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Post date: Jun 20, 2013 12:46:18 AM
Back in 1602 the construction of James’ Fort in Kinsale commenced and although it took five year to complete it has stood the test of time well and this Tuesday it provided a marvellous location for the sixth event in the Cork Orienteering Club Summer League. This pretty sea side hamlet with its sense of wildness and antiquity attracted an enthusiastic crowd of over one hundred orienteers. Once again it was fantastic to see so many families and competitors of all ages participating from the very very very young to the more experienced! We also had the pleasure again this week of welcoming some visiting orienteering from Fingal, GEN and WATO. All those in attendance got to enjoy some quality orienteering on a truly beautiful summers evening in a very majestic setting.
Anyone was has competed here in the past may have immediately spotted that the area has been re-mapped. Thanks to Cillin Corbett the event planner the map now complies with the International Specification for Sprint Orienteering Maps (ISSOM). Sprint Orienteering is all about rapid decision making and the planner included plenty of route choice on Tuesday’s courses forcing competitors to think fast. On the Long course legs 1 to 2, 3 to 4 and 7 to 8 provided options to use the infamous tunnels and these routes also incorporated a little steeplechase for those that were prepared to make the splash! Control 5 on the long course was discretely located in the Blockhouse.
With such a small area it was inevitable that there would be some congestion on some of the narrow tracks so depending on route choice some competitors may have lost precious seconds waiting to gain access to/from some controls. While traversing the hill at James’ Fort on numerous course legs it was difficult at times not to get distracted by the variety of post card views of the inner harbour and town, the monolithic Charles Fort and the broad meanders of the river Bandon. Having completed the course on what turned out to be a rather warm evening the Dock beach provided an ideal spot for a post run cool down with a paddle in the water or a relaxing picnic on the beach.
With the majority of the Corbett family involved in organising this week’s event it provided the perfect opportunity for some new competitors to take some podium honours on the Long course and it was two old rivals who stepped up to the mark. On this terrain last year Josh O’Sullivan Hourihan missed out on the event win by just 18 seconds to Rob McEvoy. Both competitors were in action again on Tuesday evening and on this occasion it was Josh who took the bragging rights and was the Long course winner. Josh completed the Sprint course in an incredibly fast time of 14:23. Josh was clearly demonstrating his Sprint form ahead of his trip to the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Finland where he will be representing Ireland in the Sprint event. We wish him the best of luck and hope his winning form continues. This year Rob had to be content with second place having finished the course in 17:30. Third place went to Jonathan Lucey who managed to hold off the challenge from Sean Murphy and Gerald Duffy and finished the course in a time of 18:16. So after six events we have had six different event winners. Who will be the first to get two first place finishes? It certainly means the league is still wide open.
The fastest Lady around James’ Fort was Niamh Corbett. Niamh continues her winning ways and completed the hilly course in a time of 21:25 making it four wins in a row. Ailbhe Creedon was the second fastest lady on the night and finished with a time of 23:14. The final podium spot was taken by Trishia O’Mahony who finished with a time of 25:21.
On the Short course it was Padraic Barrett who took the top spot completing the course in just 8 minutes and 16 seconds. Joe Bosonnet continues to demonstrate his speed and was hot on Padraic heels all the way and finished the course in a time of 8:40 earning second place for his efforts. Third place went to Treasa Leahy who finished in a time of 11:45 and Treasa had two other members of the Bosonnet family Isacc and Sean chasing her all the way.
Thanks to all who took part on the night we hope you enjoyed the event. Full individual results and splits are available here.
We also posted some photos from the event to the Gallery on our website site so feel free to check them out here.
Thanks to Cillin Corbett for remapping the area and planning the courses. Thanks also to Dave O’Donovan for helping with starts. Cillin was also ably assisted on the night by a team of ladies, his Mum Liz took care of registration and sister Niamh and visiting orienteer Aoife McCavana (GEN) took care of control collection, they made a great and efficient team.
The seventh event in this year’s Summer League will take us to Moabaun Wood near Watergrasshill. The “White Bog” is a popular hangout for the midge so if you tend to be a tasty treat for these pesky little critters you might want to come prepared to do battle with them. Further information and directions are available here.
Hope to see you there and remember your team NEEDS you.
(James' Fort Long Course Elevation Profile - we weren't kidding about traversing the hill numerous times.)
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