All change at the Custard-Shed

As some of you know, every bloke needs to have a shed, somewhere to retire to of an evening and tinker with this'n'that. I, like every bloke, have a shed.... however the normal 6'x8' clapper-board shed at the foot of the garden is not really going to cut the mustard when ones tinkering & contemplation is in the arena of motorsport. No, my shed is 2,000 square feet of barn (shared with a classic-car restorer & a man slowly converting a 101 into a camper-van.).... with about a third again occupied by farm machinery & other stuff.

For the past three years, the doors at the west end of the barn (the wider end, and the end with the pit) has been blocked off and we have used the doors at the east end - which has lead to a long narrow workshop, with cars stored either side of the pit.

The farm want to change things around: they want to take over the eastern door and 450 square feet of the floor-space I'm currently using, so I'm taking over 450 square feet of space currently occupied by farm machinery & stuff. As you can imagine, the juggling of things is not easy (given that about the only thing that can be left outside the shed whilst the shuffle happens is my caravan!)

Still, I reckon that we will end up with a better (read "wider") working area, and the space for storing long-term projects (not dead cars, thank you very much) will now be well away from any space we want to work in.

There is some debate, at the moment, as to whether the wee alcove space we have acquired should become a workshop, or have a couple of cars stuffed into it.... but I think "workshop" makes more sense in the longer run.

Still - the shuffle keeps me out the pub :)

The Roger Albert Clark Rally

Whoever says you can sleep in the back of a discovery..... they're lying. Well - either their short, or they're lying! With the back seats folded up and most stuff either under the car on on the front seats... I'm about 18" too long!

I'd agreed to go and marshal on a stage at the rally.... In twiglees, no less (just over the road from Castle O'er)! I combined it with a trip to Forrest Estate to collect the stuff we'd left behind 'cos we'd run out of space to bring it up at the end of take-down. (In the end, I couldn't fit it all in.... there are still a couple of hundred stakes down there!!)
I then drove over to the start of Twiglees, and set up to sleep in the back of the Disco. Whichever way I lay, I just could not stretch out.... so had a broken & fractured sleep - and woke up with cold feet, aching knees, sore hips, and a pain in the small of my back. Mind you - with three layers + padded romper-suit + 13.5 tog duvet, the rest of me wasn't cold :)

Sunday dawned.... as I was boiling the kettle & making a couple of hot rolls. The lads in the van that arrived during the night (I must have been asleep at that point!) told me it had dropped to -8 overnight.... which would explain the ice on the inside of the window :chuckle:

Anyway - it's strange the people you meet on a Rally stage: I wasn't surprised when Big Eck turned up; however the two lads in the van run a garage in the village I live near, and the small bundle of wrapped up person turned out to be Cat Ratter!

The stage itself was largely un-eventful: one car managed to spin it into a ditch a few hundred yards down the road from me (and I'm not build for running!!), however driver & navigator wanted to stay with their car rather than come into the (relative) warmth of my car (and the stage wasn't going to be stopped as the course was passable)..... so I gave them a reflective tabbard and a warning triangle, and left them to it.

The drive home was fine, however the water nozzles for the screen-wash froze up, so I was washing the window with Mr Muscle [need to be below 30mph to spray it sensibly] and having over half-a-tonne on the back of the car made some of the back-road corners.... "interesting".

But it's snowing today, and the world is looking far more fun :D :D

The 2010 Borders Hill Rally

Well, another year passes by, and another damn good event brightens the world for quite a few people.

With the help of Forrest Estate, we had managed to increase the field to 50 entries, and every single place was filled as the cars started the opening round. At one point, we were up to 58 entries for the event, however the second half of the motorsport season retired a few cars, and health issues forced a few drivers to reassess their plans.... but it all worked out in the end!

A huge amount of work by a large number of people saw a brilliant event (the MSA Steward was reported as saying he didn't think he had ever been to a single venue rally that had been as well organised.... and that MSA Steward has been to many events over the years!) Planning takes many forms - from stage routes and the time schedule, to getting everyone into the (tight) service yard & getting the burger van to open for breakfast :)

We set up in three days, with a crew of about twenty people working hard to ensure everything was ready. The weather was not kind - continual rain kept the water levels high, and played havoc with car electrics as wet coats dripped water everywhere....

