NZ World Cups & Sprint the Bay - Enter Now!

HBOC farmland - trickier than it sounds!

In January of 2013, for the first time in my elite career, New Zealand will be hosting World Cup races in conjunction with the Oceania orienteering carnival :) There will be a middle distance in beach-front sand-dune terrain, 2 urban/park sprints (qual & final) in NZ's capital city of Wellington, and then a middle prologue and chasing start in special detailed farmland terrain in the Hawkes Bay region where I grew up. I hope that having a home country advantage for the first time ever will give me the opportunity to get some of my best world cup results (the last time NZ hosted a world cup race in 1994 it was won by NZ super-star Alistair Landels), I also hope that as many orienteers as possible make the effort to come NZ! - not only the world cup athletes :)

There will be many other races and training opportunities available from December to January to make the long trip worthwhile for European orienteers. Dirty D Sprint the Bay will definitely be a main highlight of this.

STB 2013 yellow singlet
winner Toby Scott
celebrates in style!

If you haven't already heard of Sprint the Bay (STB) - it's a series of 6 sprint races over 3 days in Hawkes Bay (organised primarily by my brother and I) and will take place 2 days after the final world cup race in NZ from the 15th - 17th of January 2013. The STB competition is much like the tour de France, we have various coloured singlet competitions, such as the yellow singlet which is worn by the current overall leader, the green singlet for the sprint leg leader, the polka dot singlet for the hill climb leader and the white singlet for the best junior runner in the elite grade. The STB competition format has proven to be very exciting for competitors and spectators alike over the last 3 years as it adds an extra element to sprint orienteering. Since the first STB in 2010 we have seen our event grow to become one of the biggest annual orienteering events in NZ, and now that STB is an official supporting event of the Oceania orienteering carnival and an NZ super-series event, we  have known for some time that 2013 will be the biggest and best for STB - hence we have saved the best terrains for next year! I would love to compete in some of the STB stages like other years, but this time I'll have to focus on the organising side of things.

The main reason for this post is that the entries for the Oceania Carnival/World Cups and Sprint the Bay are now open and early-bird entry deadlines are coming up. The Oceania early-bird entries close on the 30th of June, so if you want the cheaper prices, enter soon! Sprint the Bay early-bird entries close on the 14th of August. STB early-bird entrants go in the draw to win their entry fee back - this year we will give away one NZ entry and one international entry.

Make sure you 'like' the Sprint the Bay Facebook page to get all the important updates and STB news, or just to chat with other orienteers about accommodation etc.

NZ is a long way away for most people, and takes a little more planning than your average excursion, so don't leave it too late! There is competition information for the Oceania/World Cup races, Sprint the Bay and the other supporting events on the STB homepage. If you need to know more, are organising a tour group or just have some questions about coming to NZ, email the Oceania Event Director - Graham Teahan here: gteahan@xtra.co.nz, or alternatively feel free to email us at STB here: contact@sprintthebay.org

Cheers, we hope you can all make it!

PS. Here are the direct links to the entry forms:
Oceania/World Cups Online Entry
Sprint the Bay 2013 Online Entry