Discussion: Victorian Championships

Ive heard that the victorian classic champs this year will have 33 controls!!! meaning that anyone who wants to run elites will have to fork out about 100 bucks for a new sport ident with a bigger memory, as the current ones only hold 30 controls.
i think this is ridiculous!!!
Why does any course need 30 controls anyway?
I want to run elite but i definately wont be paying $100 for a new sport ident, speaking to toph, i think he feels the same.
so this is what i am going to do... there are three reserve boxes on the map so i am going to run with my old sport ident that only has a memory of 30 controls and punch 3 controls in reserve boxes.
im pretty sure this is legitimate and i cant be disqualified, i would like to know for certain though.
Blair, Bruce, Jymbo and others, what do you guys think?

... and pensioner i dont want a 15000 word thesis from you... i wont read it

Think the old version SI card will register a visit to more than 30 controls (up to 6 more, I believe). You just won't get splits for those controls (nor any visual or aural sign that the 'dib' has registered).

So you don't need to buy a new card.......

well i think its a bit stupid as well considering that it is a classic race which traditionally has some long legs which then means that there is no need for as many controls.. so i dont see why you cant have under 30 controls...
i do want a new stick though but it is a want not a need so considering i dont have the money and i would want to get a colour that i like and a personalised number... i dont see it happening in time..

anyways i think you can punch up to 39 controls just once you get over 30 you dont have times for those controls.... here is some websites to show that i am correct in this.

http://www.sportident.com/sportident-english/engli...

http://www.sportident.se/english/Order.aspx?id=82

and after all this im not sure if i can get to the champs anyways as im away on a trip but if i can i will be running elites(unless i change my mind)

that guy got in while i was writing this :)

Yeah, the number of controls may have a bit to do with the map. It's a pretty small and steep area, without much contour detail, just lots of rocks.

I think its a bit ridiculous if you are required to buy a stick. However, in this instance the organising club should make provision for the hire (be it free or charged) of new SI sticks to the effected competitors.

Big Ev send in your rant to the Australian Orienteer and maybe you can win the dicky prize they offer.

do they have a rant section now...
i will be able to win that for sure...every month...i cant rant like no one else!

Takes after his father

33 controls plus Finish will fit on the old SI sticks, as I recall. Just don't punch too many other controls ;-) I trust the course setter to have thought of this restriction.
Glad I don't run Course 1 - I speculate that this course is going to be "over the top" in more ways than one.

We've run a couple NOLs where we've had that many controls. I don't think it really matters, if you're that keen on the splits you can just use your watch can't you?

It's not a big deal in that respect. The problem is that the organisers have incorrectly said that you need to have a new generation SI stick to run the course.

I set a course with 30 controls four years ago and there were no problems.

Ah ok well thats ridiculous if they expect you to buy a new SI. Or is that they are saying in order get all your splits you need the stick, not just in order to register at all the controls

Here is evidence ranting is a genetically determined trait! I feel so proud.(Note 13 words)

I've since heard second-hand that the course has been reduced to 30 controls - will double-check this.

i wouldnt complain about there being too many controls... too often we have too few (i remember the australian middle distance championships in 2004 on the cascades had about 8 controls!), a lot of older orienteers in australia think the less the better as they think its harder (whereas its more often the opposite). recently i've heard a few of the clowns complaining about the course setting in europe - "too many short legs, direction changes and loops". like you say toph classics should have long legs etc but some areas you just cant set a classic without lots of controls - eg in japan as any real long legs just mean the only option is to run on a road or track. wait till you run the course to complain big ev...

yeah fair point shep. i would not care about it at all if they supplied the stick free of charge or just had 30 controls or let us do what ev sugested..

anyways i dont know why im talking about this when i cant even run them as i am away whitewater paddling for uni (if there is any water when the time comes)

i dont care about the number of controls. i was just pissed off that we were told we had to fork out $100 for a new sport ident (if this is not the case then...good). i dont think $100 for an extra 3 controls is a sound investment no matter how mindblowingly good the course is.
i know how anal orienteers can be(case study one: me) and i just wanted to clarify whether they would try and disqualify me for not having a new sport ident(it seems now that they wont), in which case i would have just run m20s.

Is it possible for them to download the SI Stations and reconstruct everyone's splits? If it's possible, then they *should* do it...

Toph, make sure you enter. I wouldn't let anyone scrape the bottom off my kayak in current river conditions.
Re number of legs on a course, it all depends on the event and the map. A long leg on a heavily tracked map is often pointless. But if you have a track free map and are setting a long race, then not to have a long leg is a waste. Day 1 at Inverary a few Easters ago was a good wake up call for a lot of Bendigo orienteers. We have lots of tracks on our maps and we are not used to long legs. We are used to finding tracks and then turning the brain off for a little while. Many of us made significant errors on the first long leg that day.
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I've now confirmed that the M21E course has been reduced to 30 controls, so the old version SI sticks will suffice.

great

The 2006 SA champs had 33 controls and we just punched the first 3 on a card.
I don't care how many controls there are, as long as the course is good.

Bloody hell.
I'm definately entering M20.

you just want a coffee mug dont you rob?
why dont you skip the event completely and just go to "cheap 'n' sweet". you will probably be able to get ten for the amount it would have cost you to enter.

I can't believe the people on this website.
here are Eureka, going out on a limb to set challenging and exciting courses for you whinging elites; and all you can do is provide unconstructive criticism. shame!

I think most prospective competitors on course 1 fit into these categories: student who has not yet got round to / gained financial support to buy a new SI stick; or a highly paid financier / consultant type who earns about 300 SI units a minutes.

I think that the course setter would be highly aware of the predicament he puts competitors in when he decides to make it compulsory for them to be using a new SI stick (even though this isn't the case anymore); so it must be justified.
I would be looking forward to an awesome course if I was you!!!

-rob

rant over.

Rob, is ranting generic in your family

rob,
all you had to say was "im running m20 because i want to see my name at the top of the results board, with no one above me and no one below me" you never know they might even give you the 2nd and 3rd place coffee mugs just to get rid of them

I relinquish my crown as sarcasm and rant king. The new generation is taking over.
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