The need for rally navigation

The Bulletin regularly reports on navigational rallies and probably leaves many readers bewildered over herringbones, tulips, grid squares and the like, but what has been missing until now is a guide to what these terms mean and how to go about competing in Navigational rallies. This note aims to explain some of the mysteries of Ordnance Survey Maps and what to expect when competing in VSCC rallies. With absolutely no apology, it is primarily aimed at the navigators side of the car, but drivers who want to understand the navigators role will find it useful.

Firstly a definition. A rally is not a race. Rather it is a competition run to find the crew who can best follow a particular route at a set schedule. Going too fast will incur penalties just as much as going too slow or going the wrong way. Rally navigators therefore have essentially two disciplines to master � Navigation and Time keeping. VSCC rallies are purposely testing in both these skills. This does not mean that a novice or a newcomer entering one of these events will get hopelessly lost, as they are usually run by people who appreciate that not everyone can be an expert, so help in the form of easier instructions, rejoin points etc. is usually provided for the less experienced.

VSCC rallies usually last 4 - 5 hours (or all night if you enter the famous Measham) and you will need an eligible car, pre-1931 or P.V.T. Inter-register rallies are supposed to be easier and usually of about 2 - 3 hours duration on a Sunday afternoon. However, navigation instructions have been known to be devious. Again you require an eligible vehicle, pre-war from one of the participating marques; FIAT, Austin 10, STD, Humber, Alvis, Crossley or Riley. There are of course lots of other events you can get involved with, from evening runs to cross Europe epics, all have their own flavours and idiosyncrasies. There is not space to deal with that all here, so let us concentrate on VSCC events.

As already mentioned, there are two different tasks to cope with (really there are three, because you also have to keep the driver under the delusion that he is the more important part of the crew; most drivers have very delicate egos that have to be maintained! Joking apart, this is very much a team sport, and the driver/navigator relationship is all important, drivers can help with both navigating and particularly regularity timing). Whilst the crew who get closest to the schedule will be the winners, and therefore clock watching is all important, if you are perfectly on time, but gently heading into the wrong county, you are not on time at all! So the first golden rule is the priority of tasks.