NWOC news-brief May 2021

Another big North West club event is done and dusted! The long -awaited Riverhead Orienteering Weekend was a real success with the quality of the mapping and the course-setting described as world class by some of the elite competitors. The club maintained our reputation for putting on quality, special events.

The Auckland schools sprint series ended in April, but we have been busy with orienteering “have a go” zone days for intermediate aged students. Long Bay Regional Park turned on the sunshine for 406 students and the Kumeu showground is the venue for the North western zone on 12 May, followed by a regional final hosted by Counties Manukau on 18 May.

Students interested in being part of a Northern Region team at Queen’s Birthday weekend, or who are aiming for a place in the New Zealand schools team for Australia later this year, should take note of the information below.

It has been an intense couple of months for NWOC club events and lots of club members have put in many hours ensuring these events run smoothly. We need all club members to give a few hours of their time at each NWOC event – you will meet people, learn new skills and be part of a friendly team. You don’t need to be a skilled orienteer to help with many tasks.

The North West Event Crew would really, really appreciate any offers of help at our Turkey Ridge North event, this Sunday 16 May, especially for Control Pickup after 2pm, which helps everyone get away on time.

Please signal this to our coordinator at northwestorienteering@gmail.com . Many thanks.

Check out the calendar of events below – there is just about non-stop orienteering throughout Autumn.

Lisa Mead
President NWOC
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1. Events Calendar
2. Queen’s Birthday 2021 & Inter-regional schools challenge
3. Turkey Ridge AOS event
4. Rogaine season
5. Riverhead Weekend
6. Club shirts

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1. Events Calendar

Wed 12 NWOC NW zone Year 7/8 school zone day at Kumeu Showgrounds (entries closed).
Sun 16 NWOC AOS 6 Turkey Ridge North (New map!) – courses for all abilities, please enter now here
Tue 18 CMOC Intermediate Schools zone final
Tue 18 AOC Night streets event 7.00pm. 17 Rewa Road, Three Kings
Sun 23 Waikato Rugged Rogaine Te Miro (35 mins East of Hamilton) 2 or 4 hours. Pre-entry https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=rr-2021.
Tue 25 AOC Night streets event 7.00pm. 20 Camwell Cl, Bucklands Beach
Sun 30 CMOC AOS 7 Waiuku Forest North

June
Sat 5 – Mon 7 PAPO Queens Birthday 3 Day weekend. Woodend / Christchurch. Inter-regional Schools Challenge, the NZ Secondary Schools Orienteering Team trials (for Australia/ NZ Challenge) and the Canterbury Champs. Pre-enter here
Sun 13 Waikato Rugged Rogaine Marakopa Heads (70 mins South of Hamilton) 2 or 4 hours.
Tue 15 CMOC Auckland Secondary Schools rogaine at Totara Park
Sun 20 NWOC Rogaine Barlow Road, Riverhead Forest. Pre-enter here.
Wed 23 AOC Auckland Secondary Schools Champs Woodhill Forest
July
Sun 4 Waikato Rugged Rogaine Rapid Stream (70 mins North of Hamilton) 2 or 4 hours. Pre-entry.
Sun 11 NWOC Rogaine Slater Road/ Hedley Dunes, Woodhill Forest
Check out the website – entries now open: https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=rogaine-2021
Fri 16- Sun 18 NZ Secondary School Champs in Hawkes Bay

Check out the club website for details of other events in 2021: https://www.nwoc.org.nz/events/
AOS = Auckland Orienteering Series – events generally have 9 courses of varying lengths and difficulty.

2. Queen’s Birthday 2021 (Christchurch, hosted by PAPO)
NZSS team trials and Inter-Regional Schools Challenge

The Queen’s Birthday 3-day carnival has become a major fixture on the orienteering calendar for keen school-age orienteers as it is the main trial for selection to the NZ Secondary Schools team (which will contest the Southern Cross Challenge in Australia in late September). The selection trial information can be found here:
https://www.orienteering.org.nz/news/selection-notice-nzss-team-2021/

Every year there is also an Inter-Regional Schools Challenge at the Queen’s Birthday event, aimed to foster competition between school kids from different regions around NZ.

The challenge result is determined from results in the Junior A and Senior A school grades, with points given to the top 3 results in each grade for each regional team. The team with the most points over the weekend wins the challenge. The grades for the challenge are:

- M/W Junior A: born 2006 or later
- M/W Senior A: born 2005 or earlier

Full details about the Queen’s Birthday Carnival and Schools grades can be found on the event website: http://papo.org.nz/series/view/20/queens-birthday-2021

In 2021, due to a combination of factors, there won’t be an organised school group from the Northern region travelling and staying together. However, one or two (depending on numbers available) Northern region teams will be named from amongst those who have entered the appropriate grades. Each team will comprise 4 or more students in each grade (Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Senior Boys, Senior Girls).
Where there is more than one team named from a region, the teams will generally be made as even as possible. The Northern teams will aim to be inclusive, but students must meet the following minimum criteria to be selected into them:

- For Junior Boys and Girls, competitors must be competent running Orange-level courses

- For Senior Girls and Boys, competitors must be competent running Red-level courses

There are Junior B (yellow) and Senior B (orange) grades available for other junior competitors who need an easier navigational challenge.

