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The Virtual BCN Challenge 2020

cheshire~rose

By cheshire~rose
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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
Just now, TheBiscuits said:

 

Don't matter anyway - we all have time machines so we can go back in the thread and edit earlier posts to enter new teams. :D

 

Its a wonder we havnt been enforced to enter some rip off auction!!

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cheshire~rose Veteran II

cheshire~roseDonate to Canal World

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On 19/04/2020 at 19:37, cheshire~rose said:

About the challenge

 

Motto: tempus rerum imperator (Time, commander of all things)

 

People are invited join the challenge as individuals or to form teams. There are no restrictions on team numbers and there will be no points benefit or deduction based upon the number of people in a participating team.

In keeping with the Covid-19 travel restrictions, the entre challenge MUST be completed without leaving your home or garden. Any participants deemed to have taken an unnecessary journey to take part (either to visit a BCN site or to meet with other competitors) will be disqualified.

The boat that you use to participate with will be a virtual one (you do not need to actually own a boat to take part). The event will be hosted within the Canal World Discussion Forum – you will need to join if you are not already a member.

The spirit of this event falls in line with the aims of the real BCN Challenge:

 

 

 “At their height, the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) extended for approximately 160 miles with numerous private branches, arms & basins to serve the industries of the region. Over the last 100 years this total has been reduced to approximately 100 miles. Unfortunately, much of this is under used. With at least one section being impossible to navigate at the present time, the BCN Marathon Challenge was reintroduced in an effort to increase traffic on the lesser used parts of

 

the BCN.”

 

With this in mind we hope this virtual challenge will promote an increase in traffic to the resources available to us all online to increase people’s awareness and understanding of the rich tapestry of heritage encompassed in the BCN.

 

 

How much time will it take?

 

The challenge will be spread over 6 days and each day the participants will commit to completing a daily virtual seven hour cruise covering any element of The Birmingham Canal Navigations network. It is anticipated that this will require a minimum of around 2 hours work for most teams but no team is restricted to 2 hours and can spend as much time researching their route and working on the daily challenges as they wish. 

 

 

Participants must register their team and their vessel details with the organiser NO LATER THAN MIDDAY BST on Saturday 2nd May.  We will need one working email address to communicate with each team

 

 

No later than MIDDAY BST on Sunday 3rd of May each team will formally create a first post under the “Cruising Logs” section of the forum introducing their team and its members and giving a description of the vessel they plan to use for the challenge. The heading of that thread should contain the name of your team and Virtual BCN Challenge 2020 so it can be easily identified by the organisers. We also need to know which forum members posts are to be taken into consideration as official posts on that thread by the organisers. Posts by any forum members not declared before the start of the event as being spokesperson for the team will not be taken into consideration for the benefit of awarding points

A team member must also email the organisers with their starting point. Any team not declaring their starting point will be disqualified. You cannot change your starting point after midday on Sunday 3rd May.

 

 

 

 

At 1pm on Sunday May 3rd we will issue the score card for the event.

 

 

Information you need to know

 

 

 

The Organisers will also issue each entrant a virtual piece of equipment which will be known as an Automat Sehnsucht.

 (From German:  Sehnsucht (n.) Definition: A wistful longing and yearning in the heart for travels past and future. Automat: Machine)

 

This machine has the power to warp time allowing the boat it is virtually installed in to navigate at any point in time between 1768 and 2020.

 

 

The introduction of the new Automat Sehsucht technology means that, for the first time, it will be possible to cruise the entire BCN, including all the 60 miles which have been closed. This enhancement means that many new connections and cruising rings will become possible. Following extensive negotiation with adjacent canal owners, free non points scoring travel will be possible outside the BCN, extending the scope of the options open to participating teams. – More details on this to follow.

 

 

Participants must follow a logical and progressive journey on the network. Please note that whilst the Automat Sehsucht can move you through time at will, it cannot teleport your boat to a different place on the network during the 6-day challenge. You can only move along the canals at a sedate 2.5 mph, thus complying with the speed limits contained within the original canal bye laws (3.0 mph max and 2.0 mph min), which will prevail in some of the era’s you will be visiting.

 

 

Given the speed limit of 2.5mph for all craft, your choice of starting location could be significant and should be considered carefully. With 160 miles of canal available for navigation and a maximum potential range of about 100 miles, less the time spent locking, you will not be able to navigate the entire network during the event. Furthermore, to encourage use of the lost sections “super bonus points” will be awarded.

 

 

 

 

The practicalities

 

 

 

A virtual cruising day will be no more than seven hours long and will start at 9am each day. The organisers will post an update each day no later than 8:30am. This update will advise of any unexpected stoppages or potential delays you may experience along your route. You will also be furnished with details of a daily challenge and a daily quiz.

 

 

If you are using the Automat Sehsucht to visit a lost canal, please return from your travels with a photograph for your cruise diary post plus a points scoring snippet of relevant historical information for each length, which will need to be posted within your daily e-mailed answer sheet.

 

 

Each team must post an update to their cruise diary no later than 10pm each day. Included in the diary entry we expect to see a description of the route you have taken, any interesting sights, any problems you may have encountered and there must be a photograph of where you have chosen to tie your lines that evening. The photo does not need to be your own, but if using the intellectual property of someone else that photo must be properly acknowledged (where you found it). Any photos relating to the daily challenge must also be posted in your cruise diary.

