Eight teams arrived at the start at Maidenhead Thicket (some still walking wounded or DF sets still suffering!). Bill, G4CUE, was on the Tx. The signal was audible with a good sense of direction, unlike the last evening DF.
We were given the pleasure of the company of two ladies; Claire, who decided that Bernard needed help finding his first Tx since returning from exile, and Doreen, who decided to compete on her own.
A bearing of circa 250 was taken by most pointing towards the Sonning area. It was thought that a long cuddle with Doreen would disclose just where Bill was hiding but she just denied any involvement and would try and DF him all by herself.
Teams drove off in various routes; I drove down towards Reading then through to Sonning. The 8pm signal was much stronger giving a bearing towards Binfield Heath. The next signal near Binfield gave me a cross in the small forest next to Crowsley Park. On driving into the pub car park to search for Bill's car (found nowt), drove out again only to arrive back again 20mins later to find Steve Stone's car just where I had been.
On running (well, staggering) down the public footpath spotted Bill's car in the farm yard. Due to water-logged DF set, I had to use the spare set with dodgy sense. This was to be my undoing as I had not a clue which way Bill was hiding. Eventually, I found Steve, Peter and Graham all searching the privet bushes and, as luck has it, spotted Peter's son guiding Dad in to Bill's hide. Six teams arrived in the allotted time, including Bernard with his lucky team mate Claire.
Steve Stone was the first person to find Bill on a site which site was very cleverly selected.
Brian Bristow
Note from Bill - Roger and Doreen both found the transmitter but, unfortunately, just after the time limit.
Position | Competitor | Finish |
---|---|---|
1 | Steve Stone | 20:53:04 |
2 | Peter Lisle | 21:06:44 |
3 | Brian Bristow | 21:06:58 |
4 | Graham Phillips | 21:11:24 |
5 | Bernard Poole | 21:13:46 |
6 | David Ryan | 21:18:51 |
7 | Roger Shepherd | NF |
8 | Doreen Pechey | NF |