The event itself was brilliant - I started the day chaperoning a pair of media students who were part of a group filming the event (I think there were a dozen media folk at the event, in all!), then ended up running the Arrivals station for SS5 & SS8 (never done it before, but you pitch in where needed.... and actually it's a doddle to do!)
Sunday was much quieter for me - enabling me to do what I needed to do: go and talk to competitors, and get a feel for what we should be doing in 2011.

Much Kudos to Rupert for making us all do our wee bits & making the whole greater than the sum of the parts; and to Campbell for a stages design that was an elegant use of the limited options. Special mention to Colin, for pulling a slew of new faces into the marshalling pool as well as gathering in some familiar faces (and November is a busy month for marshalling - I'm back down to the Borders area for the Roger Albert Clark rally this weekend!) and to Sharon, for getting everyone into the tight service area (with not much friction, and very few cross words)

As noted above, we had 50 starters. 35 Finished the event... which is pretty good, considering Hill Rallies are about endurance, not outright speed: Preparation is paramount. There are a couple of videos on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jaKO5Qg0Qs is from a regular at the scottish comps, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRriNfA-dV0 is some in-car footage from the new Britpart car (on SS1 - so this is the very first time he's seen this stage. Remember there are no pace-notes, so he's literally driving it as he sees it!)

Results are here: http://www.nersresults.co.uk/html/2010/sb_hillrally/

Takedown was good: John & Diana pulled in most of Sections 2 & 3 by lunchtime on Monday, whilst Colin and I cleared the Rally HQ area (take down the big SLROC marquee & return thirty-odd pallets to the estate workshop-yard.) Tuesday saw a big help from Forrest Estate again, as they send a couple of people off to pull in Section 1, whilst Diana and I took down the smaller SLROC marquee and finished clearing Section 2.
By 4pm on Tuesday, all stage furniture was in; all signage was either away with Campbell or in my trailer; all sticks were away with John or Charlie, or lying ready for me to pick up; and all tents were packed away.

A big thanks to everyone involved: competitors, without whom there would be no event to run; marshals, without whom the event would not even start; the organisers, without whom nothing would have happened at all; and Forrest Estate, who have already asked us back next year (and Brian wants to be '0' car again!)

Bring it on!!!

The Perthshire, 2011

We had our meeting (well - five of us had a meeting & two emailed comments.... and perhaps that is partially indicitive of the problem) to discuss the where-we've-been and what-to-do of a Cross Country event in July.

We know that there are major issues with competitor numbers over the years. Just looking at the raw numbers we can see that: 42 in '07; 36 in '08; 24 in '09; and just 10 entries in 2010!

There are two (maybe three) reasons for this: road legality, VOSA & cars have moved on; its the same old stuff every year & boring now; and maybe one could lay some blame at other events crowding out the space.

1. Road Legality is a big issue: it takes time, effort & money to get a car sorted for an MOT/SVI (the Borders wins from this to a certain extent, in that cars can bypass all that expense and still have some of that "Hill Rally" experience). A lot of the current crop of "Road Legal" cars would get pulled over (it claims its a white 1972 range rover, but it looks nothing like a range rover, and is definitely not white), with the fear of being impounded/crushed by an overly zealous beaurocracy.
   There are road-legal cars, but are they as tough as the old-school vehicles? (and an extra £20K is a lot to spend on a toy!) - not with just one event in the year requiring the toy to be road-legal, there will not be many people who are prepared to go that route.
   
