Columnar Instructions

A common instruction in road rallying involves placing all of the instructions in columns, thereby grouping all of the rights, lefts, stops, tees etc. together. A sample set is shown below.

Right Stop Left SA Tee RRX
0.00 0.00 1.25 2.10 0.00 3.20
3.65 5.20 10.45 6.59 10.45 12.50
5.20 10.45 12.79 15.80    
7.20 14.50 14.50      
12.76          

When faced with this kind of section, I recommend that you work ahead and re-write the section with the distances in the correct order and the appropriate instructions to the right of the distances (just like a distance to turn section). More than one instruction may be given for any one distance. For instance, at 0.00 you have three instructions. Re-written, the section would look like this:


HOT TIPS:
It is very easy to miss an instruction when you are working ahead and calling the current section instructions to the driver at the same time. Always double check your work by counting your instructions and comparing them to the total number of rights+lefts+straight aheads+bridges+RRX. (You don't need to count stops, tees, bears etc. as these are always executed with one of the turns.)

If you have not been able to work ahead, look carefully at the order of the instructions in the columns. For beginners, they are usually in ascending order. Clubman need to be more wary. In the example above, the rallymaster has mixed up the order of the rights. putting 7.20 ahead of 5.20. You could be a long way down the wrong road before you discover that!

Variations: To help develop a theme for the rally, you could find yourself with different headings for the columns such as red, blue, yellow etc. Buried in the preamble for the section will be the instructions for what to do at a red instruction. The columns work the same way, you simply need to complete an extra step to find the correct route.




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Last Updated: 2001-04-05
Copyright © 2001 Gail L. Walker, reproduction forbidden without written authorization.