Outback Challenge 2005

[Ossie]

It's also good to see another mixed team, tho I so wish there was another women "driver" who would enter.

My wife is keen to drive, though she does not feel that she has the confidence yet. At this stage I intend to make her enter the Vicwinch this year and we will take it from there.

Jason

[Doooh]

It's also good to see another mixed team, tho I so wish there was another women "driver" who would enter.

My wife is keen to drive, though she does not feel that she has the confidence yet. At this stage I intend to make her enter the Vicwinch this year and we will take it from there.

Jason

Kelly & I have been talking about doing it as a team next year after her great run in the Pajero Challenge (after all she does own half the car!!!).

We will probably share the driving becuase she is not quite so cavalier when it comes to the rough stuff (but that's only really the three stages Goat Run/Nitrocharger, Gorge Run & Winch Wall). On everything else i think she may give Celia a run for her money and it would be great to be in the same group so I'm sorry to hear this is your last year. Looking forward to seeing you up there.
Henry.

[Drafty]

Looks like i will be joining you guys and girls. Birdy asked me to be his co driver so it looks like i will be in for a bit of an adventure.

[Britswed]

Kewl joe so birdys put a fuel tank in hey good stuff

Mal

[Drafty]

Fuel = $$$$$$$$$$ sh!t i wasnt thinking about that part when i said yes, this could leave an extremely big hole in the bank account.

[Drafty]

Can someone tell me where i can get a copy of the rules and regs for the comp or e-mail them to me or give me Paul of Sharyns phone number.

Thanks

[cebarry]

It's also good to see another mixed team, tho I so wish there was another women "driver" who would enter.

My wife is keen to drive, though she does not feel that she has the confidence yet. At this stage I intend to make her enter the Vicwinch this year and we will take it from there.

Jason

Jason that is the best place to start out and it's so much fun too.
Celia

[cebarry]

It's also good to see another mixed team, tho I so wish there was another women "driver" who would enter.

My wife is keen to drive, though she does not feel that she has the confidence yet. At this stage I intend to make her enter the Vicwinch this year and we will take it from there.

Jason

Kelly & I have been talking about doing it as a team next year after her great run in the Pajero Challenge (after all she does own half the car!!!).

We will probably share the driving becuase she is not quite so cavalier when it comes to the rough stuff (but that's only really the three stages Goat Run/Nitrocharger, Gorge Run & Winch Wall). On everything else i think she may give Celia a run for her money and it would be great to be in the same group so I'm sorry to hear this is your last year. Looking forward to seeing you up there.
Henry.

Henry, I agree, I'm no real threat to anyone.... he he!.....that's not really what I was on about....what I hope women will do, is be encouraged with the fact that if I can do it, so can they and give them the confidence to give anything a go..........the 3 stages you mention, Nitrocharger, the Gorge and Winch wall are amongst my favourite and certainly not scary to me........having a good navie/spotter, fast winch and winch skills all count and in the case of the women who enter as navies with their partners/hubbies, I admire them greatly, as it's no mean task for them to undertake, I know I certainly couldn't.

Good navigation skills are an absolute must too.......and this year there's going to be a nite Brumbies as well as a day one.....now that is going to be fun, cos the terrain is unforgiving in the daylite as it is.
Speed and power are a huge plus, which is where we've always been disadvantaged ....but then we are in it for the sheer thrill and fun of it all and it's going to be extremely hard for us to give it up that's for sure.
Hopefully we'll see you all soon,
Happy last minute preps.....
Celia

[dogrooter]

If anyone is interested we may have 2 spots on a transporter from Brisbane to Broken Hill and return. Note;MAY HAVE. Price is very reasonable, if keen please email or pm me. Vehicle will be loaded 7th May.