Please note that It is up to the students/families to organise transport and accommodation in Christchurch for the event, and all competitors must enter themselves into the event as usual, on EnterO. The closing date is May 16 at standard prices, or May 23 for late entry at 50% increased price.

At the events there will be a team atmosphere promoted by having a shelter tent(s) for kids to gather together at, and coaches available to help with organisation, tips and feedback.

We encourage students/families to work together to get interested students to this quality weekend carnival. Please also talk to other coaches/teachers/club members if there is an issue, as many of us are also going and we will try to support junior club members to get to the carnival as much as possible.

3.Turkey Ridge North – AOS event 16 May (this Sunday)
Moving right along from ROW, next Sunday 16 May, North West hosts AOS6 on a new map, Turkey Ridge North.

Last used for orienteering many years ago, Turkey Ridge North offers stunning views out to the Tasman Ocean. Areas of complex sand dune contour detail with kanuka/native bush coverage and a section of mature white plantation forest, this map presents orienteering challenges, mixed with areas of fast running open terrain.

Courses are set to suit all abilities with the usual AOS format of 5 red courses, long orange, short orange, yellow and white. The red courses are set with a middle distance "flavour" (not too long), with many controls in the technical terrain.

Access is via Slater Road, approximately 10km north of Parakai Hot Springs off South Head Road. Full event details here .

Please pre-enter as soon as possible to ensure you get a map - enter here: https://entero.co.nz/evento.php?eventName=aos6-2021

4. Rogaine season
May heralds the start of the rogaine season events offered by Waikato Orienteering Club for those who are happy to travel further afield and 2 of the popular NWOC rogaines in June and July.

ROGAINE: Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance

If you are not familiar with rogaines then they can perhaps be described as a more social version of orienteering, usually comprising teams of 2-4 people aiming to visit as many checkpoints (in any order) in a set period of time. All competitors start at the same time and must finish within the designated time or face losing points for lateness.
The 90-minute NWOC rogaines are suitable for everyone from children, families, groups of friends, to elite athletes, and can be run either in teams or individually – 20 June and 11 July - more details soon. Check out the NWOC rogaine website here.

The Orienteering Waikato Rugged Rogaine series kicked off earlier this month and lived up to its “rugged” name. There was steep farmland, steep native bush with a picturesque stream, tangles of supplejack and plenty of mud. Special kudos to Andre de L’Isle who won the Open men’s 2 hour category with a very well planned and executed route choice. Lisa and Geoff Mead won the Mixed teams 2 hour category despite being 3 minutes late back and losing heaps of points.

Waikato Rugged Rogaines: Four rogaine events with both a 2 hr and 4 hr option. The control points will vary so it is important to spend a bit of time planning a route. If you're late back points will be deducted for every minute you're over the cut-off time. The two hour race can be done solo but the 4 hour race must be done as a team (2-5 people, Men/Women/Mixed/Junior). Details can be found here:. Pre-entry required..

5. Riverhead Orienteering Weekend

Huge thanks to the hard-working team of Cameron de L’Isle, Dave Middleton and Paul Ireland (plus all the helpers over the whole weekend) who delivered a challenging and classy 2-day feast of orienteering in terrain that is a complete contrast to Woodhill. The terrain was unforgiving for those who did not pay attention to the sometimes subtle contours or who tried to run too quickly rather than focusing on precise navigation, but the mapping was very accurate and reliable. I hope those on the easier courses on Sunday enjoyed the specially created foot track.
As Paul said: Lots of exhausted and smiley faces all around, with a bit of mud and sweat thrown in.

NWOC life member Matt Ogden won both M21E races convincingly. Matt wrote: The NWOC team have delivered another set of fantastic events. The quality of the mapping and course setting was truly world class.

Another comment: Big thanks to the NWOC team for last weekend’s events – we need more variety like this to improve our skills

Riverhead photos by Paul Ireland

8. NWOC club shirts by Trimtex – please order by 16 May
North West has a cool, distinctive club shirt, which featured prominently on the podium at the National Champs at Easter. We have very few shirts left in stock and plan to order new Trimtex shirts in the same NWOC club design from Grassy Knoll Outdoor (GKO).

Now is the time to order your Trimtex Rapid O-Shirt ($79 in NWOC colours) - a great value option with a short zip and mesh back providing great ventilation for the humid Auckland climate. It comes in male and female cuts.
Check out the website here:
Sizing: https://www.grassyknoll.co.nz/sizing

Gene is also offering a 5% discount on all products on his website when ordered with the club's bulk order.
Please contact me/ Lisa (mead10b@gmail.com) to order a shirt (include whether Mens/ Womens and size) by 16 May so that we can place a bulk order.

Forest Access – please stick to the rules
Most of our orienteering events take place on private land. North West Orienteering Club does not support or condone any access to private land outside of organised orienteering events, unless the access has been authorised in advance by the land owner. Possession of an orienteering map from a previous event does not imply approval for future access.

Access to the areas in which we orienteer, such as Woodhill Forest, is usually subject to the club meeting special conditions, regarding safety or payment of access fees; sometimes landowners have moved stock to accommodate us or have concerns about some areas. Please ensure that we maintain our good relationships with land owners.