New orienteering event is mapped out at Whiting Bay
A new orienteering event is coming to Arran for the first time this summer.
Masterplan Adventure, an orienteering club registered with British Orienteering and the Scottish Orienteering Association, will be hosting its Coasts and Islands event on Arran and Kintyre.
The week-long event, taking place from Monday July 25 to Sunday July 31, will see competitors enjoying the terrain at Merkland Forest and at the Community Land Initiative in Whiting Bay on the last two days of the event.
Orienteering is a mentally and physically challenging sport that involves competitors navigating to control points marked on a speciallyproduced orienteering map.
In competitive orienteering the challenge is to complete the course in the quickest time using the route you believe to be the most efficient.
Detailed maps of the community land in Whiting Bay – far more detailed than Ordinance Survey maps – have been created for the event and these will be used in the future to establish a permanent orienteering course that can be used by schools and anyone else wishing to try the sport.
The maps have been commissioned thanks to a generous grant from the Arran Trust, which was approached by the Ayrshire Orienteering Club, which wanted to help establish a permanent course with the associated mapping on Arran.
Elanor and Andy McNamara and their family have been actively involved with orienteering on Arran for a number of years, and they will help set up the new course in Whiting Bay, much as Andy did at Brodick Castle.
Andy said: ‘Coasts and Islands is a great opportunity to try orienteering on the island, using new maps. There are courses for beginners and for very experienced runners and navigators. ‘Orienteering is a friendly and accessible sport. If you like running and/or navigating I really recommend this opportunity.’
Chris Smithard of Masterplan Adventure added: ‘We’re keen to give anyone who lives on the island a taster. ‘We’ll provide full instructions on the day, you just need to come with a sense of adventure. So, if that sounds like something you'd like to have a go at then save the date and we’ll provide more information later.’
The event is open to adults and children, and there are various options for all abilities.
Further details can be found at https://coastandislands. com/ where online entries can also be made.