Devon 4x4 Off Road - Best of British

Best of British - Bulldog Trophy 2000

Inspired by the Camel Trophy, Club Off Road’s Bulldog Trophy allows British teams to have their very own big adventure

Club Off Road – aka Brian Hartley – organises many events though out the year, one of which is The Bulldog Trophy. I’d heard a lot about the Bulldog – tales of dogged determination (excuse the pun), courage and stupidity, and muddied and bloodied Land Rovers – so when the weekend of this year’s event came round, I donned my off-road gear, jumped into my very un-4x4 Ford Escort and headed to Dumfries to see what all the fuss was about.

The Bulldog Trophy has run for six years now, the inspiration being the notorious Camel Trophy.

This year’s event saw 40 vehicles, ranging from bog-standard Land Rover 90s, through Mercedes G-Wagens to the rarer Ibex, arrive at the Forest of Ae, Dumfries. All vehicles had to be fully road legal and reasonably well equipped to participate. The event would consist of two days’ off roading on two very different sites, with roughly 80 miles of off road ground covered.

And they’re off!

The first day’s action began at 10am, after a half-hour delay. To get a better view of proceedings, I joined different teams as they battled with the directions and the terrain. The teams had to drive four different routes, using different navigation techniques for each one, and undertake unusual tasks on their way round. And to prove that they had navigated their way round properly, orienteering punches and letterboards were cunningly positioned along the tracks. The teams had to record these – failure to gain the punch resulted in points forfeited.

To start with, I joined Phil Birt, Bryan Bream, Chris Dykes and Graham Mackinnon (team 15) on Route Two. As we pulled up at the back of the queue for the first task, I hopped out and walked over to see what the teams were required to do there. Team Seven (Andrew Mosley, Joe Haigh, Andy Hickford and Tina West, from Milton Keynes) were about to start just as I arrived. To my amazement I saw both Joe and Tina standing on the edge of the slate quarry with walkie talkies in their hands. The aim was for the navigators to talk to their drivers through a trial section consisting of ten gates. The navigators, allowed to see the section in advance, could plan their strategies; however, the drivers had no idea what lay ahead.

Task Two of Route Two was a simple relay task that had to be completed blind. A straightforward circular course had to be driven, by both vehicles of each team, in under eight minutes. No short cuts were allowed and the boundary tape had to be avoided at all costs. Only after the first vehicle had completed the course could the second try its hand at it. It was a tough challenge, but Team Seven managed to romp home with maximum points.

Recovery position

Following this, I joined Team Eight (Nicholas Pym, Robert Green, Giles Evans and Paul Howes) as they embarked on Route One.

The first task on this route was recovery-based. Five gates had to be driven by both vehicles – again, only one vehicle could be on the course at one time. The last gate was where the recovery had to take place, as the slippery scree slope leading to it was almost impossible to drive up. The time limit of eight minutes, accompanied by the fact that only winches could be used for recovery, made this a very difficult section to complete. How-ever, the impressive teamwork and forward planning of Team Eight gained them a maximum 20 points.

With time running out I joined one more team on their foray around the forest. Luckily, Team Ten (Nick and Richard Thompson, Stuart Jonhson and Brendan Suffell) had just enough space to squeeze me in as they started out on Route Four.

This route was probably the most complicated to figure out. Each team was given a set of instructions – some cryptic and some straightforward – which gave them a list of grid references. These had to be given in order to complete the route.

Run, navigator, run!

One of the tasks on this route involved a lot of running about for the navigators. Another quarry and another set of tem gates set the scene for this task. Once again it was up to the navigators to tell the drivers where to go. It was the navigators’ job to find all ten gates and decide in which order they should be driven. Once they had told the marshal which order they wished to drive the gates in, they had to direct their drivers round the course. A time limit of ten minutes meant the navigators had to run round the course, and this proved to be quite challenging for some. Team Ten were out of breath by the time they crossed the finish line, but at least they made it within their allotted time!

Back at the finish line, the score sheets were all handed in, before everyone made their way to Barony College for dinner. However, Saturday’s action was far from finished – the night section at Drumclog awaited! So, no sooner had the last forkful or food been consumed, than all 40 vehicles were on their way to Drumclog 60 miles away to see what Brian Hartley had in store for them.

Night shift

The night section was quite simple. It took place on a large, boggy site which was full of trenches. Once again the card-stamping system was in operation, as Brian had installed six orienteering punches around the course.

The teams were given a boundary map of the site and two hours to explore and find all six punches.

Team 18 (Gerry and Iris Writer, Keith and Chris Hutchings) decided that this was madness, gave up after 20 minutes and went to the pub. Other teams took it a lot more seriously. Team Two (Steve Barras, Patrick Smart, Neil Redpath and Steve Maddison) found all six punches but got stuck metres away from the finish line and ran out of time. Meanwhile, Team 19 (Johnnie and Tom Drysdale, David Wells and Paul Crosby) had problems with their winch, so Team Four (Barry Pluckrose, Robert Phillipson, Tony Baskill and John Grisly) spent an hour recovering them.

Day of rest!

Sunday’s event, again at the huge Drumclog site, saw all 40 vehicles having to complete ten tasks. In order to be allowed to complete a task, the teams had to find an orienteering punch which had a number corresponding to a particular task. The tasks were all very different and tested the vehicles capability, as well as the minds of both the drivers and navigators. Not only were the tasks challenging, but getting the punches also required a lot of thought and team work.

I tagged along with Team One all day to see how last year’s winners would cope with the new course. The tasks to be completed included using winches to carry a metal plate from one side of a river to the other and back again, trial sections, freestyle hillclimbs and driving four leaf clover- shaped courses within a time limit. Team One had no problems with any of the tasks, as their great team spirit and co-operation meant they gelled together well; not a crossed word was spoken all day.

The only place they came unstuck – was Task Five. The idea was to drive five gates in 15 minutes…through a thick, claggy bog. After trying hard to winch themselves out, with little luck, Team 14 came to their rescue, and an hour-and-a-half later they were free of the bog’s clutches.

After completing seven out of ten tasks, Team One and I made it back to the finish line for the prizegiving ceremony. The members of Team One – Richard, Nick, Charlie and Craig – had demonstrated what this event is all about. It isn’t about brute force and ignorance; it’s about team work, safety, forethought, and competent driving and navigating. The overall winners, Team Four, also demonstrated this when they spent an hour on Saturday night recovering another team.

Frustrated

When I asked Brian how he felt the event had gone, he said: ‘By teatime on Saturday I was ready to pack it all in and go home. The problems with the navigation made me feel disheartened and frustrated. However, by 2.10am on Sunday morning I was rearing to go again. My only other moan is that I’d like to se more women entering the event. Other than that it was a tremendous success.

Bulldog Trophy 2000 Results

Bulldog Trophy winners Chris Whitfield/Bob

Tony Baskill/Dave Needham Whamond: L/R V8

Mercedes G Wagen Lightweight 458pts

Barry Pluckrose/Robert

Phillipson: L/R Tdi 90 625pts 2^nd Standard 7^th o/a

Gerry and Iris Writer:

1st Special 2^nd o/a L/R Tdi 90

Simon Buck/Matt Cooke: Keith and Chris Hutchings:

L/R Tdi 90 L/R 90 344pts

Bryn hemmings/John

Grisley: L/R Tdi 90 563pts 3^rd Standard 10^th o/a