2. The Perthshire hasn't changed in 15 years. Well, yes & no.... and re-read that sentance again: "15 years." That's a long time for an event to run! Yes, one could say that the event hasn't changed, in that we are still using the same core sites that we used five years ago, however one could say the similar things about the Scottish Comps, NORC, AWDC, & even the BCCC (there's very little new ground out there to be had, and unless you have an "in" with the land-owner, most are not interested in a bunch of hooligans ripping their ground to shreds).
   Like any events, the "Perthshire" has been loosing ground: as farms are split-up & sold off; as Land Owners grow weary of the small return for the amount of hassle it puts them through; as farming practices change; etc.
   I have a 2006 Hill Rally mug in front of me - here are the sites that have gone in the last five years: Athron Hall, Candy, Clow, Dollar, Law Hill, Glen Tarkie, Heatheryleys, Knockhill, Lochelbank, Montalt, Rossie Ochil, Struie, Tillyrie. We have been getting new ground - not enough open hill-side for my preference (the clue is in the name HILL rally club), however new ground will rarely be in the same locality as the exisitng sites (not a problem for the comps, but a big factor for a multi-venue event!)
   
3. Being crowded out by other events is another issue: there are, I think, something like 27 "national" comp safari events in the UK. The BCCC is an obvious one, and then NORC, AWDC & the SCCC all cater for competitors from a wide geographical area... and we are all competing for the same 'customers.'
   Competitors need time between events, both to service (and repair) vehicles, and to gather the money to enter the next event. Two weekends is a minumum, three weekends is good, and four if it has been an arduous event. Organisers, therefore, need to plan when they hold events to maximise the number of competitors they can get, whilst also providing the greatest opportunity for competitors to take part in the "major" events.
   Competitors will, obviously, choose which series they prefer, and if there is a dates clash, they will need a lot on incentive to miss an event from their own series.

So where does this leave us for 2011?

Well, there will definitely be no Multi-venue cross-country rally (the classic Hill Rally) in 2011.

I am unsure if there is merit for a Single-venue, multi-stage rally (the sort of event we do at the "Borders") in 2011 - particularly as we share competitors with the BCCC, and there is just one weekend between a BCCC round and the "Perthshire."

We, the Scottish Hill Rally Club, will run something - we need to as history is littered with events that have taken a year or two off, and then lost the date as another organisation has appropriated it.

I think the future for the "Perthshire" needs looked at - we need to go "Bigger" and "Better": We need to go National A; move to be three days; have more competitive milage.... and accept that the cost of the event will go up.
This will require major sponsorship (£1,000 here, £200 there is not enough.... we need to look at £5000+), and a LOT of work!

..... but we (I) need to talk to competitors, to see what will interest them -- Roll on the "Borders"

Three down, one to go....

The final Borders Hill Rally Organisers meeting was a Telecon on Monday evening. Everything is going sweetly: the printing is printing; the stages are sorted; and we have a good set-up crew ready to go. The Response crews are sorted & the fundamental marshal points are covered (but we can always do with more marshals!)

Tuesday evening was a Scottish Hill Rally Club committee meeting - a good turnout of the usual faces, and a useful meeting for us all to get an overview of what is happening with the various events we are running.

Last night was a Scottish Land Rover Owners Club committee meeting, where we had a review of past & future events; discussed the glossy Annual Review and the news-fliers (notice I avoid using the term newsletter in both cases :chuckle: )
Alan proposed a superb idea for linking lots of the club events together... I'm going to say no more on that, other than to say "watch for information on that" - it's a belter of an idea!

Tonight is a meeting to discuss what we do in July... the "Perthshire"

A busy week ahead

Looks like its going to be a busy week:

• The last Borders Hill Rally organisers meeting (a telecon) tonight
• Hill Rally club committee meeting Tuesday evening
  
• Scottish Land Rover Owners Club meeting on Wednesday evening
• Perthshire organisers meeting on Thursday evening
• It looks like I'll need to go to Dundee on Friday evening to work through the service area details with Campbell
• Saturday some of us meet up to load trailers with stakes, arrows & stuff to take down to the Borders

.... and I head down the following Tuesday, to start Setup on Wednesday!

Dunbar trial

An excellent 10 sections - All sections were cleared by someone, and everyone cleared at least one section, yet nobody ended on zero points.

I came second-last on 25, beating Jumplead Jonny by a single point, and a full 21 points behind the winner!

