braid, Sue Dowling and Liisa Hirvonen.
Ngalak kaaditj nidja Noongar Boodjar. Koora-Yeyi-Kalyakool.