BCN Challenge 2014 - 24 & 25th May

[john6767]

Now I think about it, each of the 3 times we have taken part there have been others starting at the same place, so it is uncommon.

[Victor Vectis]

Uncle Richard said it might be a nice thing to update my planner, I imagine to give some of the newer peeps a guide to which junction is where and what not. So I have. Quite a task given the rule changes from the last time it was done, but I think I've got them all. Let me know if it plays up. It probably will.

 

http://www.thecatwhowalksbyhimself.co.uk/bcnChallenge.php

 

NB: Don't bother with the rest of the site too much, I set about re-vamping it in 2011 and never quite finished... The road to hell, etc.

Well done that man!

 

[muddywaters]

It's to late to read through the whole thread as I've been out and am knackered.

But if either of you or anyone else need someone for crew I'm available.

Have my own sleeping bag and would be ok sleeping on the floor if needs must

[Tom and Bex]

Presumably if there are several boats starting from the same location and you don't get away til say 8.30, you can take the time off your stop and only stop for 5.5 hrs? Don't the rules say you can cruise for a max of 24 hrs but don't say you have to take the full 6 hrs break all at once, you could take 30 mins at the start to let the traffic die down!

 

Having said all that last year there was only 1 other boat starting at the same location as us and they kindly let us go first as we obviously had the faster boat/crew! We did lift a paddle behind us on the locks though to help but didn't see then again til the finish. We also only saw about 4 other boats until nearly at the finish and none of them held us up (except Tawny Owl!)

 

Tom

[RLWP]

Cheeky devil - you held us up!

 

There was only Tawny at our starting point

 

Richard

[Laurie Booth]

We always end up being helped by "the cat who walks by himself"

[Nine of Hearts]

We always end up being helped by "the cat who walks by himself"

 

We shall endeavour to maintain that tradition if we see you about, after all, what's the rush?

 

I am tempted to paint the boat purple, add some black fins, and cruise the system setting booby traps for others. Anyone have a dog with an asthmatic laugh I could borrow?

[Victor Vectis]

 

I am tempted to paint the boat purple, add some black fins, and cruise the system setting booby traps for others. Anyone have a dog with an asthmatic laugh I could borrow?

What a Dastardly thought!

 

[nellieD]

Uncle Richard said it might be a nice thing to update my planner, I imagine to give some of the newer peeps a guide to which junction is where and what not. So I have. Quite a task given the rule changes from the last time it was done, but I think I've got them all. Let me know if it plays up. It probably will.

 

http://www.thecatwhowalksbyhimself.co.uk/bcnChallenge.php

 

NB: Don't bother with the rest of the site too much, I set about re-vamping it in 2011 and never quite finished... The road to hell, etc.

Well done! This was such a help to many planning their route in the past & was also used by boaters just travelling on the BCN. It became quite well known. Rather than keep it a secret to those on this site are you happy with it being shared with others?

[Nine of Hearts]

...Rather than keep it a secret to those on this site are you happy with it being shared with others?

 

Knock yourself out, it's on teh interwebz and therefore free to all comers as far as I'm concerned.

[Laurie Booth]

We shall endeavour to maintain that tradition if we see you about, after all, what's the rush?

[Kustomcut]

Well done! This was such a help to many planning their route in the past & was also used by boaters just travelling on the BCN. It became quite well known. Rather than keep it a secret to those on this site are you happy with it being shared with others?

Here is our rather Mudane looking calculator, based on a 3 man crew it works out from the boat length, and give average timings, you then type in the name of the stage start followed by the stage end and it calculates points/locks/time plus goes red in the speed if you were to acidentaly have a speed over 4mph etc.

It also has a seperat page that lists all the junctions as per this years list and the cross points.

So from Salford junction your next point could be Aston, Rushall or Proofhouse (Typhoo).

Have a look and feel free to utilise I will try to add a box for multiple crews so it works out the lock bonus etc.