A great day, and it was fun to be on the competitive side for a change :grin:

Setting up a CCV Trial

Just back from Alex's, where we were setting out the sections for tomorrows CCV.

Alex & I did some, and Sharon & Big Eck did some.... and Andrew & Peter set out 10 tyro sections.

Some of the Sections require grunt, some require finesse, and most require you to think three gates ahead.

It's gonna be a good day tomorrow :)

The old 80/20 rule.....

It's always the last 20% of the organising that seems to take 80% of the time!

Tonights task is to review Campbells notes for the course builders (I know this years routes better than Campbell, however if he writes the notes it means he understands the various twists & turns), and to review the Road Book.

I'm reckoning there's about 4 hours work here, which is not a patch on the work Campbell has put in to get them to this state for us!

SACC 2/11/2010

I'm just in from the Scottish Association of Car Clubs meeting.

Not a lot to report, really.... however the Scottish GoMotorsport man came along, so we can hope things improve there.

I'm going to try to get the AutoTest co-ordinator to pop along the the SLROC Boxing Day Bash, and we can see if there's a way to get Cross Country involved in AutoTests (we'd not be interested in the tarmac stuff, but the grass-stuff could be interesting...)

Perthshire 2011

I've been musing plans for the Perthshire for a while now - working out what to do in 2011.

There are a number of alternatives, each with Pros & Cons, and each deserving serious consideration.

1. Run a standard Perthshire: 100 competitive miles over two days - basically re-impliment what we had planned for 2010.
2. Go for broke: Go larger - try to find enough land to run 150 miles, over three days, under a National A Permit.
   
3. Try to emulate the Borders: find the space to run 100 competitive miles in a single venue (or possibly spread over two venues.... but with no road-miles between the sites
4. Do something completely different..... like an AutoCross or an AutoTest
5. Do nothing.... just let the whole thing rest for a year (or two)

Even after three months, I really don't know which way to jump.

Number (1) is dead easy, but lets be honest - are there really enough cars out there? (and the Hill Rally club cannot afford another expense like we took in July 2010)

Number (2) is the preferred option for a couple of people I know.... but this does require us finding new land.... something we struggle with even for the standard Perthshire

Number (3) has the merit that it avoids the whole "road-legal" issue, but (to me) it avoids one of the major tests a Hill Rally throws at you: the Navigators role in keeping Time and Distance under control.

Number (4) is interesting, and something I've already put out some feelers for.... but is it right for us?

Number (5) worries me most: will we be able to come back? Will the land be there? Will the competitors want to come back? Will Cross Country move into a whole new area?

What's needed in the next wee while

Looks like there's a fair amount to do in the next few weeks (apart from the usual fettling of cars & sorting out the shed):

• I need to head down to Forrest Estate to do the road-book, and confirm the stages with Kilty... and talk to the estate about where I would like to do a couple of bits of work
• I need to then go back down again, with my digger-man, to do the work (there's a paper-work trail like you wouldn't believe)
• I need to go into Fanny Hill to do some work I agreed to do post Perthshire, except I need to have copies of tickets (recognised certificates of competence) for anyone who's going to use any form of machine on Forestry Commission ground - and finding someone with a Dumper Truck ticket was really hard...
• I need to go and do a recce for the Comp Safari down at Galashiels, and probably go back to clear some broom/gorse bushes out the way.

No rest for the wicked, eh? :chuckle:

Bathgate

The Barttech Engineering Trophy

Well, the night comp has been.... and what a good event it was too!

With a course mostly designed by Mark Caisley (with Alan Agnew, Davie Stewart & Davie Bartlett throwing in their ideas, and me just ensuring that we kept to the rules), we had five miles of interesting (and different) fun.

In practice, the course laid out was 4.85 miles (as driven once the pegs were in the ground) - giving a 30mph average time of 9 minutes & 36 seconds, and a target time of 30 minutes. Given I had a Doctor, Rescue Unit & Recovery Unit on site, I was able to not panic if people put in times down to 5 minutes 49 seconds.... which is always good to know, and a bogie time nobody was going to break :)

The format for the day was different to our normal schedule: this time we had three sessions, with the competitors putting in five laps in the afternoon, five laps at night, and five laps again on Sunday.... for a total of almost 70 miles!

