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Slipstream - March 2016

The monthly newsletter of the Maverick Region of the Porsche Club of America

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Intro to Rallying: Or, Who Wrote These #@*! Directions?<br />

By Don Sebert and George Luxbacher, Region Rally Co-Chairs<br />

Rallying. The word probably<br />

brings to mind buzzing down<br />

the road in a convertible, scarf<br />

flying in the wind, based on Hollywood<br />

concepts like “The Great<br />

Race” (1965) or “Cannonball Run”<br />

(1981). While we may be somewhat<br />

biased (being the Maverick<br />

Region Rallymeisters), our rallying<br />

is a great chance to combine a love<br />

of Porsches, some great scenic driving<br />

on rural roads (typically at legal<br />

speeds!) and a little bit of an intellectual<br />

challenge. Rallying is similar<br />

to a card, computer, or board game<br />

with roads representing the playing<br />

field in motion. Sound interesting?<br />

Read on!<br />

Basically, while driving on public<br />

roads at legal speeds, the team (consisting<br />

of a Driver and a Navigator)<br />

interpret and execute instructions<br />

we provide in accordance with a set<br />

of rules (the General Instructions)<br />

that define the terms. The Navigator<br />

is critical – it is impossible for<br />

a Driver to drive, read instructions<br />

and make required observations<br />

without help – and passengers are<br />

permitted, although you may find<br />

they don’t improve your score (possibly<br />

related to the comfort factor<br />

of being folded in the back seat<br />

of a 911 on curvy roads for a few<br />

hours). While the traditional rally<br />

is a TSD (Time-Speed-Distance)<br />

event, where the key is to correctly<br />

execute the instructions and arrive<br />

at fixed checkpoints at the proper<br />

time, we instead have what we think<br />

is a lot more fun: gimmick rallies.<br />

In a gimmick rally, precise timing<br />

and speed don’t matter. Instead, as<br />

long as you can follow the instructions,<br />

the key is the gimmick. Gimmicks<br />

we have used include photos<br />

that have to be placed in the correct<br />

order as observed along the<br />

route, and cryptic questions related<br />

to signage encountered along<br />

16 <strong>March</strong><br />

the route. Granted, the pictures<br />

required sharp powers of observation<br />

and were of things that could<br />

easily be overlooked; the questions<br />

required some interpretation of<br />

the rallymeisters’ states of mind<br />

and the creative answers of the participants<br />

challenged the scoring . .<br />

. but the goal was fun and we had a<br />

lot of that!<br />

While the #@*! directions might<br />

at first glance seem complicated,<br />

definitions are fairly straightforward.<br />

While “Right”, “Left” and<br />

“ASAP” (As Straight as Possible)<br />

are fairly self-explanatory, terms<br />

such as “RIP” (“Reads in Part”) or<br />

“FLIR” (“Follow the Lined Road,”<br />

just like Dorothy and the yellowbrick<br />

road) take more thought and<br />

observation. While the Rallymeisters<br />

are not trying to trick you with<br />

the directions, they also expect you<br />

to follow the rules; do that, and the<br />

drive should be relatively painless!<br />

We always have some issues that<br />

crop up: in addition to the four or<br />

five times we pre-drive the route in<br />

preparation, one of us drives the<br />

route the morning of the rally to<br />

look for changes. Last spring, some<br />

of our rally route was flooded up<br />

until the evening before, and we<br />

had an alternate route on higher<br />

roads as a back-up. Our fall rally was<br />

redirected by a Farmers Market in<br />

Celina that didn’t set up until midmorning<br />

as the rally participants<br />

arrived! Murphy’s Law at work.<br />

In 2015, we held two gimmick<br />

rallies, one with photos and one<br />

with questions – the question rally<br />

was run at Halloween and we invited<br />

participants to dress in costume.<br />

If you saw the photos in <strong>Slipstream</strong>,<br />

the turnout exceeded our expectations,<br />

unleashing witches, vampires,<br />

the Blues Brothers, and all sorts of<br />

scary (and some cute) creatures<br />

on the roads in Collin and Denton<br />

Counties, in addition to a group of<br />

beautiful cars; this was our Drive to<br />

the Spirits where we finished up at<br />

Witherspoon Distillery. By popular<br />

demand, we plan to have another<br />

costume rally at Halloween this<br />

year, Preliminary plans will tie that<br />

into graveyard visits, so watch Slipsteam<br />

for further details.<br />

Our first rally this year will be on<br />

Saturday, April 16. While plans are<br />

still fluid, be prepared for Easter<br />

Eggs (meaning surprises hidden in<br />

video games – for us, some form of<br />

puzzles)! Then, in addition to our<br />

Halloween rally, we are going to try<br />

some experiments: possibly a Stick<br />

rally, in which you are provided a<br />

map that looks like a stick with<br />

crosslines representing every intersection;<br />

a Hare & Hound, where<br />

the correct route and intersections<br />

are marked with lime dust at critical<br />

points on the road; and maybe<br />

even a TSD, which, if we do that,<br />

will be an easy introductory event –<br />

we promise! If you have done other<br />

gimmick rallies, please give us your<br />

feedback as to what you would like!<br />

Don’t worry if you have not rallied<br />

before! We have great fun and,<br />

while we issue first, second and<br />

third place awards, we also have the<br />

traditional and prestigious DLBF<br />

award: Dead Last But Finished! In<br />

2015 we had a great turnout for<br />

both our rallies and, based on the<br />

feedback, everyone had a great<br />

time. If you have that competitive<br />

spirit but don’t quite want to do DE<br />

or Autocross, we have the solution<br />

for you!<br />

Rallying is similar<br />

to a card, computer,<br />

or board game with<br />

roads representing<br />

the playing field<br />

in motion.

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