Confident Orienteering

Maximus O-Meeting 2025: What to Expect Today we bring you an interview with one of the main organisers of Maximus O Meeting 2025, Raul Ferra. Hi, Raul. Thank you for agreeing to tell us about the MAXIMUS event. Firstly, could you briefly introduce yourself and the Maximus event?  My name is Raúl Ferra, a dedicated orienteer since the age of 9. What began as a childhood hobby evolved into a competitive pursuit, and now it’s both my profession and my passion.  At the moment, my main occupation is as the head-coach of Halden SK, but I complement it with personal coaching ( RF-Coach ), and organising training camps and events in Spain (Maximus O Meeting and winter camp, and Sun-O camps in Alicante, Murcia, Barbate, Granada, etc.).        What is the history of this competition? How did it all start?   Maximus O Meeting was launched in 2019 as a new project in the region, with the aim of offering an annual event of the highest technical quality, in addition to the training camp. The pot

Route choice at Control 1 On Control 1, we frequently have to choose between a direct but more challenging route and a longer but more reliable one.  A lack of familiarity with the terrain and a natural desire to avoid risk often incline us to opt for the longer route. This choice becomes even easier to accept on long-distance courses where the pace is not so aggressive from the start. The leg we are discussing comes from a Croatia,  Event:  Broč Orienteering Championship 2nd stage,  Organising club - OK Maksimir. Middle distance, W21E.  https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Broc-Orienteering-Championship-2nd-stage/W21E?classId=858277&tab=player   Here, the "white forest" and the considerable size of the control feature provide strong arguments for taking the direct route. When uncertain about which route to choose, I find it helpful to identify a point  on the begining of  longer route from which I definitely will take longer one. I then estimate the time required to cover t

 One Year of "Confident Orienteering" A few days ago marked one year since I released my first book on orienteering in digital format. “Confident Orienteering: A Systematic Approach to Minimising Errors. Book 1: Fundamentals” dives into why mistakes happen in orienteering and provides strategies to avoid them.  The upcoming Book 2— Routes Planning and Execution —will focus on putting these strategies into action in real-life scenarios. Though we initially aimed to release it in 2024, it will now be ready by mid-2025 at the earliest. Progress is steady, and the same great team from Book 1 is still with me. We’ve completed about 70% of the text, but we still have a lot of work on illustrations, with over 300 examples planned. I’ll soon share a separate post about the amazing people contributing to this project, as well as one about Book 1 translations, highlighting the fantastic translators who made the book available in other languages. For now, I have two updates to share

    Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #19 A landscape of this type can be seen in many European countries, such as Italy, Spain, or Portugal, as well as in Turkey. It also resembles Australia. However, this is in North America (USA, California). It’s a vast continent where you can encounter a great variety of landscapes.  Leg 5-6 presented in this analysis is from the C10 distance of the competition CalOFests Stage 3 NRE Long , which took place on  2023-07-19 . link for GPS tracks  The route choice is significantly influenced by the amount of climb. Moreover, a climb that follows a gentle road is much easier than one on a steep slope. Therefore, this factor should also be considered. The right-hand route seems too complicated and physically demanding. The easier approach to the control point is not worth it. (The red sectons represent areas with a climb). After excluding the right-hand route, we are left to consider "straight" or "left" options. The straight

  Become a Better Orienteer with Personalised Online Coaching! I am a political refugee from Belarus, currently living in Poland, offering personalised online training in orienteering.  Whether you're an intermediate or advanced orienteer, I can help you enhance your navigation skills and overall performance. The number of available spots is limited. Here’s what I can offer: Flexible Training Plans: I create customised programs focused on the technical aspects of orienteering, taking into account your strengths and weaknesses in navigation. This approach allows us to prioritise the improvement of your weakest areas first, ensuring more effective progress in your skills.  Please note that my services do not include physical training plans. Terrain Workouts : I plan sessions on the terrain to enhance your navigational abilities.  On-Table Exercises : I provide and evaluate technical exercises that you can complete from home to improve your

    Left, Right, or Straight: Leg Analysis #18 Presented  leg 6-7 from the middle distance of the Norwegian Masters Championship 2024 (15.09. 2024; M65 class). Of the possible three routes, the left route goes over the hill and has almost the same lengthening as the right route (which has no climb).  So we're not considering left route for execution. On the direct route there is a very steep slope to climb up. It takes a lot of time.  See a comparison drawing of the best routes of straight and right. The right route turns out to be the fastest, while it is possible to see other legs ahead on the road. However, it is important to take the shortest route to the road from control 6.  See a comparison drawing of two right routes on this leg ( best time on the leg and the course leader who only had 7th time on this leg). See also all routes of M65 class on this leg  Source: https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Veteranmesterskapet-mellom/H65-?classId=841625&tab=table Aleksndr Alekseyonok,