From the outset, Davie Bartlett showed why he's last years SCCC champion, putting in five consistent lap times, from 9:54 on his first lap to his fastest of 9:21 (basically, an average speed of 32mph)
Hot on his heels, and looking to recover the trophy he won in 2008, Mark Caisley was less than a minute behind him after the afternoon session.

The following pack, all sitting in the 11-minute-lap area, were all the V8's, with the diesels of Ross & Abe Hamilton and newcomer Robert Scott coming in around the 12-minute lap times.

One issue that a significant number of competitors suffered from was overheating... Higel Hails, Mark Caisley, Stu Howe, Ben Gill, Jonathan Barker, Billy Philips, and all three from team Bartlette having big problems.

During the early evening, the heavens opened, and a good inch or two of rain descended upon us. The night stages saw a reduced field
Andi Harrison retreated to replace a diff; Brian Hilditch & Chris Cruikshanks decided discretion was the better part of valour, and racing in those conditions was too risky for them; and Mark Caisley retired, concerned about his engine blowing steam.
Davie Bartlett's charge came to an abrupt end on lap 9, when he broke a rocker-shaft.

When we reconvened for the sunday runs, we were back to an almost full field: only Davie Bartlett & Mark Caisley were not back with us.

Robert Scott ran into problems, with three blown dampers from lap 9, he needed to work fast to get to the start-line in time.

Sunday saw two other retireals: Ross & Abe Hamilton broke their fuel pump and Chris Cruikshanks blew his drive-train.
Billy Phillips managed to finish, however the final lap tore his rear axle from its mounts, and the car came in with a definite sag.... and a spring dangling in mid air!

The man, however, with the worst luck was Chris Sainter: he knocked the end off his oil-filter on lap one (and couldn't get parts until supper-time); knocked his timing out; and then lost his lights. In all, he only managed four laps.... but had an absolute ball!

Congratulations go to Ben Gill, who managed to beat Stu Howe to the win by less that 10 minutes. Full results are on the scottishcompsafari web site.

it's been a busy wee while....

It's been busy, certainly it doesn't feel like two weeks since I put finger to keyboard in this Blog...

Borders Hill Rally
I've been down to Forrest Lodge, to review the stages that Campbell and I planned out on the paper maps. Every road & off-road section has now been driven by me, in the Disco, on road tyres... slicks, as near as dammit.
Every stage is different to last year, and even though the BCCC & SCCC have been there this year, none of the stages match those routes either!
There was one off-road section I didn't drive: it looked blocked from the end, and the possible blockage was just after a soft bit..... so I bypassed it!
I've found a couple of new potential off-road sections, so I need to run them past the estate manager, see what we can do.
The Service Yard is also going to be a challenge: 50 competitors into a 5,000m² yard is not going to be easy - it ain't 100m² each! There's service in, service out & through-service traffic to route... two-way traffic at that!... and each area needs access, so that complicates things too!

Scottish Comp at Bathgate
This is all planned, however there's a crossing I need to put in - so we can link the top & bottom tracks without going round the (badly damaged) duck-pond.
I was out today, speaking to the farmer, about where to cross - and we have identified the place to put the crossing in: close enough to my original plan that the map will suffice, and also good for him when he needs to chase the cattle :grin:
So, I'm booking a minidigger & dumper to do the work next weekend...... except it turns out I've managed to get hold of TWO minidiggers! excellent!
I can now do the crossing (which will need a pipe & several tonnes of hard-core); the buggered track beside the duck pond; and repair the track in the wood!
This is all good, and keeps us in favour with the land-owner!

From the MSA Cross Country meeting

The meeting was good, very enjoyable.

An interesting mix of people, with a range of passions & personalities, so should make for an interesting series of meetings.

We had brief reports from Ian Davis (MSA) and Chris Tomley (chair) regarding general MSA matters:

• There is a review on Stewarding, primarily focused on Karting, but will extend across the board in time
• Cross Country permits are down about 1%, and competitor numbers are down about 8%
• Road Closures are getting a lot of attention, and there is pressure to produce something, but there are no outputs from that group as yet.

