SCCC 2010 meeting

I'm organising a meeting for the main movers'n'shakers in the Scottish Cross Country Championship.

I've already booked the dates with the MSA (well, the Cross Country Committee within the MSA)

My agenda is:
1) Officials: CofC; Chief Marshal; club reps; stewards

2) Dates & venues:
* SCCC Round 1: 14 March. New Galloway (maybe - the owner got upset at some of the road conditions back in August)
* SCCC Round 2: 18 April. Fife
* SCCC Round 3: 15/16 May. Drumclog
* SCCC Round 4: 20 June. Coulport
(Perthshire Hill Rally: 9/10 July)
* SCCC Round 5: 21/22 August. Bathgate
* SCCC Round 6: 12 September: TBC
* SCCC Round 7: 18 October: Galashils
(Borders Hill Rally: 27/28 November)

3) Thoughts from the Field:
* Team entries (2 drivers, 1 car, 1 position)
* More weekend events, fewer one-day events
* Joint events with NORC/AWDC/etc (such as Drumclog or Forrest Lodge)
* Rescue/Recovery.... plus doctor? (for the likes of Dan L./John C.)
* ??

4) Alterations to the SSRs

5) Registering the events in the MSA calendar

6) AOCB

So much has happened

Why the long hiatus? Lots of reasons.

The Perthshire took over my life for a while.... a long while. It was a learning experience, and I've learnt that I'm not a good event organiser. I'm good at encouraging people, and supporting them. I'm pretty good at designing courses. I'm not bad at drawing maps.... but organising stuff? no.... I just have stress breakdowns instead.

Drumclog was also a low-point, professionally speaking: I lost the rag with some competitors, and almost walked away from the whole scene.

Running the Perthshire was saved by Andy: he took over and kept everything on-track.
The event happened: it took some slightly underhand manouvering; some pretty blunt prodding; a bit of outright bribary; and a lot of self-sponsorship..... but it happened.

For a while, the BCCC was going to renege on the agreement I had with them, but that was averted (I was asked to keep shtum on that, and I am doing so)

The night-comp at Bathgate happened... though there was an attempt to move it to a more day-oriented event: so that wouldn't be a night-comp then?
There were several slightly hairy moments where people were getting stuck left, right, and center... and then John blew the bogie time out the water: 7'45" for a bogie time of 8'30" (why do I always react badly when he demands something from me?)

The Borders Hill Rally is now being oreganised, but not my be... by Rupert from Castle Rescue.

The Dunbar comp has been cancelled for the second year in a row. I think we need a new site for September - one not held hostage to rain & delayed harvests.

More Perthshire stuff

Yesterday was 167 miles around Perthsire - some good meetings, some not so good.
None specifically bad, which is always a bonus.

Tonight has been creating maps & writing contracts... and failing to make phone calls.

The high's and lows of planning events

Life, it seems, is fractal: things repeat & reflect on both a micro- and macro-scale.

For example, I've been having huge issues trying to sort out land for the Perthshire Hill Rally: defra have passed some concerns on one farm; and npower's wind-farm has taken out an entire farm (one which was pretty central role in the event too!)

Thinks were looking bleak.

But now I've got three new contacts to speak to... some new bits of land to look at, and maybe the rabbit can be pulled out of the hat :)

