BAE Regain the Typhoon Trophy
7th RAFO v BAE Systems Challenge - Tarn Hows 4 March 2000
BAE Systems regained the Typhoon Trophy on home ground at Tarn Hows, in the Lake District, in
the 7th Annual Challenge against RAF Orienteers in another excellent and exciting competition. The
selection of Tarn Hows, couched between Coniston Water and Lake Windermere with gallery views of the
Old Man and the Langdales, provided an exceptional challenge with the terrain being a good mix of
open fell area and runnable woodland including plenty of crag and contour detail. Sgt Mark Hassall
from RAF Wittering was competing in the Challenge for the first time and was astounded by the level
of concentration required to be successful in the complex terrain, "Orienteering in the
contourless and cragless woods of East Anglia will never compare to this !".
Tim Stewart (BAE SYSTEMS) punches at the Finish
The Challenge was competed for over 2 courses, both planned to a very high standard by David
Heffernan, namely the Open Class (8.1 km and 600m of climb) and the President's Class (5.2 km and
420 m of climb). RAFO won the Open competition by a narrow margin but BAE's domination of the
President's event enabled them to win the overall competition (full results below). Accordingly, the
Typhoon Trophy, gratefully accepted by Tim Watkins of BAE, will return to its second home in the
office of the Director of Flight Operations at BAE Warton.
After the event the second aspect
of the Challenge came into play, with the competitors retiring to the comfort of the Waterhead
Hotel, Coniston, to enjoy dinner and an exchange of views between those on the production line and
those on the flight line. During his summary of the day's events Group Captain Andy Ebdon, RAFO
Chairman, reflected on the valuable links that have grown between BAE and the RAF over the years as
a direct result of this annual sporting event. During the evening the teams were also able to
analyse each other's individual performances with the split times made available from the
Sport-Ident electronic punching and timing system. The graphical presentation was particularly
revealing, illustrating exactly where time was won and lost.
Tim Watkins (BAE SYSTEMS) receives the 'Eurofighter Typhoon' Trophy from Group Captain Andy Ebdon (RAFO)
RESULTS OPEN COURSE (8.1km, 600m climb) 1 Tim Watkins BAE SYSTEMS 76'02" 2 Andy Armstrong RAFO 78'50" 3 John Newton BAE SYSTEMS 81'47" 4 Geoff Ellis RAFO 83'29" 5 Andy Ebdon RAFO 84'26" 6 Jon Carberry BAE SYSTEMS 88'47" 7 Clive Shelton-Smith RAFO 89'11" 8 Tom Callary BAE SYSTEMS 90'22" 9 Mike Rogers RAFO 90'34" 10 Mark Hibbard BAE SYSTEMS 94'30" 11 Jerry Knights RAFO 96'11" 12 Mick Chopping RAFO 98'11" 13 Ed Adey RAFO 99'29" 14 Eddie Speak BAE SYSTEMS 100'18" 15 Steve Price RAFO 100'20" 16 Tim Stewart BAE SYSTEMS 106'16" 17 Chris Reeh BAE SYSTEMS 116'22" 18 Roy McGregor BAE SYSTEMS 121'20" 19 Pete Macaulay RAFO 122'17" 20 Mark Hassell RAFO 129'53" 21 Luke Krouwel BAE SYSTEMS 131'59" With the first six from each team to score on this course, RAFO's 38 points just beats BAE SYSTEMS' 40 points. PRESIDENTS COURSE (5.2km, 420m climb) 1 Nuala Higgins BAE SYSTEMS 64'42" 2 Frances Watkins BAE SYSTEMS 72'07" 3 Rod Ellis RAFO 79'45" 4 Brian Daniel BAE SYSTEMS 80'17" 5 Mia Armstrong RAFO 84'16" 6 Juliet Bentley BAE SYSTEMS 84'25" 7 Peter Knott BAE SYSTEMS 85'34" 8 Jane Solway RAFO 95'41" 9 Julia Prytherch RAFO 112'47" Peter Danks RAFO (retd) With the first three from each team to score on this course, BAE SYSTEMS' 7 points beats RAFO's 14 points. Therefore, on aggregate, BAE SYSTEMS are overall winners of the Challenge by 47 points to 52.
