Triple O Severn control description query

[seabird]

[quote="HotShot"]Am I the only person who found it strange to have five controls on the top of knolls on course 10 (M45L/M50L) at Stourhead? As an occassional planner I would only consider putting the flag on top of a knoll on a TD2/TD3 course; after all, you are supposed to recognise the feature before you see the flag.

Yes you are right in principle, but compromises sometimes have to be made. Can't comment on the event in question, but there are areas, particularly in the eastern side of England, where mappers, out of desperation at the lack of features, have mapped the smallest of bumps as knolls.

Planners have used these features because there is no alternative in some parts of the map if you wish to get the runners off the tracks and into the terrain, and no viable alternative to avoiding these areas altogether. In such circumstances you need to place the flag as visibly as possible, i.e. on top, although in reality many of these knolls are so small that it would be impossible to conceal the kite behind them in any case.

As a controller I have often been in a dilemma as to whether to allow such comparative non-features to be control sites. If there is no adequate alternative I allow, but always insist the flag is hung very visibly, with no attempt to conceal it from the obvious line(s) of approach, by for instance tucking it behind a tree, as some planners are prone to do.

[HotShot]

Yes you are right in principle. Can't comment on the event in question, but there are areas, particularly in the eastern side of England, where mappers, out of desperation at the lack of features, have mapped the smallest of bumps as knolls.

Just to clarify, we're not talking about bumps in a featureless landscape here. Stourhead is an area with lots of contours and a wealth of other detail, as anyone who has competed there will testify. I can see no reason for having so many "easy" controls on a TD5 course in that area.