Controller's Comments

Firstly, as the competitor's representative, I'd like to acknowledge and thank the whole Wimborne team, 
our hosts who allowed use of the parking field and woodland for the String Course and the catering team
 who provided the much appreciated refreshments.Thank you all!

My role as Controller was an easy one with both an experienced Planner in
Kevin Pickering and Organiser in John Warren. We had some discussions about
corrected course lengths before the event but went with Kevin's assessment
based on previous events held on the area. A winning time of 59 minutes for
the Brown course compared well with the recommended elite winning time of 67
minutes. Other courses produced similar scaled results. I'd like to thank
Eamon Staunton for managing the planning logistics on the day. It was
disappointing to hear that control 148 was vandalised on the day. Those
affected were reinstated but I understand the negative impact this might
have had on individuals' runs.

I particularly enjoyed my walk around the string course with the brilliant
flower drawings at each control and the very visible blue string.
Organisationally, the event ticked along like clockwork. The relatively
compact location of start, finish, string and car park / assembly area
helped greatly. The walk to the start aimed to keep everyone safely off the
road and provided a scenic warm-up alongside a forest stream. The finish was
a nice down-hill warm-down to download that had the advantage of being
inside with mains power; always good for those who run the computing
systems.

After the usual controlling checks of signage, start, controls, finish,
string, download and car-park etc., I felt very comfortable to be able to go
for a walk onto the Common with the local National Trust Ranger who had been
invited along by John Warren to see an Orienteering event in progress. We
spent probably an hour walking from the Finish, around the Common and back
via the Start and taped route to assembly. I am pleased to say that our
guest went away with a very positive perspective on our activities, the way
the event was organised and the way we conduct ourselves. 

Thank you verymuch for providing an excellent example of how orienteering events operate.
Apart from the great courses and organisation, my abiding memories of the
event include meeting three fallow deer bucks at close quarters while doing
initial control checks and standing on a hill summit near the final controls
early on Sunday morning watching a fox trot along the path below me heading
for the finish!

Thank you all for coming along to reward the efforts of the Wimborne team.

Terry Smith
SOC