The consultation process is being changed
The current process is that:

1. The sub-committee meets & comes up with some ideas.
2. These go to the general council who like it or kick it back.
3. If they like it, it gets published in Motorsport Now & we all get to see it, review it, and write to the MSA to tell them how daft they're being... if not, it goes back to the sub-committee for re-work
4. The consultation report then goes back to Council, who review it, and then....
5. It either goes live, or goes back to the sub-committee to start again.

The new system is both more streamlined, and keeps the focus for rule changes at the sub-committee level:

1. The sub-committee meets & comes up with some ideas.
2. These are then posted to the MSA web site for consultation (http://msauk.org/site/cms/newslist.asp?chapter=276&cat=10).
3. The second sub-committee meeting then reviews the responses from the consultation process. There are either major changes requiring another round of consultation or minor changes & the new rules are passed to Council for ratification.
4. Council meet & then either pass the rules or kick them back as being daft.

Given the time-frame mentioned above, the deadline for Cross Country to get new rules to Council will be June/July, so we are going to move our meetings to Early December & Spring-time.

Challenge Events
We spent a long time (over an hour) discussing Challenge Events. We'd had a long email from someone about the proposed Challenge rules, many of which were centered around the principle that the proposed rules tried to cover both the extreme, frequently-submerged, winching, full-on Challenge events with highly specialised vehicles with 97" tyres, 43 winches, and fiddle/lockable everything; to the gentler events, where winches are not wanted & the challenge is in the navigation, not the terrain.

We have re-purposed (well, just slightly re-worded) the rules for Cross Country Orienteering & they will then cover the gentler challenge events, leaving the new rules less encumbered by the need to support both styles of events.

It will be interesting to see what comes back from that....

Speeds at Comps
We then moved onto comps, and the thought that average speeds had gone up.
Karl Reilly borrowed a speed gun and tested speeds at the BCCC event at Sweet Lamb. He found that speeds were generally about 20% lower than the drivers thought they were, and were about 15% up on 2003. The biggest difference was not the top-end speed, but the handling into & out of corners, and the improvements in suspension that allowed cars to cross rougher ground at higher speeds.
This single report implies that top-end speed is not as big an issue as was first believed, however one report is inconclusive, so the committee wishes more tests to be done, across the range. (Roger Reed will take some readings at some Scottish Comps, and the Borders Hill Rally.)
The results will be fed back to the committee, so we can get a feel for what's happening out "in the field" (if you forgive the pun.)

Tyres
Malatesta Kobra NT (http://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/xcart/home.php?cat=271) are to be included, and two Colways re-moulds are to be added.

Generally speaking, however, unless its obvious that the tyre is a pattern-copy of a tyre on the list, the committee needs to see an actual tyre to accept them (photo's are all very well, but you don't get a feeling for the size & aggression of lugs & lumps from a photo... and it allows an independent verification of the tyre rating ... 'cos its written on the carcass :) )

[As an aside, I was having a chat with a Competitor last night, and he swears by UK-made tyres... reckons the side-walls are way stronger that European imports!]

An Inter-Association Cross Country event
This is Roger Reeds baby, born back at the turn of the century with the help of Dave Barker.
The original concept was to be for an RTV, however the world has moved on since then, and times have changed.
After some discussion, the idea is now to have a Tyro event.
Each Association can put forward as many teams as they like, and the teams can be of any age, however the Inter-Associational Trophy itself is only open to teams where the drivers are under 17 (note to self: question if that is that up-to-and-including 17, or up-to-and-including 16.) Teams are three drivers (vehicles can have multiple drivers, etc...)
The event should cater for any number of teams, and should consider allowing non-associational entries to take part.
The plan is to have an event in early August, somewhere in the Midlands (Andrew Flanders will investigate).... in 2011
(Oh, and note that SACC has a history of paying for teams entering inter-associational events!)

