Jennie Taylor Communications Officer for British Orienteering caught up with Nicholas Maxwell, Organiser of this year’s Compass Sport Cup 2017. 

Nicholas Maxwell, said: “The event was held at Roborough Down ‘Virtuous Lady’ on the western tip of Dartmoor. This part of Dartmoor is at a lower level with some trees to provide shelter; a factor much appreciated at the weekend as Storm Brian passed by on Saturday. There was a lot of rain in the run-up to the day making the steep slopes down to the Walkham valley slippery. We thought this might lead to injuries but in fact, most of the few visitors to First Aid suffered scratches from low hanging hawthorn bushes. Thankfully on the day rain was largely absent and competitors were able to enjoy the views to the higher parts of Dartmoor.

The long journey to the event was worthwhile for some – Interlopers who retained the Trophy. Forth Valley ended their long run of winning the Cup being pushed into second place by Bristol Orienteering Klub. They did have the local advantage and fielded the highest number of competitors on the day. Just under 700 people competed for the Cup and Trophy which is lower than last year but a very satisfactory number for events in this part of the UK.

The feedback on Tom Lillicrap’s courses was very positive. The bracken growth was a concern and a team of mappers was created to update the bracken density through September. Only 4/5 weeks later the change from dense green to thinning brown was impressive and opened views of further, ethereal, paths.” 

Some interesting points from the weekend:

• Efforts to put up the protective (for wiring) orange fencing (with lots of holes in) on Saturday afternoon failed as the wind acting against the plastic and actually bent the metal stakes it was on!
• We had a road closure and a marked diversion past the entrance to parking. A learner driver followed a number of orienteers into the car park before asking why they were being brought that way.
• The rain on Saturday left some great puddles for the children on Sunday.
• The Safety Officer who issued a warning on the day about hawthorn bushes and people covering their heads if they had little hair was herself a visitor to First Aid for this injury after her run.
• The Final went ahead with the organisers adjusting the race site to make sure the event went ahead safely, working hard with last minute preparations.

Storm Brian caused the forest training organised by Quantocks to be cancelled, however, Devon stepped up and organised safe training on open moorland.

In the Cup competition, Bristol (2363 points) defeated the winners for the last two years, Forth Valley (2324 points) into second place with South Yorkshire Orienteers coming third (2296 points).

In the Trophy Competition, Interlopers, (1260 points) were the clear winners with only 7 points separating the next two clubs, second Wimborne (1219 points) and third Swansea Bay (1212 points).

Peter Guillaume, Compass Sport Cup Coordinator said: “Many thanks are due to Devon and Cornwall Orienteering clubs for staging this event in very challenging weather conditions and congratulations to the winners and all who took part.”

Full results and event report are available here.  

Photo credits: Mark Lockett, Cornwall Orienteering Klub (KERNO)

More photos from the event can be viewed here.

British Orienteering would like to congratulate Bristol Orienteering Klub cup winners and Interlopers Trophy winners. A special thank you must go to the Event Organiser Nicholas Maxwell, Planner Tom Lillicrap and Controller Roger Hargreaves and to all club members at Devon and Cornwall Orienteering Clubs for their hard work. Thank you also to Nick Barrable for his continued support of this event.

Note for your diary!

The 2018 Regional eliminator rounds are on Sunday 11 March with the final being hosted by Walton Chasers on 21 October 2018. Information for 2018 will be sent out in early November to club contacts with a closing date of 14 January 2018.

Additional news

The CompassSport Cup and Trophy Finals set for this Sunday!