Navigation sessions, an afterword

Mike Hodder and Craig Preston

Craig “They were incredibly detailed, very informative, a little taxing at times, but I think it probably gave us a good idea of what lays ahead. A lot to take in. In the amount of time, we spent in here you can only expect to take in a small amount, but it’s a good start.

“I’ve agreed to be the navigator for the Three Legs of Mann event and it’s my first event ever, so the baptism of fire started with this stuff this afternoon. I think today revealed all things I don’t know, so I am somewhat trepidatious about going into the event, but at least I’ve got a start and I’ve got a basis of what we’re going to do, also some further study.”

Mike, “I think the main thing you take away from it is just how much learning we’ve got to do. it’s mind-blowing.

Dawn and David Hewitt

It’s informative, yes, but my brain hurts now. It’s a lot to take in but hopefully, I’ve taken something from it and will remember tomorrow.

David. “We’re currently having our Austin Healey worked on, it’s not ready to go, so we’ve got an Audi Three, but it’ll be fine. It’ll cope with it, no doubt.

“We’re new to the whole thing so we will start easy tomorrow. I’ve done the Novice Trial with my son, so we’ll move on to the bigger events later in the year, I think!”

Dawn and David commented after the Classic Retro Tour was finished; Dawn, “It went well. I didn’t get lost. We didn’t get lost once actually, the instructions were really clear, so it wasn’t scary, I am very proud of myself”.

David; “Yeah, pretty good. I’m tired though after all that, but we didn’t argue. We didn’t get lost. It was a successful day, so definitely we want more, we may even make the Summer Trial!”

Dave Bachelor

Took part in the last navigation course, which was the most complicated one. Did he think it had sunk in?

“I hope so. I think so. Yes. This was me just trying to move up to the next level. It was interesting, there were some new bits to look at and think about, and the way in which the instructions are given for the different red and black events compared to the green and blue events. In the future, I’d like to do the tests and possibly do the Marathon. The Monte Carlo one too!

Seren Whyte

“It really went well. Everyone seemed to be absorbing the information, it is a lot, but we give them everything they need to go rallying, they might not need it all straightaway. You do get some people that are sort of a bit’ Wow, this is a lot,’ but hopefully at some point during their rallying, they’re going to go ‘Ah, I see what they were saying now!’

Elise Whyte

“I’ve really enjoyed speaking and engaging with everybody. I think they enjoyed it and took a lot away from the courses.”

Seren; “My top three key messages were, go the right way, and then stay within your allowed time and always be prepared.”

Elise: “Yeah, so prepare before the event starts. Go through your paperwork, go through your books. Read everything and be prepared.”

HERO-ERA policy is to try and attract younger competitors and introduce newbies to the sport, funnel them and take them as high as they want to go. Does Seren see this as the beginning of the road?

“I definitely saw that today. You can see that people are coming here, they know nothing before they come in here. Some of them, maybe have a classic car and have never even taken it out for a tour. So, we’re starting right at the beginning. We’ve got a tour tomorrow, a lot of them are taking part in that. So, they’re trying the navigation they learned today, and then they’re going to take it further and try a rally and see where that goes. We’ll be there every step of the way.

“We’ve got more training throughout the year online and events specific. So, as they go through, we can give them more and more information. But yes definitely, this is the start of that journey.”