August 18th 2013
Kent - 10 Txs

Map 188   Start Culverstone
Times 1:30 - 4:30.
Operator  Colin G4CDM


Lots of undergrowth and the operator is smiling ........... Oh!

There was great secrecy in the 'Merry Household' during the weeks running up to this event so that Rosie could compete.

Colin thought ten Txs just had to have a home in Dene Park!

An excellent site, once again the new 'f...f...f...frustrating format allowed the Txs to be kept in a relatively small area.  Accordingly, heavy breathing  was replaced by some 'language'! All were fully occupied for the three hours and despite the small distances some chose to go back and forth just to get a bit more exercise! Well done Colin, great entertainment, spot on.

Good to see the average age falling and our first competitors from France: Tom and Alice.

Excellent tea venue, already used on the recent qualifier but this time with people choosing whether to have a meal or just a drink allowing a quick get away.

Most competitors made long journeys, some very long, to support us, much appreciated.


Livingstone...?
 Alice and Tom do their bit for help the aged.

Dick is getting close  .... but hindsight tells me someone is closer.
Parker - the elder, good to see one foot moving in front of the other.

Caption competition?   ........  
Perhaps not, going with           'Ah the old right leg block!'

I think Tom has found one ......

 ... but others were just trying to think of an excuse .......... might take a while.


Multi-tasking ....... cracked it ...............  meditation is the key!
Of course multi-tasking comes naturally to some, check out Alice's result.

Position Name Handicap Joker A B F G I J M N Y Z Total Percent
1 Gary P 0 M 17 8 9 9 0 32 80 40 15 32 242 100
2 Tim P 0 Y 7 0 20 20 17 7 17 23 80 20 211 87
3 Rosie M 0 B 40 40 23 23 32 15 20 17 0 0 210 86
4 Alice 0 B 13 80 17 15 26 26 0 0 32 0 209 86
5 Philip C 40 I 20 23 26 32 80 13 0 0 11 26 191 78
6 Steve S 40 Y 26 9 32 40 0 8 15 26 26 40 182 75
7 Tom 0 B 11 64 15 13 23 23 0 0 26 0 175 72
8 Paul C 0 F 23 26 22 17 0 17 23 20 23 0 171 70
9 Dick B 0 F 8 0 80 26 0 11 26 0 17 0 168 69
10 Colin F 0 B 6 30 0 7 0 9 32 32 9 23 148 61
11 Graham D 0 N 9 17 13 11 20 20 0 0 20 0 110 45
12 Roy E 40 J 15 11 8 8 0 80 0 15 0 0 97 40
13 Mathew C 0 A 64 13 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 83 34


Steve's software for processing the results ... some competitors did their best to confuse it with assorted ticket tricks but it caught them all - great stuff.

No doubt who was  'Top Man in Kent'.  
Well done Gary, Multi-Superstar and now  ........'-40 Man'!
So how did he do it?  Read on .....
It wasn't looking too good at the start when my set appeared to have developed a fault and was running low on battery. This was compounded with the fact that I couldn't hear the 'A' station on the practise transmission or at 1.30pm.

Phil recorded a bearing of 192 deg which indicated that a large wood to the east of Hoad Common could be a suitable multi event site. The in car monitor however did not confirm this, as we expected to hear the minis much earlier than we did. I browsed other possibilities such as a nature reserve south of Tonbridge, however a second bearing proved that the Hoad Common wood was correct.

Arriving on site at the same time as the Torbay Tigers and Colin F and Rosie, I immediately tuned into mini 'M', my joker, realising that is was on the other side of the road to which the other competitors were running. I knew at this stage that luck would be on my side and a potential 120 points would be in the bag. I had a brief problem tracking down 'M' but managed to gain full points along with another 40 on 'N'.
With the high number of competitors I knew that to gain two 40 scores would stand me in a good position. I banked these at station 'A' and picked up another 17 points. The set seemed to be working ok and after feeling slightly more relaxed than usual, banking some good points, I carried on with slightly less of a headless chicken approach than previously experienced.

Another downfall for me in the past has been not sticking to footpaths and ploughing directly through the thick stuff, getting bogged down and disorientated. Moving away from this tactic proved successful and I continued to gain points, although several in the single figures.

I had difficulty with 'F' in that I spent 10 minutes looking for the triffid. I almost made the decision that it had been stolen when it caught my eye. I banked this, along with the other points I had gained and proceeded to find the remaining micro, 'Y'. I had to admit defeat on this one however, but it proved not to matter.

Thanks to Colin/Rosie for arranging the event and it was good to see a high number of competitors.

Gary

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