 

One thing I meant to ask, if you pick up a bonus point on a set stage, is this added to the miles/lock points then you multiply by the bonus factor or is it point that gets added on after the bonus factor.

For example

 

70 ft boat gets 2 points per mile.

Travel from Rushall (Newton) Junction to Salford Junction

 

Total of 5 Miles + 13 Locks with a bonus factor of 2, Normally that would be 23 points with 2 x bonus (46 points), if a bonus point was collected enroute say for 1 point would it then be 24 points x 2 bonus or the 46 points plus 1 bonus point?

 

 

Anyhow work in progress on the file is here, feel free to use and if needed update to suit crew size etc. My email if you need help is foiltec@blueyonder.co.uk

 

File is here https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6E8B56387BC863B5!1763&authkey=!AP4lUrKd_TK_acA&ithint=file%2c.xlsx

 

Hopefully you can access from there

[RLWP]

Uncle Richard said it might be a nice thing to update my planner, I imagine to give some of the newer peeps a guide to which junction is where and what not. So I have. Quite a task given the rule changes from the last time it was done, but I think I've got them all. Let me know if it plays up. It probably will.

 

http://www.thecatwhowalksbyhimself.co.uk/bcnChallenge.php

 

NB: Don't bother with the rest of the site too much, I set about re-vamping it in 2011 and never quite finished... The road to hell, etc.

 

I still can't add enough crew...

 

Richard

[Nine of Hearts]

 

I still can't add enough crew...

 

Richard

 

The bonuses stop accruing when you have three jolly pirates aboard, so I thought I'd stop there. I can add a graphic for a Tawny sized crew if you insist. How big is your screen?

[Odana]

The bonuses stop accruing when you have three jolly pirates aboard, so I thought I'd stop there. I can add a graphic for a Tawny sized crew if you insist. How big is your screen?

I think you should. With both Cap'n Richards on board. Or just draw a slice of cake and be done with it.

[nellieD]

Here is our rather Mudane looking calculator, based on a 3 man crew it works out from the boat length, and give average timings, you then type in the name of the stage start followed by the stage end and it calculates points/locks/time plus goes red in the speed if you were to acidentaly have a speed over 4mph etc.

It also has a seperat page that lists all the junctions as per this years list and the cross points.

So from Salford junction your next point could be Aston, Rushall or Proofhouse (Typhoo).

Have a look and feel free to utilise I will try to add a box for multiple crews so it works out the lock bonus etc.

 

One thing I meant to ask, if you pick up a bonus point on a set stage, is this added to the miles/lock points then you multiply by the bonus factor or is it point that gets added on after the bonus factor.

For example

 

70 ft boat gets 2 points per mile.

Travel from Rushall (Newton) Junction to Salford Junction

 

Total of 5 Miles + 13 Locks with a bonus factor of 2, Normally that would be 23 points with 2 x bonus (46 points), if a bonus point was collected enroute say for 1 point would it then be 24 points x 2 bonus or the 46 points plus 1 bonus point?

 

 

Anyhow work in progress on the file is here, feel free to use and if needed update to suit crew size etc. My email if you need help is foiltec@blueyonder.co.uk

 

File is here https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6E8B56387BC863B5!1763&authkey=!AP4lUrKd_TK_acA&ithint=file%2c.xlsx

 

Hopefully you can access from there

This enthusiasm is wonderful!!!

[john6767]

One thing I meant to ask, if you pick up a bonus point on a set stage, is this added to the miles/lock points then you multiply by the bonus factor or is it point that gets added on after the bonus factor.

For example

 

70 ft boat gets 2 points per mile.

Travel from Rushall (Newton) Junction to Salford Junction

 

Total of 5 Miles + 13 Locks with a bonus factor of 2, Normally that would be 23 points with 2 x bonus (46 points), if a bonus point was collected enroute say for 1 point would it then be 24 points x 2 bonus or the 46 points plus 1 bonus point?

