This event was staged on the evening of 14th October 2005 as the annual event to introduce novices within the University to the challenge of navigational rallying. The route was set at just over 51 miles starting at Raceland karting, East Lothian and due to finish just North of the Fordel services on the A68.

The format of the event was that any budding new drivers and navigators would be paired with experienced drivers and navigators in order to provide a good overview of the sport and to provide instruction on the intricacies of the event. The main theme though was to have fun, and the organiser James Stewart provided 8 sections with straightforward novice clues that provided a mix of good driving roads with standard navigational tests to try and do just this.

I entered with a work colleague, Davie Reynolds on the maps and couple of late call offs from novice drivers, due to car and driver illnesses meant that the only other HBCC participant was Tom Wilson with novice navigator Murray Harcas (EUMSC). A total of 8 crews rolled up to the start line to tackle the event and each car turned right out of Raceland (even though one car indicated left!) to begin the journey. The following 50+ miles were the usual mix of NAM triangles, 90 degree bends and twisty roads that you would expect from an East Lothian route, which eventually saw all 8 crews arrive at the finish to record a place.

The results indicate that it was not all plain sailing for the crews with time or clues dropped by most, one WD and a suggestion of a cut & run tactic by one car towards the end. Two crews cleaned the route with scores gradually progressing upwards of this but the usual chatter and lack of long faces at the results venue suggested that the aim of enjoying the first run out had been met.

The end result for us was a dropped 2 minutes in section 5 following a missed call and a large deviation towards East Linton but we eventually finished 3= overall and 1st in the novice navigator class, so a trophy and round of applause for Davie at the end of his first event. Davie actually did very well on the maps showing a lot of promise for navigating, actually calling the route extremely well for someone with his experience. I don’t know what his background with maps is but he’ll do well if he continues, something which he said he would, so let’s hope others follow him and come into the sport in which ever seat they wish to occupy.

Finally, a big thank you to the organising team, EUMSC and marshals for making the event possible.