BCCC
There was discussion about the BCCC, and it would be nice for the Cross Country Committee to see the results of the MSA Cross Country Championship.
There was some rumination on the current style of championship and if that was what was wanted, or whether it should be broadened to include the Baja & Hill Rallies as well as Comp Safaris.
I expressed my somewhat biased position (as the chairman of the only club running Hill rallies!), but would be delighted to have Hill Rallies as part of a larger championship.
This lead on to a rambling discussion about road legal & traveling to France & closed roads & event entries covering you on the public highway & ....

One question I did ask was "If there was a championship that had rounds run by different clubs, how many cars are you looking at for a comp?" - we reckoned it would be between 50 & 80 cars, and you would need to do a 15-lap, two day, comp safari.

And personally: I'm wondering if Scotland should host a Comp Safari round? Could we find a piece of land that could sustain 70 cars doing 15 laps over two days? -- that's over 1,000 vehicle-laps.... that's a lot of wear on the ground! Given we're already running the only available Hill Rallies, do we want to try and do a Comp too?

MSA Cross Country meeting

Getting ready to catch a 9am flight down to London for a Cross Country group meeting.

This will be my first, given that I never made the proper first meeting due to Eyjafjallajökull cancelling my flights, and a car crash stopping me getting my train.

The major contentious issue this time appears to be revolving around Challenge vehicles - not something I have a lot of knowledge about.... we'll see what the arguments are, and stick my oar in occasionally :)

Getting ready to marshal

I'm heading off to marshal at the Rally of Argyle (yes, the one that moved the "Perthshire" from it's original date this year), and I've been packing the car.... I've to be there at 8am on Saturday morning, so I'll drive up tomorrow night & sleep in the car.

But the stuff one takes!

Tools for a 300-mile round trip; food-box with cooker, kettle & custard; water; extra diesel, just in case; spade & mattock; tow-rope (well, full recovery kit); jump-leads & airline hose; stapler & tape & arrows & hammer & spike; chair & table; back-up radio..... the list goes on!

.... and don't forget food, waterproofs, and a change of clothes (or two - the weather forecast is for "Periods of rain"!)

2011 forestry allocations

That's the 2011 forestry requests now applied for - yes, us clubs need to apply for forestry allocation now, for next year!

I've put in a pile of speculative forests, stuff I'm been planning for a few months now, knowing that I probably won't get half of them.... though I have a sneaking suspicion the right way is to have actually planned the whole event 2 years in advance, and apply for what you know you need [and hope that there are no clashes, or your screwed]

The not-the-perthshire-hill-rally comp

When I was phoning round, dealing with the aftermath of cancelling the Scottish "Perthshire" Hill Rally, one of the competitors suggested a comp in it's place.

This is three weeks before the date of the Perthshire, and therefor the date of the comp.

So, I found the land (two options, so I spoke to both land-owners), got the club on side, persuaded rescue, recovery & doctors to come along for almost nothing, and even got a great turnout of marshals..... not bad for a weeks work, around paid-work & a weekend devoted to Lothian 4x4 Response and a trial (Leaf Sprung motors only :D )

.... except I've only got half-a-dozen people interested.
(makes me wonder why I devote so much of my life to this sport.... for so little return)

Time to revive this, methinks

Time, I think, to revive this blog.... give me somewhere to vent, to rant, and to shout the joys of motorsport in all the forms I enjoy (or allegedly enjoy) it.

So, to recap who I am & where I sit in the grand scheme of things:

1) I am a bloke who likes Motorsport.... specifically, Cross Country motor sport.

2) I am the bloke who seems to have landed as the core around which the Scottish Comp Safari events revolve, and who is moderately important in the Hill Rally environment too. This is not a deliberate choice..... more a "well - if nobody else will, I'll have a go"
I am, for my sins, a certified National-A Cross Country Clerk of Course, the Clerk of Course for the Scottish Cross Country Championship, and the Chairman of the Scottish Hill Rally Club.... and I even go down to MSA house and stick my oar in on the Cross Country Committee.

I used to compete.... as a Trials driver -- I have never been a Comp Safari competitor in my puff.