Orienteering: Great day mapped out for orienteers

Jul 24 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

ORIENTEERS from all corners of the globe will soon be setting their sights on Tayside as the countdown begins for Tay 2009, the Scottish 6 Days International Orienteering Festival.

The week-long competition, a major fixture on the international orienteering calendar, starts on August 2.

And as well as injecting a sizeable cash sum into the local economy, it will provide locals with the chance to participate in a major international sporting event.

The Scottish 6 Days is a prestigious orienteering event, taking place every two years in a different part of Scotland.

This year the event centre will be based at Perth Racecourse but competitors will travel throughout the wider Tayside region to the six different competition venues on each of the six days of the competition.

This year the event has been given added prestige as Day 1 has been designated a World Ranking Event and will attract some of the top names in the sport.

Coupled with the presence of well-known commentator Per Forsberg, the event is set to be a major high point on the orienteering calendar.

The competition areas include Dalrulzion, to the north of Blairgowrie, an area not used previously for orienteering; Barry Buddon, an area of complex sand dunes at the northern limit of the Tay Estuary; Tentsmuir, a coastal pine forest covering the dunes on the Fife side of the estuary; Tullochroisk, near Kinloch Rannoch, which was used for last year’s Scottish Championships and has fine views over Loch Tummel; Loch Ordie, a newly-mapped complex moorland area north of Dunkeld; and finally Kinnoull Hill Woodland Park, Perth, a favourite orienteering area for many years.

Entries officially closed a couple of weeks ago and there will be over 3000 competitors, competing in age-classes from the under-10s to the over-80s.

Melanie Nicoll, one of the local organisers, explained: “Many will make a holiday of the week, which includes activities such as mountain bike and sprint orienteering on the mid-week ‘rest’ day, as well as a lively and varied social programme designed to showcase Scottish culture, including ceilidhs, pipe bands, folk music, whisky tasting and a quiz night.

“The event will bring a major boost to the local economy, with competitors booking local accommodation and visiting tourist attractions.

“When the event was held in the Speyside area two years ago, record visitor numbers were recorded at two local tourist attractions on the rest day, whilst the Deeside 2005 event injected over £0.7 million into the local economy.

“Although Tay 2009 is a big international competition, there will be courses that are no more difficult than those at a small, local event and local people who want to have a go at orienteering are encouraged to come along.

“It will be possible to enter the colour-coded (non-competitive) courses on the day – these courses are particularly suited to beginners and to families with young children – even the tinies are catered for with a ‘string’ course where children follow a string laid out on the ground, with a simplified map and often pictures or models to identify markers or ‘controls’ they must find.”