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Clarity of our Rules

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 12 August 2016, 12:44 PM  
Boys, boys, please focus on the issue. No matter how many fence types we have, whether we leave some of them off or not, we have some restrictions on where we may go. That these are not straightforward, I think is demonstrated above:-)) And that's just one of the (sometimes) restricted symbols.

Now I bet none of you have read all the legislation relating to driving a car. Neither have I. What we do have is a simplified version of it, called "The Road Code". I think we need this sort of thing, and it sounds as though Nick has written one for out of bounds. Could you post it somewhere Nick? Come in if you are following this.

Show Profile  mcroxford Posted: 15 August 2016, 5:22 AM  
My two cents worth on the interpretation of what rules we have:

ISOM 2000 only differentiates between Fence (522) a wooden or wire fence less than ca. 1.5m high AND High Fence (524) a boarded or wire fence higher than ca 1.5 m, not crossable to the average orienteer, eg. deer fence.

ISSOM introduces the concept of whether a fence is crossable to all with symbol 522 now being referred to as 'Passable fence or railing' and 524 being 'Impassable fence or railing' Forbidden to cross. The specification interestingly notes that 524 is for fences higher than 2m or very difficult to cross.

I think that the issue is a course setting one rather than a mapping issue. In sprint orienteering all fences that are deemed not crossable for safety, access, course structure should be mapped as 524 (see the notes on symbol 707 - Uncrossable Boundary). A good example of this was the recent sprint in JWOC.

In non-sprint disciplines the fences should be mapped based on height alone - as per the specifications. In my opinion the mapper should also use the symbol 707 Uncrossable Boundary to overprint any fences which are then deemed to be not crossable to the average orienteer. These may be either low fences due to electric wires or high fences with barbed wire. The planner and controller then need to decide for which courses the uncrossable boundary should apply to. For instance a deer fence may be uncrossable for MW12 but crossable for MW18. If the uncrossable boundary line is used it should be in overprint style so that you can see the underlying fence height and any crossing points need to be clearly shown.

This may lead to excessive use of purple on certain farm maps - in which case you probably should use the ISSOM differentiation between fence types but this needs to be clearly stated on the map (along with any other special symbols), as part of starters instructions and as part of your competitor notes.

Happy to be proved wrong though.

Show Profile  Michael Posted: 22 August 2016, 11:12 AM  
Thank you Michael, your words are sound but the number of them is large. And we haven't got onto olive green, cliffs and water bodies yet.

The athletes at WOC in Stromstad are no doubt fully conversant with the rules. As we should expect our planners and controllers to be, too. There are only 180 clauses in our rules, and 9 appendices. But the clauses that apply to participants are pepper-potted through the vast majority which are for organisers. There are 100 symbols in the standard mapping specification, which is written for mappers. There are 100 symbols in the separate sprint mapping specification, ditto. And the sneaky thing - symbols that look similar in standard and sprint but have different meanings.

Sifting out what you need to know is quite unrealistic for the average orienteer let alone a new one. We need an orienteering "road code".

Show Profile  mcroxford Posted: 23 August 2016, 3:40 AM  
Agree Michael.

Happy to help work on one and even take on the lead on collating an "O-code".

I can be succinct in my words, if required.


Show Profile  Michael Posted: 26 August 2016, 10:59 AM  
I think that would be great Michael. Dwayne are you reading this? Such an "O'd-Code" should (eventually) get a TC sign-off as to accuracy, but the guiding principle should be simplicity - what rules do I need to know to go orienteering?



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