Allan Coker from the Canterbury Car Club gives us a run-down on the Navigation Rally – its past and present. For more information about partaking in the event head to the club website canterburycarclub.co.nz
Not long after the car was invented, a race was suggested, as competitive gentlemen are often known to do. There were no tracks to use and so began the practice of running on public roads that weren’t closed to other traffic.
As time passed, these evolved into a regular motor sport with rules for safety, fairness and structure to establish a winner.
In New Zealand these were called Car Trials.
The Car Clubs in Canterbury began running Car Trials after the war. The oldest trophy in the Canterbury Car Club cabinet is the Gourlay Cup and in 1947 it was awarded to Mr H Wheeler, driver of the car winning the North Canterbury Car Trial.
As car trialling reached its peak in the 60’s, there would be up to as many as 50 crews (a crew has a driver, navigator and timekeeper) heading out from the city at 2 minute intervals into rural Canterbury for up to 4 hours on a weekday evening with clipboards, stop watches, spot lights and the ambition to be the victors on the night.
These crews of two to five people were following the written instructions of an organiser who had spent many hours plotting a route into which was woven a number of purposeful errors (known as “traps”). Those crews who discovered these “traps” were rewarded with a CHECK board that gave them extra instructions to get back to the route being followed by the “mugs” (the name given to crews who didn’t spot the “traps”). Mugs got 60 penalty points loaded on to their score where the ultimate aim is to achieve a score of 0 (zero/nada/nil).
To keep speeds at or below the legal limits, penalties are added to the score for being early or late at the Time Controls which are reasonably frequent. 6 points per min.
Over time, popularity waned and in the late 90’s only ½ dozen clubs throughout NZ were running Car Trials for as few as 4 or 5 crews.
Overseas, in the United Kingdom, Europe and North America, these events are known as Road Rallies and are quite popular.
With the recent publication of the New Zealand Motorsport Manual 36, the Schedule T has had the name changed from Trials to Navigation Rallies. They are often described as “orienteering in a car at night” and Navigation Rallies is more accurate than the old name.
Today, only the Canterbury Car Club and the Ratec Motorsport Club, together, run a monthly Navigation Rally. There has been a resurgence in interest in Canterbury as ten or more crews meet, usually at the Talbot@Yaldhurst, on the 3rd Thursday of each month for a meal (if desired) followed by a jaunt in the country and then back for a hot toddy as the results are collated.
Each club shares their events and their respective Navigation Rallies Championships are hotly contested. Top performers Brent Rawstron, Ian McKee and Pete Monro are also involved in the Rally scene as some of the navigational skills crossover. On the other hand there are family crews with up to 3 generations sharing a car. Mum, Dad and the kids is a common combination.
The best aspect of the sport of Navigation Rallies is the social aspect mixed with friendly rivalry. Worth every cent of the $5 per person and $5 per car entry fee.
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