Report

Caernarvonshire & Anglesey Motor Club ran the second round of their Navigation Run Championship on Thursday 2^nd November, starting at David Hughes Leisure Centre. Titled the ‘Brown Leaves Navigation Run’, it entailed a 30 miles route over three sections.

Section 1 was defined by Tulip Diagrams, starting on the far end of the bridge over the A55 on the outskirts of Llanfairpwll. Many crews recorded the symbol placed on the start of the bridge, which was a dud as not in Section 1, so a point is deducted before they even started. A simple route took crews to Llansadwrn where the section ended on the NAM (Not As Map) triangle there.
Map references were used from here on, with a relaxed section to the main Give Way junction in Llanddona where Section 2 started. The core of the event would run around this area, the inset part of Map 114 around Llangoed, although once crews realised this, they switched to map 115 to avoid the map page turn-overs. Most crews initially navigated the intricate whites and loops in the village itself correctly, then off to the beach and a number of NAM triangles, before the many loops around Llangoed where there were stories of all sorts of wrong-slots, detours and visiting people’s houses and farms requiring some quietly-quietly five-point turns.
After the final relaxed section through Beaumaris, crews started looking for symbols on Section 3 by the golf club, over the top to the Gazelle Inn junction, followed by a run down the main road to the sting-in-the-tail, a devious route around the back streets of Menai Bridge, ending by driving under the Suspension Bridge to finish in the Anglesey Arms Hotel.
Organisers, Sion Matthews and Endaf Davies compiled results at the finish venue this time, presenting chocolates to the winners with a round of applause from everyone.

1^st Dion and Cory had a perfect night in the Transit Custom, recording all 71 correct symbols and avoided recording any of the five dud ones. Maximum score achieved, a total of 71. Very well done.
2^nd Lee & Sion only missed one symbol, actually driving down the alley behind the Pizza shop in Menai Bridge but only spotted one of the two symbols present. They actually tied on 70 points but were rewarded with the runner-up position in the RCZ as their oversight was near the end, so furthest cleanest prevailed.
3^rd Emyr and Aron also only missed one symbol, but their error was mid-way through the event, missing a “N” symbol near the old people’s home in Llangoed.
4^th Furthest cleanest, the two Johns, Roberts and Evans finished best of a trio on 68 points, in the red Primera. They actually drove the correct route but missed 3 symbols, the same one as Emyr/Aron, one on a Llanddona village loop and the “5” which was placed under a street-name sign right at the very end in sight of the Suspension Bridge.
5^th An electric car finished next, the Polestar getting all the way around the route, Carey & Tom only missing one symbol, a “V” placed at the Give Way at the end of Section 2. Unfortunately, a podium place was not to be as they also recorded two dud symbols, a “G” on the Penmynydd B road in Section 1 and an “O” in the village centre of Llangoed which is where the yellow becomes a B-road there. 68 points.

6^th Aron and Tom missed two symbols, both an “N”. One was the Llangoed old peoples home one, and the other at the very end when they took the wrong side street, missing the Chapel Street “N”. Should have been good enough for 3^rd place, but they recorded the very first visible symbol, that “3” placed 200 metres before the start of section 1. 68 points.
7^th. Jill & Paul in the Qashqai started off really well, but near the end of the long Section 2 they forgot to visit a layby. They remembered later, but it was too late to go back and see what delights were hidden there. It was a “Cymru” symbol. They missed the “V” at the end of that section, and then drove down two wrong streets in Menai Bridge right at the end. 67 points.
8^th Gabi & Iwan started off well, spotting the first symbol. Oh, wait a minute, that was a dud. Oops!! They were doing well then until Llanddona village. Complaints to the organisers at the finish of being sent down a narrow hedge-scratching rough white, revealed they had actually wrong-plotted down the wrong road. Oops! number 2. Oops! number 3 was wrong-plotting the back alley of the Pizza shop in Menai Bridge near the finish. 66 points.
9^th A very good attempt by Duncan and Kay, but a collection of errors that others had done, such as recording the first symbol (dud), the dud on the B road in Llangoed, failing to visit the pizza alley, and missing the narrow road from the village centre in Llangoed. 65points for father and daughter team in the Caddy van.
10^th Ceri & Dewi only deviated from the prescribed route at the very end, missing the Pizza alley and Chapel Street. However, they also missed a second symbol on one of the Llangoed triangles and a gateway symbol on the white that ran through the farm near Llanddona. They also fell foul of the organiser’s sneaky 1^st dud symbol routine just prior to the start of Section 1. 64 points for the MX5.
11^th Mike & Tristan actually only missed two symbols, the two down Pizza alley. However, a potential fourth spot was ruined by also recording 4 of the 5 duds. This is to show just how close the competition was. 63 points in the Renault Traffic.
12^th The final position fell to David and Adam in the BMW X3. They recorded the initial dud “3” but scribbled it out before handing it in to the organisers. They missed to scribble out the B-road dud “G” though. Small mistakes which others had made, such as the LLanddona hedge white, missing a triangle, that “V” at the end of Section 2, and of course the Pizza alley.61 points.

Lee & Elis Matthews put the symbols out, this time deliberately very easy to see, which was reflected in the close results. If you went the correct way and recorded the symbols in the correct space on the time card, anyone could have won. Dafydd Edwards helped with signing-on at the start, and Jamie Jones was out observing driving standards, making sure crews were driving appropriately, although considering the machinery crews brought along, it wasn’t exactly a rally. Well done all. See ya’ll in four weeks-time for the next one. We even had Mark & Ela Campbell following the crews with the recovery truck, but thankfully not required this time.

RESULTS

1. Dion Rowlands / Cory Thomas; Toota Corolla – 71 points
2. Lee Threadgold / Sion Jones; Peugeot RCZ – 7.2
3. Emyr Owen / Aron Jones; Mazda 6 – 70.1
4. John Roberts / John Evans; Nissan Primera – 68.3
5. Carey Lindley / Tom Parkes; Polestar – 68.2
6. Aron Evans / Tom Lindstrom; Ford Focus – 86.1
7. Jill Clarke / Paul Clarke; Nissan Qashuai – 67
8. Gaby Tsantanis / Iwan Evans; Suzuki Ignis – 66
9. Duncan Littler / Kay littler; VW Caddy – 65
10. Ceri Hicks / Dewi Jones; Mazda MX-5 – 64
11. Mike Thomas / Trystan Bee; Renault Traffic – 63
12. David Day / Adam Burton; BMW X3 – 61

Many thanks to Lee Matthews for the report; to Sion and Endaf and the team for putting the event on; and to the Anglesey Arms Hotel for the use of their facilities.

Renew your membership

Current club membership cards expire on 31 October. You will need to renew your membership to enter the Brown Leaves Navigation Run. Go to this link at Become A Member

Competitors should also have the RS Clubman Competition Licence, which is available free of charge at RS Clubman application

Information

This will be the second Navigation Run of the seasons and organised by Sion Matthews.
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 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. Sign on from 19.00 hours; route handouts at 19.30 hours. .

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