Multi-DF     Sunday  Nov 8th 2015

  Organiser  Rosie M  G8YDB        Start  12:30   End  15:00      Pub  The Bull, Swanley
There were triffids in them there hills:

Introduction from Rosie:  We used to live near Joydens wood and walk through regularly. I was confident to take on this event as I knew the rough layout of the wood. It is quite varied in terrain, some hills, some bracken , pine plantation, open, heath-like areas and general mixed woodland with plenty of bramble. Luckily I had an excellent map of the wood but I discovered many new areas and footpaths previously unknown to me. Having  previously decided exactly where 8 of the TX’s were to be hidden I went out the day before the event to decide on the sites for the remaining  2 and to put out up to 6 of them. Colin was taking part in an orienteering event in the wood so we had parked at the far end of the wood to where the start was to be. I set off with 6 Tx’s in a back pack. After putting out 4 Tx’s I was debating whether to return to the car but decided to push on and deploy the final pair. As I was attempting to put up the aerial for the final one I spotted Colin running  along  a distant footpath and had to duck down behind some trees. Job done. Back to the car. This made it much easier as on the Sunday I only had 4 left to put out.

Competitors were all claiming to be fit and ready for action but on close inspection  some did appear a little stiff, perhaps as a result of the last Kent event?
The event was designed to be easier than average. F and G were closest to the start followed by A and B. Most of the transmitter pairs were less than 100m apart. Seeing Colin F go between J and I, I realised that I had made it a little too easy. I did expect Colin M to have an advantage of local knowledge, but it seems that it does not work like that.

The A transmitter was not the usual Maxi, a mini was programmed instead, which made it simple. Most hides were close to footpaths and I was concerned that triffids and brightly coloured aerial hooks could be visible in some areas, so kept ‘adjusting’ them. It was very interesting seeing an event from the other side, as it were.

Thanks to Roy, Steve and Colin M for all the work done on the TX building and programming making it possible for a novice like me to have a go at setting up the event.  Well done to Gary and Richard.


Bob in full flight, Rosie couldn't keep up and take pictures.

Speeding ticket?


Richard near J

Colin knew the area well, would it help?


Maxi - twisted pair

Some were more twisted than others


OK there's the Maxi ticket box in a black bag but where's the triffid?

Thanks to Spec Savers he found it ..... eventually.

Results:
Position Competitor Handicap Joker A B F G I J R S Y Z Total Percent
1 Gary P 90 Y 26 40 32 20 40 40 23 23 80 32 266 100
2 Richard S 0 J 32 26 26 40 26 64 0 0 17 17 248 93
3 Colin F 90 F 23 20 80 26 32 26 26 26 32 40 241 90
4 Roy E 54 S 17 17 20 15 23 17 40 80 26 23 224 84
5 Tim P 111 A 80 32 23 17 20 20 32 32 20 20 185 69
6 Colin M 60 Z 20 15 17 32 17 23 0 0 23 52 139 52
7 Bob S 0 J 0 -23 0 -23 0 0 -20 0 0 0 0 0

Above negative values indicate tickets were not handed in at the Maxi A before the machine gun.



Hello! from Gary - Multi-Star,  Multi-Hero, Multi-Man of the moment!


 Richard - Fueling up to attack the 'Heroes' next year. Choose your own label!!

Great event Rosie,  challenge, excitement and impeccable organisation.
Suspect your idea of setting up the Txs across 2 days will be used by other operators in the future.

Very well done Gary, the table below says it all!


Results for the year  


Table commentary:
Eight events were held in 2015.  Philip, Tim, Steve and Gary have been heroes during the year.
Colour picks out the winners and operators.  P =  Points won,  D= points Discarded,  HP = Hero/Handicap Points to be used for next event.
Winners receive 50 HPs and a Multi-Star Trophy to keep.  Second 10 HPs, Third 3 HPs.  
In the 'Discard Ceremony' held at the tea all competitors can discard up to 10 HPs if they wish. The Operator may choose to add or discard up to 5.
After gains and discards have been applied the HPs are considered, if someone has a higher HP total than the current Hero they take the Hero Trophy.

Using Gary P to illustrate ( See row 3)

BFWD   He started the year with a handicap of  48 as a result of successes in 2014.
Event 1  After not being placed on the first event he opted to reduce his handicap by 8.  
Event 2  He was the operator, gained 5 for this but discarded them to leave his handicap at 40.  
Event 3  Managed a 2nd place for which he was awarded 10 points but chose to discard 10 leaving him at 40.  
Event 4  Won 3 pts for coming 3rd  (43) but again discarded 10 reducing his handicap to 33.  
Event 5  Won, gaining 50 points and a Multi-Star Trophy. Now feeling more confident he opted not to discard 10 but stay with a handicap of 83.
Event 6   Despite this large handicap he managed a second place,  gaining 10 and discarding none (he was getting braver!) so 93.  
Event 7  Not in the top 3, decided to lose 3 points,  90.
Event 8  Another win - wow! - gaining him 50 points and a Multi-Star Trophy.  Sensibly (looking at the handicaps of the other hot shots) he discarded 10 to carry 130 forward to 2016.  Comparing his total with Steve's   130 -  112 ,  Gary also takes the Hero Trophy.  
First event of 2016    -  No one can steal the Hero from him with a second or third place but Colin F, Philip, Steve or Tim could do it with a win?   Of course anyone can win a Multi-Star, this will still be pretty difficult but thanks to our heroes not impossible.    

Fantastic consistently good performance from Gary, definitely deserves to hold that Hero Trophy over the winter, and of course he gets to keep the two 2015 Multi-Star Trophies to add to his previous collection from 2013 and 2014.  Perhaps his old man deserves a word of praise too, competing with a large handicap throughout the year, encouraging the others to be braver.  I like to think I am brave but sadly you also have to win to be a hero (pause for violins), perhaps next year, if the super heroes get even braver, I might just do it!

Previous Multi-Stars are  here.        Heroes are here     A full explanation of how the hero table above was generated is here.    

Other DF results (all forms) are here.                    Watch the noticeboard for the 2016 dates available soon.