Report

Thanks to organiser Sion Matthews for this report.

A good turn up of entries for the December Navigation Run 2022. Lee and Yvonne went and put the symbols out an hour ahead of the crews, whilst Sion signed everyone on and gave them their packs. Lee and Sion later went to fetch the symbols. No rough roads were used although some mud and ice made it interesting. The ice got worse as the night went on particularly in the Gwalchmai area.
Starting in the Herron Services car park, the route was divided into four sections; the rules were important on this event as some crews, although they found the symbols, wrote them down in the wrong section or picked up the duds. Grid references, black spots and quiets were used along with some Not As Map's (NAM's).
Section 1 - Herron Services to Cartio Môn, heading straight to Gwalchmai, using some tricky slots and a white, the crews then headed around the back of the quarry, towards the dump, and across the north side of Bryngwran using two NAM's and ending at the A5 Give Way next to Cartio Mon.
Section 2 - Cartio Môn to Llainwen Farm white, slotting under the A55 and making their way down towards Capel Gwyn, using the narrower roads they found NAM 3 on the left in a gateway. All classic road rally roads, they ended up at NAM 4 on the main road into Bryn Ddu, looping around through Pencarnisiog using the other two NAM's on the A road. The section ended on the hard to find slot right onto the Llainwen Farm white.
Section 3 - Llainwen Farm white to Capel Mawr, using Dothan, the route went back towards the south bit of Gwalchmai, then heading towards Capel Mawr, using the loop near Cerrigceinwen.
Section 4 - Capel Mawr to Holland Arms, looping to the south part of Llangristilous, past the old school, then the new, then a hard to find mapped white, heading down then towards Nant yr Odyn. Down the A5 looking for the wildlife white at the bottom of Pentre Berw and through the village, finishing off with two whites at the Holland Arms.

Of the 79 points available the winners, Dion Rowlands and Cory Thomas, only missed three of Lees sneaky symbols. Mark Campbell and Justin Campbell missed two more sneaky ones to finish in second place. Emyr Owen and Aron Jones only missed 2 symbols but where deducted 5 points for being late at the finish, falling to third. Iwan Jones, Liam Jones and Iago Edwards missing a few early on and towards end, dropping them to fourth.
Clare Hookham and Caron Thomas missing a few sneaky ones and also writing the dud down in Llangristiolous finished fifth. Aron Evans and Tom Lindstrom appear to have missed some sneaky symbols along with some NAMs and one CYMRU symbol putting them 6th. Tomos Parry and Tomos Owen wrote down all three dud symbols which were on A and B roads, along with missing some others ending up in 7th.
Iwan Evans and Luke Edwards wrote a dud down, missed two CYMRU symbols and possibly missed some on NAMs, but got the first CYMRU symbol getting furthest cleanest for 8th. Cian Hughes, Moi Williams and Sara Williams missed a few early on in section 1 but got better as they finished in 9th. Owi Roberts and Liam Hughes missed half of Section 1, wrote down a few duds, missed half of Section 3, but put the symbols in the wrong section so only got half points, finishing in 10th.
Lowri Hughes and Anna Hughes wrote down two duds and seemed to be doing well until they got stuck on some icy give way in Gwalchmai, cutting route to get to the finish ending in 11th. Iestyn Jones and Stephen Hughes started off well but struggled after Section 2, putting symbols in the wrong sections and only getting half points, finishing 12th.
Congratulations to Dion and Cory on winning the December Navigation Run 2022. I think the Tuesday Navigation Night proved useful. Nice to see new faces coming into the sport as well as the regulars.

Many thanks to Sion, Yvonne and Lee Matthews for organising this event. Thanks also to Herron Services Llangefni and Holland Arms Hotel for the use of their services.

RESULTS
1. Dion Rowlands / Cory Thomas; Transit Custom - 76 points.
2. Mark Campbell / Justin Campbell; Seat Leon - 74 pts.
3. Emyr Owen / Aron Jones; Freelander - 72 pts.
4. Iwan Jones / Liam Jones + Iago Edwards; Ford Fiesta - 70 pts.
5. Clare Hookham / Caron Thomas; I20 - 66 pts.
6. Aron Evans / Tom Lindstrom; BMW E36 - 63 pts.
7. Tomos Parry / Tomos Owen; VW Tiguan - 59 pts.
8. Iwan Evans / Luke Edwards; Ford Focus ST - 57 pts *
9. Cian Hughes / Moi Williams + Sara Williams; VW Golf GTD - 57 pts.
10. Owi Roberts / Liam Hughes; VW Golf GTi - 49 pts.
11. Lowri Hughes / Anna Hughes; Vauxhall Corsa - 26½ pts.
12. Iestyn Jones / Stephen Hughes; Vauxhall Insignia - 23½ pts.
Reserve: Gary Williams / Dan Jones; Citroen Saxo VTR.

* = furthest cleanest. Maximum possible score was 79 points.

Information

This will be round 2 of the series for Duncan's Romer. It is hoped that four 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.

The start venue is Herron Services, Glanhwfa Road (A5114), Llangefni - Ordnance Survey map 114 (Anglesey/Ynys Môn), reference 458 750. what3words location = crank.mallets.steams
Sign on and route handouts at 19.00 hours. Finish at 22.00 hours in the Holland Arms/Pentre Berw area.

You will require the usual navigation aids of poti, romer, pen/pencil, etc., and more information, including start time, to be provided soon.

Drivers and navigators need a valid club membership, expiring 31st October 2023. Renew or join at Membership Application