The mystery of Control #165

Control 165 went missing from the open mountain above Barnacullia during the Christmas Score event on Three Rock in December 2012, a year ago. In planning last Saturday’s night event in the Phoenix Park I foolishly started the control numbers at 161 and worked up, only to realise that 165 wasn’t there. I only discovered this on Saturday afternoon whan putting out the controls, so I took the SI box #155 and added a small piece of black insulating tape to make 155 into 165 and Clíona put the control out.

During the event we had reports that this control had gone missing and, despite searches on the nght and the next day, it still hasn’t been found.

Is control #165 jinxed? The downside is that to replace an SI box, stake and control flag costs about €200 so that wipes out any surplus from the event. In retrospect I should have used Gripples and wire to attach the controls to fixed objects, or maybe used old-style punches and cards and just used SI for the start and finish.

On the night, Colm Moran won the long course and Regina Kelly (CNOC) won the Short. See the results here.

Anyway, this week’s Leinster orienteering is just Dublin by Night 3 on the peat hags of Glendoo, definitely not for beginners, on Saturday evening.