South Gare is on the NE coast, just west of Redcar.

The main car parking will be at Redcar Racecourse.  The postcode is TS10 2BY and the What3words reference of the entrance to the car park is ///former.aware.saves.  Please note that you need to access the racecourse car park via Racecourse Road.  There is no access via Thwaites Lane.

Click on the link to see a map.  You can zoom in (and, optionally, switch to Satellite mode) to see the details of the final approach to the event.  You can also get directions if you specify your starting location.

There will be a shuttle bus service between the racecourse car park and the Base Camp in the Majuba car park.  The buses will operate a continuous shuttle service between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., although the frequency will be reduced between about 12 noon and 2 p.m.  The journey takes about 10 minutes.

If the weather is fine, you might also considering walking or cycling the 2.6 km from the racecourse to the Base Camp.  Exit from the racecourse car park via Thwaites Lane.  At the eastern end of Thwaites Lane, turn left and head north until you reach the seafront.  Turn left and go west along the Esplanade until you reach the Majuba car park.  (This route will not be taped.)

There will be a limited number of priority parking spaces in the Majuba car park, adjacent to the Base Camp.  We will reserve one space for each club, but please note that you will need to pay and display ((£4 for three hours or £6 for all day).

The rest of the Majuba Road car park will be available for public parking, so you're welcome to park there if you can find a space.  If you're planning to park in the Majuba Road car park, you might like to download the RingGo parking app and use it to pay your parking fee.  (The location number is 4168.)  That will save you having to mess around with the parking ticket machines.

Blue badge holders can park for free for up to three hours.

Note that your vehicle must fit into the marked spaces.  There are some spaces big enough for minibuses and motor homes.

Coaches and minibuses can drop their passengers off at the designated drop-off in the Majuba Road car park before heading off to find parking elsewhere; e.g. at the racecourse.

There are also several car parks in Redcar town centre that offer free parking on Sundays.

Public transport

It's a 1.5 km walk from Redcar Central railway station to the Base Camp.  You can get the East Coast Main Line to York, Darlington or Newcastle and then use local trains to get to Redcar.  (At the moment, the train web sites don't favour travelling via Darlington at weekends because of construction work at Darlington railway station, but that should be long past by September!)

Campervan Owners

If you're interested in making a weekend of it:-

• Overnight parking is allowed in the Majuba Road car park, and there is no charge for parking between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.  (Follow this link to see the parking conditions.)
• Drinking water is available from an outside tap at the Redcar Beach Base.
• The public toilets adjacent to the Redcar Beach Base are locked overnight.
• Despite what you may see on social media, do not 'wild camp' anywhere along South Gare Road (which runs along the southern edge of the competition area).  This is a private road, and unauthorised wild camping has been causing a considerable nuisance to the landowner and the legitimate users of the area.  Any wild camping by orienteers would jeopardise our future use of this excellent area.

The event administration and most of the facilities will be in the Base Camp in the Majuba car park.

The Redcar Beach Base, close to the coach drop-off point, has toilets (including special needs toilets), drinking water taps and two food outlets (serving burgers, ice creams, hot and cold drinks, etc.).

The Base Camp will have:-

• Enquiries
• Toilets
• Traders
• The main First Aid post

Bikes can be locked to the low wooden fence at the western edge of the Majuba Road car park (near Enquiries).

The Finish Arena will be 300 metres west of the Base Camp.  From the NW corner of the Base Camp, follow the taped route along the beach and then into the dunes.

The Finish Arena will have:-

• The run-in
• Download
• Commentary
• A First Aid station
• Space for club tents
• Spectator areas with views of the run-in
• A free maze with courses for all ages
• Free frisbee games (if weather conditions allow)
• Plenty of beach space for games of your own devising
• The North Sea for a 'refreshing' dip after your run

Please note that there will be no toilets in the Finish Arena.

It would be a good idea to consider using sandbags to secure your club tent.  (It's no problem to put tent pegs into the very sandy ground, but they slide out again just as easily!)  There's no need to bring sand.  Just some bags, string and an implement to shovel locally-provided sand into the bags.

South Gare is a spit of land created in the 19th Century to extend and improve Teesport.  Dorman Long – and probably other Iron Masters – dumped lines of slag from the blast furnaces to create the base for the breakwater and the road.

Sand dunes and slag ridges give a very technical relief with a profusion of small hills, knolls, gullies and depressions.  Paths offer fast progress.  Nearly all of the paths are mapped and can be used for navigation, but it's still wise to use other features for confirmation, as dog walkers tend to create new paths quite rapidly.

The sand is quite consolidated on the landward side, but becomes soft close to the beach.  The Marram grass can make running off the paths quite uncomfortable.

Due to the potential for cuts and scratches, all competitors must wear full leg cover.

Please note that there is some litter and flotsam/jetsam debris hidden in the grass.  There are also the remains of barbed wire and wooden fences in the area, and fence wire hidden in the Marram grass can pose a trip hazard to the unwary.

Follow this link to view the competition maps from:-

• The Regional event at South Gare in September 2023.
• The 2021 Junior Inter-Regional Championships, which were held at South Gare in September 2021.
• An evening event on Coatham Dunes (the southern part of the CompassSport Cup competition area) in May 2022.

Note:  South Gare and Coatham Dunes are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA).  Natural England only allow orienteering in this area during September, when it will have minimal impact on the protected wildlife, flora and fauna.

The road along the southern edge of the competition area is out of bounds to competitors, including during your run.

Marshes that are shown as 'out of bounds' on the competition maps MUST NOT BE CROSSED, even if they look crossable on the day of the event.  These marshes have SSSI protection, and any incursion into them would risk our future use of this top-quality orienteering area.  (And anyone seen crossing an 'out of bounds' marsh will, of course, be disqualified.)