[quick60]

Great event, I competed in 2000 as a navi and we came in 8th place
I was in a green holden bodied range rover chassis chev V8 diesel powered tray which was built for crawling and was not quick enough over the faster stages as the suspension was bottoming out. We probably could have picked up a place or two if we could have gone just that little bit quicker.
A must for new competitors is to brush up on your GPS and map reading skills, my driver didn't have a clue so we probably lost points on the map reading exam too. Remember also to call your winching and clear people out of the way, even the camera man. I ignored him as I thought he was part of the deal and got points penalised for it. Anyone there (Celia ?) remember us taking out the photographer coming out of the water hole in the prologue, what a madman getting so close to a car under power !
Damian.

[cebarry]

Damian, we remember your truck well, it was unreal and no one has ever fronted up with such an unusual combination since.....The incident at the Prologue was it? how can we forget and it was the events 'official" photographer too, was he lucky or what huh!....funnily enough he's back each year since too.
It would be good to see some of the early entries run again cos I think you'd find it a little different now. Much faster too.
Talking nav exam.....the next year I struggled thru that nav paper but the following year they allowed the teams to do it together (but we had to return to BH for an exhaust repair so missed it)...the year after that we only got as far as arriving in BH and the gearbox packed up so we became 'gold' pass spectators (not happy Jan) and the following year nav exam papers were scraped, as was 1st aid papers, so lets hope it stays that way. All the hard short tasks for points didn't happen either. Most of which have never been shown on the video, so entries don't realize how involved the OBC is.....
I think in 2000 we had to take a tyre off a split rim, repair it and put it back!!!....remember that, no easy job for a female.
So people brush up on all your bush survival skills.....know how to read maps cos you sometimes use them for transit stages. Get use to using a hand held compass....cos there is a nite event using a hand held compass only!!!! Make sure u have a good strong torch to find those compass markers. cos it gets real pitch dark out there and u will be looking for a thin stake with a metal tag on the end of it.....the bush is thick and you will be pacing out 450 paces between markers easy......
Be prepared for anything. One year they swoped driver navie and I had to get the Vit across a river using the winch and ground anchor....what fun it was slip sliding along under such a heavy weight (ground anchor and metal cable) thru about 4 ft of icy cold water.....@7am in the morning.
But it's good fun and that's why it's the beastest 4x4 comp out there I reckon.

You haven't lived until you've experienced one that's for sure.

Hope to catch up with you again Damian. All the best

Celia

[Laurie Griffiths]

I remeber you Damien we were in the same group and I remeber the mishap you and your driver had on the last night because we put you in our truck and took you to the homestead for some medical treatment. I agree with Celia things have gone up a few notches since 2000 and it just gets better every year.

[MYTTUF]

Can someone tell me where i can get a copy of the rules and regs for the comp or e-mail them to me or give me Paul of Sharyns phone number.

Thanks

CCDA meeting next Wed will be talking, amongst other things, about the rules. However they are available on the CCDA website. I suggest that everyone has a read as some things may be a little different from the last time you read them And by the time we start competiting all marshalls would've been trained on all the rules so there will no getting away with anything this year.
Jonesy

[quick60]

G'day Laurie, I do remember that although I was a bit dazed and confused (good name for a song) but did appreciate it. The truck was rebuilt, new cab (same) but with a bit more storage, new suspension goemetry, and now runs on airbags in the rear. Neither of us compete anymore, more of a time and buisiness problem than anything, but I might just have to get out to BH and spectate next year, might catch you then.

[PMT]

I COMPETED IN THE OBC IN 1999, 2002, 2003 & officiated in 2001 & i personally feel it is a great shame that they have taken out the map reading & first aid stages as i feel it is a big part of the outback. it also so bought out the complete competitor not just the fastest vehicle. i know it makes it hard for international competitors but if the imformation goes out quick enough it should not be a problem.

ps. go the hiluxes of lawrie & sean - big al & peter.

bruce

[T.Trudi]

I agree with PMT, the individual Special Stages (ISS) were what made the Outback challenge so special. It was a comp like no other that offered a chance for true survival skills to be used and tested.

When I first spectated in 2002 I dreamed of entering with the hubby to test our survival skills. I no longer have the desire to enter as the cost of entry, and vehicle does not equal the fun factor for me any more. We will just keep supporting all those that do enter.

