Report
Many thanks to Sion Matthews for this report.
There was a very good turn-out of entries for the January 2023 Navigation Run. Lee Matthews went and put the symbols out an hour ahead of the crews, whilst Sion and Yvonne signed everyone on and gave them their packs. No rough roads were used although some were bumpy, narrow and icy! With the weather being as it was leading up to the event, we were confident to at least try and run it.
Lee had a very exiting night putting out the symbols along what seemed to be a mostly icy/slippery route. At the top of Deiniolen it got too icy and Lee decided we needed to reroute and cut the higher ground out. Once everyone had signed on and plotted the route, Sion made his way to the section were the re-route would be given out.
Starting in the David Hughes Sports Hall, Menai Bridge, the route was divided into four sections, using grid references:
Section 1 - “Nant Mount” to “Dob”. Heading to the back of Tesco and across to Waen-wen, ending up at the end of “Dob”, a tricky narrow road to find and navigate through.
Section 2 - “Dob” to “top of Deiniolen”. Using a few Not-As-Maps (NAM’s), the narrow bumpy “Lon Hafoty” took the crews around to Mynydd LLandygai and across towards Deinolen (this is were the reroute was given).
Section 3 - “top of Deiniolen” to “Brynrefail”, using the south half of Deiniolen where it wasn’t so icy, they headed down Fachwen toward Brynrefail.
Section 4 - “Brynrefail” to “Llanberis”, looping around the north of Llanrug, using the NAM behind Pen Bont Inn, then through Cwm-y-Glo, up over Lon Clegir, with a sting in the tail around Llanberis housing lanes, finishing in the Padarn Hotel.
A tough route with icy conditions made driving conditions tricky, and a few crews cut route or were late at the finish, meaning the results were varied. The main reasons some competitors didn’t do as well as they could have done are:
- Not plotting accurately and using all the information given, i.e not marking where the NAM’s and Section Starts, resulting in missed symbols.
- Writing the symbols in the wrong sections getting half points.
- Writing down “duds” (A and B road symbols) minus 2 points.
- Missing out some sections completely due to plotting inaccurately.
- Plotting slowly, so reducing time available to drive the route, resulting in either cutting route to make the finish in time or being late at the finish and being penalised.
- Time consuming wrong slots and wrong routes.
Results are below; well done to Daniel and Aron on the win. Daniel and Aled won the event when they got furthest cleanest getting all 19 symbols in the first section, only really missing the final loops around Llanberis town (71). Dion and Cory finished 2nd when they missed a sneaky symbol in the first section, hence loosing out on the furthest cleanest rule. (71). Duncan and Kay got all the symbols and looked like winning, but had to cut the last bit of route around Llanberis town to make the finish on time, finishing 3rd (69). In fourth, Owi and Liam wrote down symbols in the wrong section and missed the odd sneaky one (68). 5th, Tomos and Tomos got most of the symbols but were late at the finish (67). 6th, Iwan and Liam missed a small few loops missing those symbols (65). 7th, Dewi and Aron missed a small few loops missing some symbols (62). 8th, Osian, Moi and Iolo also missed a small few loops missing some symbols (61). 9th, Ceirion and Kyle lost out on furthest cleanest by writing the first “dud” down (61). 10th, Liam and Tomos cut route towards the end to get to the finish on time(57). 11th, Gill and Paul cut route towards the end (54).12th, Iwan and John cut route towards the end (54.
)There were 76 points available. Well done to all on a tough event and conditions, see you at the next Navigation Run (9th of February) organised by Dion Bee and Daniel Jones.
RESULTS.
1. Daniel Jones / Aled Jones (Audi A3) ......... 71 points*.
2. Dion Rowlands / Cory Thomas (Toyota Corolla) ......... 71 pts.
3. Duncan Littler / Kay Littles (VW Caddy) ......... 69 pts.
4. Owi Roberts / Liam Hughes (VW Golf) ......... 68 pts.
5. Tomos Parry / Tomos Owen (Ford Ranger) ......... 67 pts.
6. Iwan Jones / Liam Jones (Ford Fiesta) ......... 65 pts.
7. Dewi Jones / Aron Roberts (Citroen C1) ......... 62 pts.
8. Osian Gwyn / Moi Williams / Iolo Pengeli (Toyota Yaris) ......... 61 pts.*
9. Ceiron Owen / Kyle Cooper (Ford Fiesta) ......... 61 pts.
10. Liam Keleher / Tomos Jones (VW Caddy) ......... 57 pts.
11. Gill Clarke / Paul Clarke (Nissan Qashqai) ......... 54 pts.
12. Iwan Evans / John Evans (Ford Focus) ......... 54 pts.
*= furthest cleanest (maximum possible score was 76).
Many thanks to David Hughes Leisure Centre and The Padarn Hotel, Llanberis, for the use of their facilities and to Sion, Yvonne and Lee Matthews for organising the event.
Information
This will be the fourth round in the series for Duncan's Romer, held on Thursday, 19th January 2023. It is hoped that two more rounds are to be arranged and dates will be published as soon as they are available. This being the case, four scores from six will count towards the award.
Navigation Runs are ideal for learning to plot a route and read a map, and provide good practice for anyone aspiring to compete in a road rally anytime soon. The event is again organised by Sion Matthews and although the start venue is on Anglesey, much of the route will be on the mainland.
The start venue is the David Hughes Leisure Centre, Menai Bridge, LL59 5SS, at the rear of Ysgol David Hughes - Ordnance Survey map 115 (Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa), reference 547 723. what3words location = airbase.prayers.germinate.
Sign on and route handouts at 19.00 hours. Finish at 22.00 hours.
You will require OS map 115 (Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa), plus the usual navigation aids of poti, romer, pen/pencil, etc.
Drivers and navigators need a valid club membership, expiring 31st October 2023. Renew or join at Membership Application