SCCC Round 1 results

Round 1: Forrest Estate - Dumfries & Galloway

Drivers Name	Comp Number	Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap 3	Lap 4	Lap 5	Lap 6	Lap 7	Total Time
Colin Gould	34	00:11:52	00:12:51	00:11:15	00:11:35	00:11:18	00:11:13	00:11:02	01:21:06
Brian Carlin	10	00:12:11	00:11:58	00:11:32	00:11:16	00:12:10	00:12:09	00:12:14	01:23:30
David Bartlett	22	00:12:43	00:12:41	00:11:39	00:11:47	00:12:02	00:12:09	00:12:33	01:25:34
Tony Rae	11	00:13:08	00:12:30	00:12:00	00:12:27	00:12:12	00:12:06	00:12:10	01:26:33
Malcolm Millar	21	00:14:44	00:11:52	00:11:56	00:11:57	00:12:17	00:12:03	00:11:59	01:26:48
Robin Vance	35	00:12:47	00:12:35	00:13:21	00:12:29	00:12:42	00:13:01	00:12:31	01:29:26
Stu Howe	4	00:13:56	00:13:29	00:12:53	00:12:55	00:12:32	00:12:47	00:12:30	01:31:02
Peter Baird	19	00:13:32	00:13:36	00:12:54	00:12:55	00:13:01	00:12:56	00:12:50	01:31:44
Euron Williams	25	00:13:11	00:13:11	00:12:40	00:12:46	00:13:40	00:13:38	00:22:26	01:41:32
Billy Phillips	2	00:30:00	00:12:54	00:13:18	00:13:49	00:14:14	00:13:45	00:14:24	01:52:24
Lee Bartlett	5	00:30:00	00:12:39	00:11:49	00:11:25	00:11:37	00:11:27	00:30:00	01:58:57
Dan Lofthouse	13	00:30:00	00:10:30	00:10:33	00:10:11	00:09:59	Engine troubles		DNF
Brian Hilditch	7	00:30:00	00:13:50	00:30:00	Broken Gearbox				DNF
David Mitchell	6	00:16:28	00:30:00	Parked in a ditch					DNF
Johnny Drysdale	3	00:22:40	Engine troubles						DNF
David Drysdale	18	00:30:00	Parked in a ditch						DNF
Robert Law	16	00:30:00	Broken Gearbox						DNF
Colin Stevenson	37	Gearbox problems							DNF
Double Driven
John Cockburn & Greg McLeod	-	00:12:43	00:11:18	00:11:34	00:10:23	00:11:17	00:10:25	00:12:56	01:20:36
Paul Myers & Matt Morgan	-	00:35:12	00:12:46	00:30:00	Parked in the trees				DNF

 

Scurrelous rumours and mis-factual information

Fact 1: The Perthshire Hill Rally is still on: I am talking to land owners and planning options and juggling costs. I do not want to be the man who killed the event... it will run!

Fact 2: I (on behalf of the Scottish Hill Rally) have been talking to Selwyn about the BCCC and the Hill Rallies. There will be a Hill Rally, and I am working on backup plans
(edit: Borders Hill Rally)

Fact 3: SHRC and BCCC can work together. This is what the position is, as far as I am aware:
BCCC are going to provide a gap in the BCCC calendar so that drivers who wish to enter the Perthshire have a free rein, and do not feel constrained to committing to enter due to a BCCC round before-hand (basically, nothing from the BCCC round at the beginning of June until the end of July.)

To confirm our (my) position vis-a-vis the Borders:

I would prefer a straight Scottish Borders Hill Rally, as we normally run: multiple stages, at most driven twice without alteration; distinct "stage miles", "road miles" (though there is no public highway road miles); service.... using timecards, roadbooks, and strict time-keeping... and no distinction between Hill Rally drivers and BCCC drivers.

This would be the simplest interpretation of the concept "The July round at Castle O'er has been dropped from the BCCC calendar to be replaced by the Borders Hill Rally"

What I believe we have on offer is a compromise from there:

The event will be a Hill Rally, run to Hill Rally timing. BCCC will buy into the event.
The BCCC competitors would drive fewer stages... but still something in the order of 60 miles.
The Hill Rally entrants (either non BCCC people paying the standard fee, or BCCC people who "upgrade" at their own cost) will drive more stages... in the order of 90 miles

SHRC will set up the event such that a BCCC driver can return to service after every lap (noting that the "super-rally" rules would give them a maximum for the stage missed, but keep them in the event)

This is a public note - for the record...

oh.... POODLES!

The paperwork I sent to the manager of a quarry, so he could make supportive noises to his bosses, so we could use it for motorsports.... has not arrived - a month after I posted it too.

Buggerit.

I'll need to reassemble to documentation, and the CD, and post it again... actually, I may bloody DRIVE there and hand it in personally!

But this pretty much kills off the chance of getting the ground for April :(