Planning

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for agreeing to plan an event. Orienteering is very labour intensive. This information will help you work towards a successful day with the Controller and Organiser. The club pays a km rate for three round trips to the mapping area from Dunedin for the Planner. The Treasurer will also reimburse other expenses (e.g. photocopying) on submission of receipts. 

COURSES & EVENTS

Different events require different courses and approaches to planning. Most of this information addresses the planning of standard club and OY events. The primary focus of course setting is to get good legs between controls - sites can be easy, but you want route choice between them.

Summer/Schools Series

These are in-town events with three courses primarily designed for school students, using clipcards and punch (metal) stakes/flags: 

Sprint Series

2 courses are offered - Whitey/Yellow (because urban maps are often very difficult to set a straight White course on) and an Orangey level course (because it's often difficult to get Red level sites on urban maps).  These are run with SI timing.

Orienteer of the Year Events

About 4 events per year are part of the club’s OY series (check the event schedule on the website). At OY events, six courses are offered: OY events should run with the SI timing system.

Otago Champs 

Use the new (2004) NZOF approved 8 course combinations with 10 year age classes.

GENERAL COURSE PLANNING PRINCIPLES

Good course planning aims to provide challenges appropriate to each orienteer, provide an enjoyable experience and ensure a fair competition, not dependent on luck. Planning must take into account the technical difficulty of the map (scale, detail), physical difficulty of the area (e.g. climb), seasonal changes which affect vegetation, underfoot conditions (particularly for the youngest and oldest competitors) and any land use restrictions (such as the need to avoid crop paddocks or dangerous areas) that the landowner has specified.

The Planner should have an understanding and appreciation of what makes a good course, gained from personal experience. The Planner’s work is checked by the Controller: this is essential because of the numerous opportunities for error that can have adverse consequences.

Legs

Control placement

PLANNING TIMETABLE

At all times during the planning, consult the Controller if you need advice. 

At Least Six Weeks before the Event

Two to three weeks before the event

At least a week before the Event

One to Two Days Before the Event

Depending if it is private or public land you may be able to put out some or all of the controls, tape and water. A general guide is that you should allow 20 minutes per control depending on the terrain. 

For Summer Series events, you could do a master punch card for checking clipcards at the Finish.

On the Day

After the Event

After having made sure that you have not mislaid any, return the control stakes, flags, tape and water bottles. 

As you may have established a relationship with the landowner, please do thank them for the use of their property.  If they have been really helpful, talk to someone on the Committee about how we may be able to show our appreciation.  

Please give any feedback to the Committee.


ROUTE GADGET.  Look at where people went.  Did they use the route choices you planned for them?

White

1.0-1.5 km length, approx 5-10 controls (more OK), most competitors finish in 20-50 minutes. Maps must have fences. Control descriptions must be written in full in English.

White courses are for beginning orienteers, particularly of school age; many adult beginners would also select this course for their first attempt. Controls must be on easy features on linear black, blue or green handrails and also at every decision point (track junction, fence corner, change in feature type such as stream to track). Brown (topographic) handrails are generally considered unsuitable for white courses. No route choice is offered and no compass use is necessary.

Controls should be relatively close together and have a collecting feature immediately before or after (and preferably alongside) the direction of travel. Doglegs are permitted. All control markers must be visible from the approach side and clearly lead off to the next control. Where the course has to deviate from the handrail feature (e.g. to cross through a forest block), the route must be taped all the way until a new handrail feature is reached.

Yellow

1.5-2.5 km (Short) to 2.5-3.5 km (Long), approx 6-10 controls, time range 20-60 minutes. Maps must have fences. Control descriptions must be in English with pictorials available.

Yellow courses are for those who have some basic orienteering skills,, and should be suitable for a wide age range. A handrail route on linear features should always be available but it should not always be the fastest route (i.e. there is limited route choice). There should be scope for cutting corners. If used, compasses should be for rough direction use only. Controls should be either on or <50 m from distinctive and/or line features, but preferably not at turning points. Try to provide catching features nearby. As a general rule use hills and other elevated features and avoid depressed features such as pits. Choose an uncluttered area of the map with clearly shown features. Avoid complicated contour areas, steep terrain, thick vegetation and hazards. Control sites should be visible from the approach side by any reasonable route.

String [Not usually done now]

Approx 0.5 km in length. Must be totally failsafe. Use an enlarged, simplified map, or a picture map. Controls and control descriptions have picture codes.

String courses may be optionally provided for pre-school age children. A tape or string is placed around the course. Controls must be on unique features. As each control is reached the next one must be visible. Children mark a control card, which has picture codes, either with a coloured crayon hung at each control, or they punch the picture code card.

Orange

2.5-4.0 km (Short) to 4.0-6.0 km (Long), approx 6-15 controls, time range 40-90 minutes. Maps must have fences (club policy); only omit them if a fenced map is too easy (check with Controller). Provide both written English and pictorial control descriptions.

Orange courses are for orienteers with some experience or experienced orienteers. Route choices should include long handrail routes and shorter more technical routes. Controls can be off handrails but there should be clear attack points and/or collecting features within 100m of the control. The actual control sites may be fairly small point features and the control markers need not necessarily be visible from the attack point. Exit from the control site should not be the same as the entry (dog-legs are not permitted).

Navigation can require use of contours, rough compass bearings and some pace counting. Use of a chain of prominent features as "stepping stones" to complete a leg is encouraged.

Red

2.0-9.0 km (Short-Medium-Long), approx 9-20 controls, time range 30-100 minutes, approx 9-20 controls. Maps must NOT show fences. Control descriptions must only be pictorial.

Red courses are for experienced competent orienteers. Varied route choice and leg length are technically difficult, and demand a full range of orienteering skills.

Navigation should be as difficult as possible with small contour and point features as preferred control sites with no obvious attack points or handrails. Control sites should be placed in areas rich in detail, and before, and not close to, a large catching feature. Route choice should be an important element in most legs. No doglegs are permitted. Note: it may be impossible to set red courses on some maps.  Please consider climb and rough terrain, and try and minimise travel through it, for older competitors on the Short Red course.

Course Setting booklet.pdf