 

 

Quiz entries should NOT be posted online but instead sent by email. You can update your diary at any time during the day but any entries made after 10pm will not be included in the scoring. Bonus point may be awarded for inventive reports ;)

Teams will also need to email their updated score sheet to the organisers on a daily basis.

 

 

Safe Social Distancing moorings on the BCN have been provided at specific junctions, and mooring is only permitted at these locations. Any unused time cannot be carried forward from day to day, and any unused time will be lost. If a crew fails to reach a COVID safe location for the night a points deduction is to be applied in respect of the time it would take to reach the nearest safe haven.

 

 

Given the limited use of the BCN in recent months, canal and lock conditions are variable. Whilst the organisers will do all they can to maintain a fully operational system, some unexpected delays may occur on certain canals and any temporary stoppages will be announced before each day’s cruise.

 

 

Each Participating crew must ensure that they end their Virtual BCN Challenge at Bradley Workshops no later than 6pm on Saturday 9th May 2020. Failure to arrive at the destination by the deadline will result in a points deduction equivalent to the time taken to reach the official destination from the point their virtual cruise came to an end. Final score sheet must be received by the organisers NO LATER THAN 6:30pm on Saturday 9th May 2020.

 

 

On Sunday 10th May the final score card will be published. The winning team will receive a virtual keg of ale, a virtual platter of Black Country faggots with chips and gravy for the entire team and a virtual catering pack of pork scratchings. (For those who no longer have their own teeth these can be substituted for virtual pork puffs)

 

 

 

 

Ways to earn Bonus Points

 

 

 

There will be a variety of ways to supplement your points:

 

 

A daily quiz

A daily challenge

A daily historical research challenge

 

 

There will also be the potential for additional bonus points for:

 

 

·        Imagination

·        Humour

·        Geekery

·        Illustration

·        Creative writing

·        Musical soundtrack

 

 

 

 

As ever, the organisers’ decision is final ……..

I am sharing this post here for the benefit of some of the people that may have only recently found this thread

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cheshire~rose Veteran II

cheshire~roseDonate to Canal World

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On 26/04/2020 at 10:34, cheshire~rose said:

A suggestion of a few places that people might find useful for research:

 

The obvious place is here:

 

Birmingham Canal Navigations Society you will find a lot of links to ther useful resources there too.

 

When you feel an insight into the thoughts and knowledge of one of the organisers might be helpful you could check here:

https://bcnsociety.com/canal-hunter/

 

Other potentially useful links:

 

https://www.lapalcanal.co.uk/

 

http://www.hawnebasin.org.uk/

 

https://lhcrt.org.uk/

 

https://swcanalsociety.co.uk/

 

https://wbdcs.org.uk/

 

https://canalplan.uk/

I am sharing this list of resources again for some of the more recently registered teams who may find some useful stuff there.

 

@Lizzie

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Scholar Gypsy Veteran

Scholar Gypsy

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, cheshire~rose said:

I am sharing this list of resources again for some of the more recently registered teams who may find some useful stuff there.

 

@Lizzie

Thank you. I am enjoying Andy T's videos. though he has put me off visiting Chemical Arm in Oldbury!

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Dr Bob Veteran II

Dr Bob

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24 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I'll helpfully add this 1896 Percival Lowell canal map that I won in a fundraiser for some other canal.

 

I'm struggling to find the Bradley Workshops finish point on it though ...

 

lowell-mars-canals-1896.jpg.d9eeade03815fe6b5b1bee1fed14bf46.jpg

 

 

 

Oii!

That was one of our secret weapons!

Dont give away the rest.

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Capt Ahab Proficient

Capt Ahab

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Golden Boyz said:

Thank you all I have contacted Jan & we're in by the skin of our teeth lol

Thats great news Golden Lady

2 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

Thank you. I am enjoying Andy T's videos. though he has put me off visiting Chemical Arm in Oldbury!

You could always cool off with a dip in Rattlechain Lagoon instead.....

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Capt Ahab Proficient

Capt Ahab

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1 hour ago, Sugar n spice said:

Having missed the sign in to join this madness, is there a good way to follow or ‘lurk’

Do you want to borrow my time machine and see if we reach back to the entry deadline for you?

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mrsmelly Veteran II

mrsmellyDonate to Canal World

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1 hour ago, Sugar n spice said:

Having missed the sign in to join this madness, is there a good way to follow or ‘lurk’

If you offer to cross the palm of Auntie Wainright with cash for the Chesterfield canal society I am sure action can be taken B)

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Rob-M Veteran II

Rob-M

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6 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

If you offer to cross the palm of Auntie Wainright with cash for the Chesterfield canal society I am sure action can be taken B)

Are you suggesting someone bribes the judge?

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Capt Ahab Proficient

Capt Ahab

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44 minutes ago, Sugar n spice said:

I think to have any chance of any degree of success I would need a team of more than one, if I decide to cross Au tie Wainwrits palm how would I do that?  A couple of pics from years past for Capt Ahab

5F0DDE83-0D84-4081-A83C-3F49CAC930AF.jpeg

D8AB71E9-4E60-4DB9-9743-706FFD477CAD.jpeg

She is a rose by any other name - Cheshire Rose in this case - Jan Can you help ?

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