Discussion: Start triangle...

being confused by map and trails at start...
indeed I was too. I could not appreciate the major crossing. Might we have been actually standing more to the left than indicated by the position of the ST? Straight ahead to my recollection was the path with the big boulder (which I took). That's not what the ST position indicates on the map - it's some 2mm to right of crossing.

Indeed- I also like Jim A's blog note where the temptation to run off was balanced by "wait a minute what's going on here" switch gets thrown- pays off in the end as it's not the fastest time to the first control that wins :-)

So there was a "what's going on here" moment for several, numerous? Mine was "for the life of me..." But, seriously, was there indeed what I surmised? Did not go back to examine.

Suspect so, however also for the life of me I can't recall with any clarity (which is unusual as I tend to have photographic memory of such) where ST actually was on ground- pervasive recall is only that exit angles of trails seemed wrong and only now can I see the boulder on the map you are referring to. So I'm afraid no real help in validating your surmise.

If I recall correctly, there was a very large triangle made with orange tape on the ground (defining an area rather than a point). It would have been difficult to determine what it might be centered on unless you came to a near stop. I don't recall if there was a bag denoting the start point. As with many other features on the map, the large boulder nearby was obscured by the course printing, in this case the triangle. If the center of the triangle in the terrain was on the middle trail junction as shown on the map, then the "correct" trail might appear to be more straight ahead rather than to the right. I just noticed that the description of the start point is "trail junction" rather than "trail crossing", so apparently the intent was to have it to the west of the crossing.

Starting to make more sense now!

Oops - I set the start triangle with another volunteer, and I confess that I didn't check too carefully that it was in the correct location. The trails seemed to make sense; we deployed the streamer tape, and I hurried off to set up the finish. Would it have been preferable to have a bag instead of the large orange tape triangle?

Ian no probs and overall I enjoyed the course- wished I could have done the chasing start final! Bag yes I think is the answer (for what it's worth I have a clear recall of ST from US champs which used a bag)

IOF Rule 22.8 - The point where orienteering begins shall be shown on the map with the start triangle and, if it is not at the time start, marked in the terrain by a control flag but no marking device.

Marking of the start triangle in the terrain is not addressed in the USOF/OUSA Rules (or I haven't found it), so I defaulted to the IOF Rule for the US Champs.