We spoke to some of the clubs who organised the CompassSport Heats on 23 March 2025 in preparation for the Final which will take place later this year. Below is a summary of some of the events that took place across the Country.
SCOA Heat, Long Valley North – organised by Southern Navigators
Cup: SN Trophy: SOC
Paul Fox, Organiser (and SN Team Captain!) writes:
Southern Navigators (SN) hosted the SCOA heat at Long Valley North, using the same venue as the 2014 CompassSport finals. Having had permission withdrawn for an intended event on the area in the autumn, SN made a late application to host the SCOA Compass Sport heat. We did not get final environmental permissions until six weeks before the event, but courses needed little modification and organisation was already well underway.
A team of over 40 helpers enabled nearly 300 competitors to experience a compact arena with spectating opportunities, a very short walk to the start (literally at the corner of the car park!) and on-site catering. Several clubs battled to erect their tents in the gusty wind and created an atmosphere at the finish.
Images below: A relaxed Event HQ in the morning, and delightful runnable woods from the Start. Image credit: Mark Howell (Southern Navigators).
Experienced planner Alan Wallis designed some excellent courses within an A4-sized map, a remarkable 50 years after he first planned an event on the area! Controller was local hero Colin Dickson from BAOC. The wind blew all day but we thankfully avoided the rain. It was not spring-like enough for early singing woodlarks, so the background soundtrack included Farnborough Airport take-offs on one side, and banger racing from the Aldershot Raceway on the other. Secure perimeter fencing ensured our activities could not possibly mix!
Most people experienced a variety of terrain and vegetation types from open sand to thicker forest, while avoiding deep water-filled "wallows" on the military vehicle driver training tracks. Despite the numerous paths and tracks, navigation was technically testing and relocation surprisingly challenging - exactly which track junction am I on, and is this a mapped marsh or just a seasonal wet patch?
Images above: A windy Finish run-in with club tents, one of the winning SN team "flying" towards the last control! Image credit: Mark Howell (Southern Navigators).
SN helpers juggled their duties around early or late runs, and were rewarded with a win in the Cup competition by 2468 points to 2414, beating a large team from TVOC who didn't quite have the same depth across all classes. Meanwhile a more competitive seven-way contest in the Trophy led to qualification for a top three of SOC (1287 pts), MV (1265) and SARUM (1263). These southern clubs will now be contemplating the long haul to Redcar for the final.
Results
The full results and a link to more photos from the event are available via the button below.
NWOA Heat, Clowbridge – organised by South East Lancashire Orienteering Club
Cup: WCOC Trophy: BL
Written by Caroline Barcham, SELOC
The North West Heat of the Compass Sport Cup and Trophy was held at a very wet and windy Clowbridge with a storm settling overhead for much of Sunday.
Despite the weather more than 330 members from 9 different orienteering clubs braved the gale force winds and rain and many ‘claimed’ to have ‘enjoyed’ the courses created by mapper and planner Dean Thetford (SELOC)! Orienteers really are a hardy bunch.
Thank you to those SELOC members who were out for several hours sorting out car parking, finish and start not least our very own CEO Peter Brooke as Start Team Manager!
Results
The full results and a link to more photos from the event are available via the button below.
Results
Images above and below are credited to Peter Cull.
YHOA Heat, Ilkley Moor – organised by Airienteers
Cup: SYO Trophy: NN
Written by Organiser Chris Penny, AIRE
Ilkley Moor is one of AIRE's best areas and has been used many times in the past for major events. The winter snow has flattened much of the bracken and, although the conditions were wet and windy, the visibility was good and the moor was very runnable.
The Cup competition was between AIRE, CLOK, and SYO (current holders). The Trophy heat involved CLARO, EBOR, EPOC, NATO and NN. We had 275 competitors in what was a closely fought competition with SYO coming out on top and qualitying in the Cup with 2458 points, AIRE with 2432 and CLOK 1806. The Trophy was even closer with NN winning on 1276, CLARO 1264, EPOC 1258, EBOR 1246 and NATO 937. Congratulations to SYO, NN and CLARO.
Images below from the Heat. Credit: Chris Penny
Our event centre was in the hall at nearby Ilkley Grammar School and there was a great atmosphere with competitors getting together after their runs to eat their sandwiches, compare their runs and monitor the on-going results.
Many thanks to Pete Carter for planning some excellent courses, Chris Mackenzie and Tony Thornley for controlling and to all the AIRE helpers for laying on a great event.
Results
The full results are available via the button below.
SEOA Heat, Epping East – organised by Chigwell and Epping Forest Orienteering Club
Cup: SLOW Trophy: SAX, NOR, DFOK and SOS
Written by Organiser Dave Norman of CHIG
This was our 2nd major event in Epping Forest in as many months; this time, strong winds held off. Harold Wyber’s courses made great use of a varied and contoured forest area and were very positively received by competitors.
The long walk to and from the start did not appear to impact the finishing times which seemed (to my untrained eye) rapid, perhaps due to the relative runnability of the forest at this time of year.
Thanks to Harold, for course planning; to Tony Maycraft, for re-mapping the area and taking charge on the day; to Ray Curtis, for organising the event and now hopefully enjoying some r & r in NZ; to Dave Chapman, for controlling, and excellent advice in the run up to and on the day; and to all the CHIG helper team, with particular thanks to Ray Weekes, for masterminding the compilation of competitor lists and the complexities of CSC scoring, getting Live Results working on the day, and managing download; to Tim Pribul and the Start team for getting everyone away from a tight start area professionally and safely; and to James Corney, who provided First Aid cover (unused) and kept an eye on the clothing dump. Finally, our thanks go to Roding Valley High School for the use of their facilities; and to Epping Forest and the City of London Corporation, for our continued use of this beautiful forest.
Congratulations to all the winners of the Heats and well done to all that completed the courses.
You can access the full list of results from all Heats via this link.
The CompassSport Cup Final will take place at South Gare, Redcar on Sunday 14 September 2025, and is being organised by Cleveland Orienteering Klub (CLOK). More details are available via their website.
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