Good luck to all who enter especially Celia "You Go Girl!" Watching you and the Packer's (another husband wife team) has been a blast!

Trudi

[MYTTUF]

17 days till we leave , and I must say I reckon were nearly ready. I've had the Rangie for a few weeks and have achieved a heap. Roll bars sorted, as is rear bar, sorted out cabin with all my navi bits, re-wired some stuff & generally tidied it up ( It even had a polish!!). It still needs the roof light put on, a muffler and the coils changed over which we'll prolly do at Rogers, but thhere are 2 more weekends where that can all happen in. All I need to do this week is freshen up on the GPS.
Can't wait
How's everyone else going????

[toughnut]

Still building bits. Almost done though. Goes in this week to get the new clutch, turbo and intercooler fitted. Next weekend is cut and shut time on the winch bar cause I ran out of time to build one from scratch cause it's taken over 2 months to get the new winch prepped. If I could do it all myself it would have been finished ages ago.

[Slug]

Good luck Steve ... Go nuts

[dogrooter]

Just got to finish off the snorkels, refit bash plates and pack recovery gear. Hopefully only two or three nights to go then the FUN starts.

[Drafty]

Something which people competing might want to know is that the helmet which you are competing in can not be painted or have any stickers on it, if it has either of these it will not pass scrutineering. This is one of the regs in the CCDA rules. I have spoken to Sharyn and Schultzy the head scrutinner about this matter and i am told it will be enforced. So there goes more $$$ and a new 1 comp old helmet in the bin.


O and thanks Celia for all your help, things are now on track.

[Hoonz]

so what about wearing motocross helmuts that have designs on them?
all bling and bright and shit?

[T.Trudi]

We added stickers (Names and Team Trudi) to some of the guy's helmets last year after scruteneering. Pehaps this rule is to make sure the stickers are not hiding any damage to the helmet. Perhaps stickers can be added after again this year?? (I hope so)

Trudi

[Drafty]

Questions should be directed to sharyn.vanderhorst@bigpond.com, i would be interested to know what responce you get. My helmet was just painted by the panel beater who resprayed our truck, and is only 2 comps old, Ateco and Alpine. Shultzy words were no painted helmets, where you draw the line at painted i dont know, arnt they all painted?

[MYTTUF]

Drafty
I know the helmet cant be covered in stickers and the Oz Std sticker needs to be visible, but don't think you need to turf it coz it's painted. Scruitineers can be harsh. Stickers can be used to cover scratches so that's why it can't be covered in them.
Any way gotta hate it if you gotta buy a new one but a green helmet in a yellow truck will clash!!
Jonesy

[Drafty]

I understand the logic behind their decision, it just ticks me off because we got our helmets sprayed before they were ever used in competition and i know it has never been damaged, but the rules are the rules so a new helmet i will buy.

The reason i posted this up was to bring it to attention of the other competitors, nothing worse than getting up there and not being able to compete, especially after all the prep and $$$ we put into this event.


O and yes you are right matching black helmets will look better, and we dont want to clash with the vehicle colour now do we.

[oozuk]

I dont think that we've gonna be able to make it to the event and we've already payed our entry to the event and cant be refunded...

so I'm offering a cheap position to the outback challange for anybody who's intrested please call me on 0400 639 983(AH steve) 3290 2533 (Bussiness hours steve or chris)

open to serious offers so we can at least recoup some of our money..

[Hoonz]

whats ur big hold up on ur rig ... some people on the board might be able to help you out

[toughnut]

I still don't have my winch yet. I hate having to rely on other people who haven't got the same motivation as you. If it doesn't get here tomorrow it's going to be interesting trying to get through with a magnum winch

[Drafty]

I dont think that we've gonna be able to make it to the event and we've already payed our entry to the event and cant be refunded...

so I'm offering a cheap position to the outback challange for anybody who's intrested please call me on 0400 639 983(AH steve) 3290 2533 (Bussiness hours steve or chris)

open to serious offers so we can at least recoup some of our money..

Contact Paul or Sharyn and see if the money can be used as next years deposit or as a deposit on the Alpine Challenge if you are considering that event.