Author: Alan Gartside

There are lots of updated tables available to mull over following a very intense week of O-activity. They can all be accessed from the home page of the web site through “Resources>OneDrive Public”. There’s the NISeries tables after Slievemartin (congratulations to Cahal Power with the first class win of the year), the revised Colour Standards table (with 2 2023 events dropping off the 12-month window there a few changes which don’t result from performance at Slievemartin), the hCOW2024 tables after Slievemartin (very few folk beat their handicap!) the hCALF2024 tables after Barnett’s (even fewer there – congratulations Sharon Dickenson!) and Read More …

Not ony one, but two rounds of the LVO TrailO Champs this weekend! The first is alongside NICS4, in Rostrevor Forest and the second in Tollymore. The venues are: LVOTOC24-2 Rostrevor car park (Yes, actually IN the car park) and will be available from 10:30 LVOTOC24-3 Tollymore Forest Park, in the woodland alongside the weekend’s camp site. Timing will depend on timetable at Rostrevor but will be available late afternoon/early evening. Entry is free. Bring your compass. This is a standing-still activity so civvies will do the job. Apologies for the non-appearance of a Planner’s Commentary for Slemish College but Read More …

Although the postponement of WEE6 (Antrim Castle Gardens) last week has reduced the number of hCALF-counting events from 7 to 6 (WEE1 was used to set intial handicaps – no points scored) the final results of both the hCOW (consistency) and Regatta (improvement) tables will be based on the best 4 scores. That means that, to get an asterisk in the hCOW table you have to have 3 WEE results behind you; in the Regatta table a non-result gets you a score one worse than the last finisher so you can still, with difficulty, climb up the table.

Click on “Resources>OneDrive Public>LVOTOC2024” where you will find the solutions map and the results from the first round of the club trailO champs 2024, the TempO cluster at Slemish College. I promised a Planner’s Commentary but apologies for its absence – it’s been a manic 3 weeks of map printing, with more to come. The second and third rounds will be taking place on 22nd June, no.2 in the upper car park at Slievemartin during the NISeries event, and no.3 in the woodland beside the Tollymore campsite during the late afternoon and evening shenanigans See you there. I haven’t yet Read More …

The Crawfordsburn results have been incoroporated into the hCALF tables. To view go to the club website and under “STANDINGS” click on “hCALF 2024”. With 4 events gone some asterisks have started appearing against those who will go into discard mode. That’s in the hCOW table in which the scores (lowest is best) are assigned for consistency of handicap; in the Regatta table it’s improvement in handicap that counts – Olivia Baxter, with 2 first places, is the one to beat.

Rather belatedly, the hCALF tables have been updated with the Stormont results, and include a slight resetting of previous table scores due to a late membership renewal generating retrospective recalculations. Apologies for the delay, but the last 2 weeks have seen a LOT of course map preparation and printing, with 2 NI Champs, 2 WEE, 1 NISeries, 1 Urban and 3 TempO all needing attention. As soon as the Crawfordsburn results become available I shall get the tables up-to-date as Crawfordsburn marks the point where regulars will reach their fourth event and can start to discard poor results thereafter.

On Saturday, in addition to the 2 NIChamps events, there will be the first instalment of the 2024 LVO TrailO Champs. It will take the form of a TempO cluster, in which the competitor, from a static position, has to decide (against the clock) which of the visible kites (or perhaps none of them) matches the given control site info (circle & description). There will be 5 kites on view and 6 decisions to be made. The venue will be in Slemish College, in the quadrangle to the side of the main building. There will be direction signs from the Read More …

It’s welcome to new members Jamie Allsop and Sophia Wang, who dipped their toes in the O-water at Lady Dixon. Unfortunately Sophia failed to finish, but Jamie’s result has been put into the hCALF calculations. As this was his first event his time is used to calculate his handicap going forward so the points are not affected in either of the hCOW or Regatta tables but the Handicap table shows Jamie what he’ll be working to improve.

On the website home page, go to “STANDINGS” and click on “hCALF 2024”. Of the handicap holders there are 28 getting points, only 18 missing out and 14 first-timers getting their handicap – WEE is getting popular! Both hCOW and Regatta tables are place-point based so the lower your score, the better (but with 7 events in the series you’ll need 4 to count). Think of Regatta (improvement) as your reward for climbing the handicap mountain and hCOW (regularity) for not falling off the plateau.

You can access the tables from the “STANDINGS” section of the website, then go to “hCOW>hCOW2024”. The event results reveal a large fluctuation in handicaps (variance), both up and down – looks like some folk went well and others had problems. The hCOW Table (that’s points for regularity) won’t start showiing the true picture until after Moydamlaght, when those with 5 results (the required number) will be at the head of the list. At the moment, amongst those with three scores to date, Ric Gamble has a substantial lead over Moire O’Sullivan – does a stint as club Chairman make Read More …