2012 Collier Cup round 6

07 September 2012

Six teams assembled for this Collier Cup event at the traditional Stokenchurch start, and were rewarded with a good, clear signal from Graham Phillips at 7.30pm heading South-SouthEast. A bit of sky wave betrayed the fact that the Tx was probably more than 10km away from the start and most competitors made their way South either to the Henley area or Maidenhead, depending on which side of the start bearing they decided to travel down. Good, strong signals were heard at 8pm and with a confirmation bearing at 8.15pm several teams were heading for Bowsey Hill, to the North-East of Wargrave. The easiest approach turned out to be a minor road leading in from the South that had the advantage of taking competitors most of the way up the hill (with a comfortingly parked car belonging to Graham parked at the top). Peter Lisle was first to arrive on site from this direction and was able to locate the vicinity of the aerial on the 8.30pm transmission, correctly deciding that it was the ‘wrong’ end of the aerial that he had been led to and also correctly assuming (after some searching) that the aerial was not attached to an invitingly long and high barbed wire security fence. The woodland was well stocked with fallen trees and undergrowth and Peter commenced his search in what turned out to be the right direction from the fence, with his navigator spotting Graham just before the 8.40pm transmission. Roger Shepherd was also on site by now with Bill Pechey and Andrew Collett arriving after a downhill run in from the North. Despite successfully spotting the aerial these competitors had some difficulty following it to Graham since at one stage, near the transmitter, it disappeared about 80 foot up into a tall tree. Commiserations went to Mark Coventry who mistook his location on plotting the critical 8.15pm bearing and journeyed to the wrong side of the Thames before realising his mistake.

A good event made all the better by a splendid pint of Rebellion Ale afterwards…

Peter Lisle

Competitor Time Adj. Time Time Diff. Score Bill North
Peter Lisle 20:39:35 20:39:35 00:00:00 -5 10
Roger Shepherd 20:50:00 20:50:00 00:10:25 12 6
Bill Pechey 20:58:00 20:58:00 00:18:25 21 4
Andy Collett 21:02:15 21:02:15 00:22:40 26 3
John Mullins 21:17:00 21:17:00 00:37:25 42 2
Mark Coventry NF 21:37:00 00:57:25 63 1
Graham Phillips op - - - 4