Full leg cover is compulsory.  Although the area may appear 'open', the marram grass can be pretty vicious to unprotected legs.

There is limited space to warm up at the Start, so please warm up along the way to the Start.

Courses 9A and 9B are actually the same course.  The map (and control descriptions) will be labelled 9A&9B.

IMPORTANT:  As per the CompassSport Cup rules, the maps and control descriptions will only be labelled with the course numbers.  When you go to the Start, please make sure that you know your course number.  (If you forget, the Start officials will have a copy of the table that relates course numbers to course names.)

See the table above for the map scales.   2.5m contours

All the competition maps are A3 size.  The maps for some of the longer courses are double-sided.

The map was significantly updated for the Junior Inter-Regional Championships (JIRC) in 2021, and minor updates are being made for this event.

Control descriptions will be printed on the maps, and loose copies will be available at the Start.

SPORTident electronic punching will be used.

The control boxes and the Finish will be activated to enable SIAC cards to operate in touch-free mode.

The Light Green and Yellow courses will have a punching start.  All the other courses will have a timed start.

In the past, taking entries for CompassSport Cup events has required each Club Captain to gather entry information from their club members and type it into a pre-formatted spreadsheet.  The organising club has then had the task of taking all the spreadsheets and getting the entry information into a format that can be imported into SI Timing.  In order to reduce the workload for both Club Captains and the organising team, the 2025 CompassSport Cup Final is using a new customised online entry system.

There will be two stages.  In the first stage, individual club members (or families) will be able to use an online system to provide their basic entry information – e.g. name, age class, SI card number, etc. – plus emergency contact details and information about any relevant medical conditions.  In the second stage, Team Captains will allocate courses and start times.  They will also be able to edit / update the entry information; e.g. if someone has changed their SI card.

For Stage 1, Club Captains were able to decide to use either (a) the new CSC entry system or (b) one of the commercial online entry systems; e.g. Racesignup, The Start Kite or SI Entries.

Your Club Captain will let you know how to put in your entry for the 2025 CompassSport Cup Final.  Look for a notice on your club web site.

Stage 1 of the new CSC entry system will close at midnight on Sunday 24-Aug-2025.

During Stage 2, Club Captains will be able to edit their clubs' entries – including withdrawing entries, changing courses, editing SI card numbers, etc. – until Wednesday 3-Sep-2025.

The start list should be issued on Sunday 7-Sep-2025.

Note:  Friends and family members of CompassSport Cup / Trophy competitors can run the non-competitive colour coded courses – Light Green and Yellow – but cannot run on any of the CompassSport Cup courses.  If your club is using the new CSC online entry system for Stage 1 of the entry process, you can use it to add colour coded entries.

There will be entry on the day for the Light Green and Yellow courses, subject to the availability of maps.  To enter on the day, come to Enquiries in the Base Camp in the Majuba Road car park between 10:15 a.m. and 12 noon.  The entry fees are £10 for seniors and £5 for juniors.

Please note that due to the numbers of entries on some courses, the Start window has been extended by half an hour.  The first start will now be 10 a.m. rather than 10:30 a.m.

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.       Courses close at 3 p.m.

The Start is approximately 600m from the Finish Arena.  Follow the taped route.

• Please stay on the designated route.  If you deviate from it then (a) you are likely to go into out-of-bounds areas and (b) you may be at risk from flying golf balls from the nearby golf course.  (Not every shot goes where the golfer intended.)
• The route is on soft sand, which may slow progress.

The aim is to have prizegiving in the Finish Arena at 3 p.m., but this depends on all the relevant results being processed before then.

There will be:-

• Trophies for the winning clubs and the runners-up in the Cup and Trophy competitions.
• Certificates and Compass Point vouchers for the winner on each course – for both the first man and the first woman on the Veterans and Super Veterans courses.
• 'Golden Boot' awards for the fastest man and woman on the run-in from the final control to the finish.
• A 'Golden Maze' award for the fastest person* around the maze.

* Only your first attempt counts.  'Anyone can have a go at the maze, but the 'Golden Maze' award is only open to people who are not running a competitive CompassSport Cup course.

Toilets

• 4 portable toilets in the Redcar Racecourse car park.
• Public toilets adjacent to the Redcar Beach Base in the Majuba Road car park.  (4 gents, 4 ladies and 2 special needs.)
• 8 portable toilets in Base Camp.

Traders

• CompassPoint
• Podium Catering
• Sparkle and Magic (Barista coffee, ice cream and vegetarian snacks)
• Proove Pizza (Neapolitan pizza)

The main First Aid post will be in the NW corner of the Base Camp.  There will also be a First Aid station in the Finish Arena.

No drinks will be provided at the Finish.  The will be orienteering caterers in the Base Camp, and there are lots of food outlets in Redcar, including two in the Redcar Beach Base.

Well behaved dogs are welcome in the racecourse car park, the Majuba car park and the Finish Arena, but must be kept on leads at all times and must not be taken out into the competition area.  You may also exercise your dog on the beach (and may let it off the lead as long as you are sure it will not cause a nuisance to other beach users and it will come back to you when you call it).

You must, of course, clean up after your dog.  (And you risk getting a £100 fine from Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council if you fail to do so.)

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the Organiser, but please remember that competitors take part at their own risk.  Orienteering is an adventure sport – your safety while orienteering is your own responsibility.

Please make sure that you download even if you do not complete your course.

CLOK strongly recommends that you carry a whistle while participating in this (and every) orienteering event.

If you have a relevant medical condition, please let us know via the online entry system.  Any information provided will be treated in strict confidence and will only be used if you need medical treatment and are unable to communicate at the time.