o-zeugs over and out (late wc china finding)

• Yes. Let the o-zeugs blog rest in peace. I´ll take it down eventually.
• And yes, I stumbled over the decisions of the Ethics Panel regarding WC 2019 China again and thought I will end the blog with a meme dedicated to Ivar for making a difference between Chinese Athletes and "our guys" (e.g. Ricardo Scalet and Eveli Kaasiku) regarding what is possible while running on home-ground.
  
  
  
  
  

The KanPas Focus 200

So here is the KanPas Focus 200. Actually the compass making orienteering easy. Maybe even too easy? - Sorry for that.

fig.1. What a beauty

First things first. Why is it called Focus 200?

For a good prospective map reading you would have to focus on the next 200 m to come. The cavity in the base plate provides you just with the area to focus on. The open area consists in a ring 2 cm wide which used on a 1:10K map is equivalent to 200 m IRL. Thus focus on the next 200 m.

Who does it work as a compass?

Easy. Place the tip of the red arrow to where you are now and the half circle on the other side of the cavity (or the virtual line between the two) to where you want to go. Then turn your body until the needle aligns parallel with the magnetic north lines on the map and then just run after the red arrow. Pro Tip: Double check that the ground below you is actually moving straight against the red arrow.

That is it?

Yes. Let the red arrow guide you. At the next map contact. You will exactly know, where to relocate on the map. Get used to advance the tip of the red arrow to your new actual position.

The compass makes the map work easy by providing you with the proper focus. It also helps you to keep the right direction at every point of your race. Direction is just baked in into your map handling.

How stable is the needle?

It is a rather small capsule, the needle is thus less perfect than others on the market. The developers of this beauty wanted a needle precise enough to lead you for the next 100 m or so. After about that you should relocate on the map anyway. Do you really want to engage in longer compass blind flights? 

Is counting steps back?

Maybe. From the tip of the red arrow to the center of the cavity there are 100 m. Proper direction plus a decent approximation of your step length would narrow down area to relocate in massively.

Well. I need a magnifier.

No problem. The Focus 200 geometry fits perfectly with the KanPas magnifier L-62. Mounted on the thumb band the magnifiers can be exactly centered over the centre of the focus area.

Who should use the Focus 200?

As the main audience we see younger (still flexible) developing athletes. By using the Focus 200 they can develop the right pattern in combining map, compass and terrain in the most effective way. As a secondary audience we see the experienced athletes, willing and able to improve beyond their habits.

This compass is useless for Sprint.

fig.2.  The use of the KanPas Focus 200 on a sprint map. (Note that the direction also somehow matters in Sprint :-P; Map not oriented)

To a certain degree that is true. The strength of the Focus 200 lies elsewhere. In urban terrain proper direction work is rather insignificant and also the cavity corresponding only 80 m is not ideal. On the other hand, relocation on the map still is facilitated with the focus area.

What do you think about the Moscompass GT?

It is actually nice to see, that the think about improving in similar lines. We just think our design is smarter and less prone to breaking. ;-)

So where can I buy this beauty, that will lift my orienteering to the next level?

ATM it is only available at the KanPas webshop but feel free to bug your local/national retailer about it.

Swiss Team 2024

The Swiss National Team published the team selections for 2024 at the junior and senior level. I updated the almost illegible table of selections since 1999 and here I just summarize the complete list of changes:

• retired: Sabine Hauswirth (A), Elena Howald-Roos (A), Elena Pezzati (B), Florian Howald (A), Christoph Meier (B), Noah Zbinden (B), Jonas Soldini (B)
  
• de-selected:  Siri Nyffeler (ag), Elisa Bertozzi (ag), Anja Probst (ag), Rosa Bieri (J), Leonie Benz (J), Remo Ruch (ag), Tobia Pezzati (B), Simon Hamel (ag), Matteo Bertozzi (J)
  
• first time selected: Nina Probst (U25) , Sarina Grimm (J), Rachel Marxer (J), Leonie Mathis (J), Henriette Radzikowski (J), Minna Senn (J), Pascal Schmutz (J), Loïc Berger (J), Gratian Böhi (J), Matthieu Bührer (J), Lukas Gasser (J)
  
• re-selected: Katja Brütsch (U25)
  

• moved: Eline Gemperle (U23->B), Lilly Graber (U23->B), Siana Senn (ag->B), Hanna Wey (ag->U25), Corina Hüni (B->U25),  Annick Meister (ag->U25), Inès Berger (J->B), Nina Hubmann (J->U25), Alina Niggli (J->U25), Florian Attinger (ag->B), Fabian Aebersold (U23->B), Manuele Ren (ag->U25), Timo Tantanini (ag->U25), Florian Freuler (ag->U25), Janis Hutzli (ag->U25)

 

 

ChatGPT coaches me to the WOC 2023

Not that I had any ambitions :-P