The fantastic weather must have brought the crowds along for the day. We ran with two groups fo rth efirst time this Wellington Season. Tim Jones led the first group consisting of James England, Kevin England, Darren Bouler, and Anthony Counsell, Which left Noddy Jenkins, James Woods, Jeroen Van De Hooft, Jason Davies and Phil Markham in the second group.

With a few of the lads running Insas in Tim’s group they were straight off to Widecombe moor to kick the day off. Things started off well but the route did take a couple of vehicle casualties. James England managed to hydraulic his 90 when the turbo hose sucked in water after a connection failed, and then Darren Bouler suffered some vehicle issues later in the day. Anthony was soon to the rescue though offering to loan his vehicle for them to use whilst he jumped in to complete the route with Tim.

The second group started on a much changed Culmhead Island. With the forestry pkant having been through there was some new routes to attempt and few new obstacles to contend with. Niall Moore was crewing with James Woods in their white/blue v8 auto 90. Both did very well throughout the day and the truck ran faultlessly even after the water obstacles. (with the exception of a battery issue and a little over heating when the engine fan was accidently turned off! Noddys’ Discovery didn’t fare quite as well after blowing an oil core plug 20mins into the day. A repair was soon implemented, some replacement oil found and he continued on with no further issues. Ger and Amber joined their father Jeroen in their very capable although standard 90 CSW. Phil Markham joined us again after his last visit just over 12mths ago. His standard td5 90 hardtop certainly looked the part with some useful additions to give him the protection and performance he needed. One of the climbs on the island certainly took its toll on all the vehicles with each and every one needing to winch at some point on it. That aside the descents and obstacles went well the reasonably dry weather meaning we could tackle some of the more challenging sections with confidence – this didn’t make the climbs any easier though! A few were attempted and then skirted around!!!!

Having completed the island with the few initial problems ironed out, and after a quick bite to eat we headed off to the moor. Tight corner proved a tester, as always, especially for the full length Range Rover. Jay was slightly out with his approach angle and a quick tug was required backwards to allow him to re-align himself in order to get around. Phil had a few issues with stumps on one of the climbs and unfortunately just managed to catch his rear quarter, Jeroen was soon to the rescue and a high lift was deployed to extract the vehicle without any further damage. Sam corner proved an interesting test for the longer Discovery and the Range Rover but dry ground conditions certainly aided their passage.

With a little time in hand it was back upto the Island to tackle some of the longer and trickier side slopes and descents before calling it a day and heading back to the car park field. With a quick debrief and all the vehicles cleaned off ,lights/number plates all made visible and checked after a quick coffee everyone was off. Most to go home after a good day or challenging driving – James England off to get his trailer to come back and collect his poorly 90!