If you are meaning the clues, in previous years at least they have just been a set number of points. So if it is was a clue for 1 point then it would be 46 + 1 in your example.

[Dave_P]

Here is our rather Mudane looking calculator, based on a 3 man crew it works out from the boat length, and give average timings, you then type in the name of the stage start followed by the stage end and it calculates points/locks/time plus goes red in the speed if you were to acidentaly have a speed over 4mph etc.

It also has a seperat page that lists all the junctions as per this years list and the cross points.

So from Salford junction your next point could be Aston, Rushall or Proofhouse (Typhoo).

Have a look and feel free to utilise I will try to add a box for multiple crews so it works out the lock bonus etc.

 

One thing I meant to ask, if you pick up a bonus point on a set stage, is this added to the miles/lock points then you multiply by the bonus factor or is it point that gets added on after the bonus factor.

For example

 

70 ft boat gets 2 points per mile.

Travel from Rushall (Newton) Junction to Salford Junction

 

Total of 5 Miles + 13 Locks with a bonus factor of 2, Normally that would be 23 points with 2 x bonus (46 points), if a bonus point was collected enroute say for 1 point would it then be 24 points x 2 bonus or the 46 points plus 1 bonus point?

 

 

Anyhow work in progress on the file is here, feel free to use and if needed update to suit crew size etc. My email if you need help is foiltec@blueyonder.co.uk

 

File is here https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=6E8B56387BC863B5!1763&authkey=!AP4lUrKd_TK_acA&ithint=file%2c.xlsx

 

Hopefully you can access from there

I can't view this

[Kustomcut]

If you are meaning the clues, in previous years at least they have just been a set number of points. So if it is was a clue for 1 point then it would be 46 + 1 in your example.

Thanks for the clarification, I must say the graphical tool is absolutely great I feel unworthy of loading my excel sheet lol

[Proper Job]

So if there is 15 of us all jostling at the same start point there could be a bit of handbags!

 

You need geeks

 

They are Team Tawny Owl's secret weapon. They re-run the numbers and come up with a revised strategy taking in to account leaving late following extra bacon butties and tea

 

It quite often involved torpedoing Muscrat

[Nine of Hearts]

 

I still can't add enough crew...

 

Richard

 

Fixed.

[RLWP]

Fixed.

Beautifully done, I'll clean out the bath in preparation

 

Richard

[system 4-50]

With 35 pages, I can't bring myself to go through the whole lot again to find the answer (which I have forgotten) to:

What is a sensible set of weed hatch tools for this exercise?

Can anyone remind me?

[nicknorman]

With 35 pages, I can't bring myself to go through the whole lot again to find the answer (which I have forgotten) to:

What is a sensible set of weed hatch tools for this exercise?

Can anyone remind me?

We did nearly the whole BCN last September and needed nothing more than a strong pair of hands to pull plastic bags off. However a couple of years ago we did get a plastic coated wire washing line (complete with a selection of leopard skin pattern knickers etc) well wrapped, on the old main line, and something to cut the wire was necessary.

 

In general I would say it is not as bad as you think, but something to cut wire would probably be a good idea, and sharp scissors for when the plastic /string etc gets too hard to pull off.

Edited April 9, 2014 by nicknorman

[john6767]

We did nearly the whole BCN last September and needed nothing more than a strong pair of hands to pull plastic bags off. However a couple of years ago we did get a plastic coated wire washing line (complete with a selection of leopard skin pattern knickers etc) well wrapped, on the old main line, and something to cut the wire was necessary.

 

In general I would say it is not as bad as you think, but something to cut wire would probably be a good idea, and sharp scissors for when the plastic /string etc gets too hard to pull off.

I agree, most of what you will get is plastic bags, so not really a big problem. Something to cut wire is probably sensible; the worst we picked up was a long length of wire in Walsall bottom lock last year. Now I have said that, I will probably get the mattress this year......