Sprint Championships - Gosport

[RS]

Boo-hoo Emit...and the old original ones

[Snail]

But better the old original ones than the new ones, that let you punch from the 'wrong' side of an uncrossable fence / boundary etc.

[roadrunner]

From the 2011 British Sprints Competition Rule (4.3.3):-

If there are from 6 to 35 entrants, the number of qualifiers from each heat to the A-final shall be equal. They shall be split as equally as possible between an A-final and a B-final, with the A-final having at least half the total number of entrants.

So the qualification race won't be pointless at all, even if there are small numbers in a class (NB if there are more than 35, then the best 18 go to the A Final. Only if there are fewer than 6 do all go through).

It would be nice to be talking this event up rather than down ...

It all really depends how many there are in a class, doesn't it? If there are only 6, then having an A and a B final each with three entrants does sound a bit silly - but then, I don't think 6 is enough for sensible competition anyway. Personally, I'd like to see age groups merged as necessary to get (say) 36 or more in each category - so, for example, M35 and M40 might be combined, likewise M65 and up, while I would guess that M45/50/55/60 would each get enough anyway. I don't know how many different courses there are, but I suspect not as many as one per age group, so this might be no extra work at all for the organiser and planner.

[NeilC]

The decision was made not to combine age classes in the hope that the sprint champs would become as popular as the JK sprint where people seem happy with separate age classes. The exception being that the 18/20/21 age classes are combined into a single "elite" class. The possibility of having both separate championships for these three age classes whilst also allowing them to compete for the overall championship was considered and discussed at length but no simple and fair solution could be found.

[epocian]

the flier for the event states that entry is by Fabian4 but I can't see either that or Winchester on fabian's website

[Spookster]

The event "Enter" button on the BOF website takes you to the nTrees page, but the events aren't available to enter there either.

[mikey]

From the BAOC webpage

Entries will open shortly on Fabian4

[awk]

It would be nice to be talking this event up rather than down ...

Agreed - but hard to in the circumstances. Now if it had been a separate, reconstructed age class champs, then that could have been a different matter.

I still think it's crazy to dismantle an event that was growing and very popular with the participants, to create one that might (but only might) attract people who, largely, have no track record of travelling for sprint races in the first place, just because it might be more marketable.

[Mrs H]

I'm not quite sure I'm understanding what's going on here. Awk what is it precisely that has changed/you don't like and what is it about that which other people disagree with?

[graeme]

So the qualification race won't be pointless at all ..

I read the rules too. You need 9 people in a class before there are no "pointless" qualifiers.

On last year's entry, that would be pointless qualifiers in 22 of the 36 classes listed.

roadrunner doesn't know how many courses there are ...
The webpage example implies 42 separate courses will be needed

[awk]

I'm not quite sure I'm understanding what's going on here. Awk what is it precisely that has changed/you don't like and what is it about that which other people disagree with?

I have always strongly disagreed with the merging of the Elite Sprints and the Age Class Sprints for a number of reasons. I am doubly against it, because when this was referred to specialist groups, Senior Competitions, Junior Competitions, and Rules all come out against merging too (and theoretically, the age class champs 'belonged' to SC and JC). The new rules, whilst being a valiant effort to make something out of the mess, simply highlight for me what a bad move it has been.

The main reason given to me by Lyn West for this merger was the need to create a more marketable package*. I think they've done just the opposite, and anyway, I have always believed in doing what you think is right, and then findind the money, not doing something for the money, which is the route that BOF seems to have increasingly adopted, and is certainly doing here, so I've been led to believe.

To my mind, they have thus spoiled the Elite Champs (which was a brilliantly simple competition attracting an increasing number of people providing a thoroughly appreciate audience for the elites), and forced on the growing number of people who enjoy sprint orienteering a format which has yet to be shown to be popular, on the basis that it might attract more. And so on and so on.

DJM or somebody else will better explainwhy people might disagree with that - I certainly don't agree with his rationale, as we both appreciated at the BRC!

(*This is apparently vital, as with the uncertainty over post-2013 funding, there is a danger that "orienteering" might go bankrupt if this dries up. Personally, I think it's British Orienteering that is in some danger, rather than the sport as a whole, and do wonder how it is that BO has got bigger and bigger as the sport has, at least at mainstream level, got smaller).

[roadrunner]

roadrunner doesn't know how many courses there are ...
The webpage example implies 42 separate courses will be needed

Do you mean classes? The BOF Rules (both 2010 and 2011 versions) suggest 7 courses, unless I'm misinterpreting them.

[NeilC]

One working model (there are several being considered) is that for the qualifying round each of the 7 courses will consist of three parallel heats - ie 21 actual courses. For the final less courses will probably be required depending on entry numbers and the start window. 42 is a maximum number assuming an entry of around 1000. An entry of half that would probably require around 30 courses.

[Soldja Boi]

Entries are now open on the Fabian4 website for this event and for the Winchester Urban Race on the Saturday.

[EddieH]

The flier is one of the least helpful I have seen. It talks of qualifiers, but only mentions one race on the Sunday. As Saturday courses are also described as Championship courses for all except 21s the only logical conclusion that someone who does not know the current rules (as at Stirling last year) is that Saturday is the qualification and Sunday the final.

I assume that this is not the case and that Saturday's courses are in fact informal (are they sprint or longer?), and that the start times refer to round one of the Championship only with the second part being a bit later.