Report

RESULTS
=1. Jill Clarke / Paul Clarke; Audi A4 – 68 points.
=1. Dion Bee / Emma Roberts; Mazda2 - 68 pts.
3. Ifan Devine / Amelia Lloyd; Vauxhall Vivaro – 67 pts.
4. Emyr Owen / Duncan Littler; Skoda Octavia – 66.1 pts.
5. Yvonne Matthews / John Evans; Audi A4 – 66 pts.
6. Carwyn Rowlands / Cian Jones; Ford Fiesta – 62 pts.
7. Troy Allen / Chris Way; Ford Fiesta – 61 pts.
8. Iawn Evans / Osian Thompson; Audi A3 – 56 pts.
9. Jason Parry / Chloe Thomas; Mitsubishi L200 – 54 pts.
10. Stephen McEnhill / Simon Drakley; Mini - DNF.
Maximum possible score was 68 points.

Many thanks to Lee Matthews for the following report and photos.

Another great turnout of members assembled for the start of Sion’s latest Navigation Run in the classroom at David Hughes Sports Centre on Thursday evening. Signing on was done by Endaf and Lee, then the ten crews set about plotting the route in the south of Map 115.
In order to use an infrequently visited area, a long run-out was needed. As Dion Bee said at the start “It starts outside my house. I have just come from there!”. So, the Start map reference was near Nasareth, with crews spotting the first “L” numberplate style symbol as soon as they turned off the A487 onto the white.
Map references then defined the requisite route. which looped through Nebo. Carwyn/Cian and Iwan/Osian missed the northern yellow loop into Nebo square, missing 2 and 3 symbols respectively. Everybody drove over the mountain past the famous Nebo mast, although some could not see it in the dense fog. If fact everyone reported having to deal with the poor visibility at some stage, which seemed to move around. Heavy rain at times also hampered progress. 

After crossing the A487 onto the quarry road the route instructions changed to Tulips. Chloe decided to read them as they travelled along, rather than plot them. Unfortunately, there were a couple of no-through-road junctions included in the Tulips, as on the map the non-goers were also yellow for a while, so counted as a Tulip junction. As a result, if plotted they made sense and were easy to plot, but on the move Jason/Chloe went the wrong way big style, missing a whole section out and the 14 symbols there. This dropped them to last despite getting all of the remaining symbols.
Near the end of this section, near Pontllyfni, there was a very wide yellow junction Give-Way where the route went left. Sion had placed a symbol on the give-way line on the right-hand side, and so some who were mainly looking left missed the “Y”. These included Yvonne/John; Iwan/Osian and myself and Elis in the closing car.
The next section was the side streets of Penygroes village centre, which surprisingly everyone navigated correctly. Carmel came next and three Not-As-Map (NAM) diagrams. The first was the usual layby on the right around the post-box near Clogwyn Melyn. The second was a back-alley right in the centre of Carmel. The depart from the crossroads exit was defined not by map reference, but the NAM diagram 2 itself, and this caught out Emyr/Duncan; Carwyn/Cian; and Troy/Chris, who all missed the departing loop which contained two symbols. On the map picture you can see I plotted the short-cut too as I did not have the diagrams at that time, only changing route on inspecting the diagram at the junction. Sneaky Sion! and well done on catching Duncan out!

The third NAM was up above Y Fron in one of the many grass triangles. It had two symbols here, but only Iwan/Osian spotted the one lying on the ground which had been blown over in the wind. As it was blown over and not facing the crews this symbol was later deleted from the results. Sorry Iwan. Well done for knocking it over…. I mean spotting it! Ha ha.
The route then zig-zagged its way through the excellent narrow back lanes around Rhostryfan, then back up the mountain to the final NAM in Rhosgadfan, which was a loop-the-loop around a triangle, and the final Finish point just after. Ifan and Emelia missed a “10” Symbol here, their only missing symbol of the night. 
This just left the final 2 miles to the finish venue. Unfortunately, the Tafarn Snowdonia in Waenfawr had closed early, so Sion was waiting in the car park sending crews to the new finish venue, the Newborough Arms, Bontnewydd, which was very accommodating.

Sion calculated provisional results in the pub and awarded some goodies to the provisional winners, Ifan and Emilia in the Vivaro. However, post event checking revealed a discrepancy with the number of symbols the Closing Car recorded/collected and the number of symbols the winners and Sion had down. It transpired that the route Sion had in mind included the “usual” Cilgwyn loop so he placed three symbols there. Ifan/Emelia and Emyr/Duncan must have “presumed” that loop was included (why wouldn’t they?) and recorded the three symbols …… thank you very much! However, Sion had missed out a map reference in his route instructions, so there was no Cilgwyn loop in the final copy that I checked. Thus, the three symbols were discarded from the final results. We have to be thorough and transparent. We always compare the Opening car and Closing car records to see if any go missing, which they sometimes do, mainly due to dog walkers. Not fair for it to be there for one competitor, and not for another.
The final results relegated Ifan/Emelia to third, and Emyr/Duncan to fourth, the latter now tying with Yvonne/John on points, but furthest cleanest was able to separate them.
As for the new winners ..…. two crews recorded all 68 counting symbols and we could not find a way of separating them, so have awarded joint first overall bragging rights to Jill and Paul in the Audi A4 along with Dion and Emma in the Mazda. Congratulations, and at least Dion didn’t have far to go home. Only Stephen/Simon did not finish, Simon feeling unwell navigating in the Mini in the fog.

Having been in the closing car I can say that was one of the best routes Sion has provided. Tricky junctions, whites and back streets you would never go down normally, yet still wide and smooth enough for even the modern vehicles we turn up in. Also, the well placed easy-to-see symbols were nicely spaced out, meaning if you went the right way you saw most, if not ‘all’ of them. This also helps keep the results close. Very well-done Sion for organising, and to everyone that took part. 
Thank you to David Hughes Sports Centre and the Newborough Arms for the use of their facilities. Thanks also to Elis & Lee Matthews (Closing Car), Endaf Davies and Dafydd Edwards for assisting with the event,

Information

This will be the fifth Navigation Run of the season and organised by Sion Matthews and team.
Navigation Runs are ideal for learning to plot a route and read a map, and provide good practice for anyone aspiring to compe.30te in a road rally anytime soon.

The start venue is the David Hughes Leisure Centre, Menai Bridge, LL59 5SS, at the rear of Ysgol David Hughes - Ordnance Survey map 115 (Snowdonia/Yr Wyddfa), reference 547 723. what3words location ///airbase.prayers.germinate.
Sign on from 18 hours and route handouts at 19.00 hours. Finish at 22.00 hours.
You will require O.S. Map 115 (Snowdonia/Yr Wyddfa), plus the usual navigation aids of poti, romer, pen/pencil, etc.

Drivers and navigators need a valid club membership. Renew or join at Membership Application