NITOC – PLANNER'S COMMENTARY

T1 (B) This control, in addition to the usual complications of a southward direction of view, was using a map symbol (black “X”) which did not represent the extent of the features on the ground. The correct kite was placed by moving north-west from the geographic centre of the feature until the edge was reached – with a somewhat non-intuitive result. To cause further distraction the distant kite (C) was set to be between the two placed on the correct feature.

T2 (D) To resolve this it was necessary to recognise that the edge of the open area (yellow on the map) did not coincide with the distinct veg. boundary; it was instead the edge of the tree canopy. Since this was not a distinct boundary the control was not described as “southern edge” but rather “southern part” with the kite place a short distance away from the edge of the canopy. The other kites were placed on various, distracting, veg. boundaries.

1. (C ) Back to playground equipment! In this case the mismatch between the map symbol and the fact on the ground was extreme to the extent that it was decided to place kites against the supports at each end in the hope that either might be mistaken for the “X” on the map. By placing a kite on each side of the centre it was hoped to disrupt the position estimation and as a final distractor a kite was placed on the closest feature.

2. (Z) The single circle for both control 2 and 3 was intended to introduce confusion. The stop at the punch was to prevent a view from the other end of the hedge which would have given the game away for both controls. No.2 was a parallel feature control, with kites placed on two veg. boundaries and a canopy edge, hoping to distract from the “Z” solution.

3. (D) By the time this decision point was reached, the zero result for no.2 should have been discovered. To prevent the kites of this cluster being seen from decision point 2 they had to be hung low on short canes. Kite D from cluster 2, being visible from decision point 3, was included in the kite count in the hope that it would be overlooked in the left to right scan to determine the answer. Kites D and E were also set to provide a parallax change if you strayed left from the decision point.

4. (B) This control made use of the advertised distinction between isolate trees and copses so that, although kites C and D were against a very prominent tree, this specimen was part of a copse and this didn't satisfy the control description. The correct kite was on the much less significant, but isolate, small tree.

5. (B) A line of sight control using sight lines from the track junction at decision point 4 and the gate to the east of decision point 5.

6. (C ) An imaginative feature! The re-entrant was just about discernible from the track; it all but disappeared when in the terrain. This didn't matter, however, as the resolution of this control was by the fence on the other side of the track. The short section of fence perpendicular to the track missed the centre of the circle by 1.5mm on the map. The two western kites were on this line and therefore could be discounted. The correct kite was placed 6metres off this line. The decision point was sited to introduce a parallax distraction.

7. (Z) This control made use of two issue raised in the event details – did you read them? There were four trees (green dots) within the circle so only the “between” of those trees could be the control site; there were other trees in the circle but as they were part of copses (the white areas) they were not for consideration. In fact kites A-D were on ineligible “between” - it was hoped that the emphasis to the left would distract the not-so-careful map reader from the control location.

8. (Z) The punch for control 7 was an integral part of the set up of this control. It was placed a matter of millimetres before decision point 8 but being on the south side of the track it was hoped that it would hold attention until the tree circled as control 8 was obscured by the nearer tree. The pairs of kites on two of the trees were intended to distract through the resolution of their SE/NE locations.

9. (E) Controls 9 and 10 were tightly linked in both their resolution and their distraction value. The given kite (E) was placed by careful measurement at the foot of the crag's mid-point with no other kites close enough to allow a degree of error from the interpretation of the extent of the crag. Kite D was placed where the crag was most obvious and A, B and C were included as distractors.

10. (A) Here reference was made to the “IOF Guidelines for Planning Elite TrailO” (again, did you read the event details?) which clearly shows that a kite with the description “crag, end” is placed at the foot. To reinforce this kite B was placed slightly farther away than A and C. To provide distraction the placement of the decision point and the use of a viewing direction in the control description meant that kites D and E of control 9 were excluded from the kite count.

11. (B) Preventing movement past the punch was essential, as going forward and looking over the wall to fix the position of the underpass would have made this control trivial. Instead it was necessary to recognise that the wall of vegetation to the right of the road marked the northern side of the underpass thus allowing the fixing of the kites relative to it.

12. (C ) An example of a control coming from very little. Because the ground was falling away the relative positions of the trees could not be established, and the large differences in girth led to an optical illusion of distance from the decision point.

13. (C ) A relatively straightforward control if you could distinguish copse from isolate. That the correct kite was against a tree was intended to add to the confusion.

14. (Z) An unusual example of the parallel feature control. Here there was a ghost knoll and a real knoll, both with kites, whilst the circled knoll was even farther away. Two kites were placed at the real knoll to make it look like a S/E resolution test. The circled knoll could actually be seen between kites D and E if you moved several metres NE along the road.

15. (C ) And now for TrailO in an urban environment! Use was made of the target structure being in two parts – open sided (a canopy, mapped in light grey) and enclosed (a building, mapped in dark grey). If this was recognised kite A could be discounted. Kite E was on the building's north east corner, leaving the three central kites as B “canopy, north east corner (inside)”, C “building, south east corner” and D “canopy, north east corner”. Think yourselves lucky. We were discussing the removal of kite C and making this a “Z” control!

16. (C ) A simple control made complicated by a complex map and having to look along the fences. The kite line-up in a very small sector of view can also lead to incorrect identification.

17. (D) While it was possible to move the 100metres to get a close up view of the control site the placement of the punch near the decision point was intended to deter you from doing that. The placement of kite B on the estate wall far beyond the control site was intended to provoke an answer “C” rather than “D”.

18. (Z) Rather a long haul from 17 to 18. I had hoped to place control sites in the pasture to the left but nothing came to light in the planning process. Here use was being made of the distinction between the open and the rough open areas which, although they are mapped differently, are not described differently in control descriptions. Thus the “open area” of the control description comprised an open and a rough open part, but the three kites were placed just inside the open area while the control circle was centred on the rough open.