GPS Hunt 5.0 is the fifth edition of the previously called GPS challenge that is hosted by the Abu Dhabi Off-Road club to develop the navigational and driving skills of the club members in order to prepare them for the coming desnav challenge. The registration is free and open to all levels of driving skills in the club including Marshals and explorer.
The concept of the event is simple, imagine you are in a big circle, the starting point of the drive is at the center of the circle and the checkpoints are scattered all around that circle. Each team will be given a set of GPS waypoints in the club standard GPS format and each team needs to work together in finding their way to the next checkpoint. Teams will be free to choose their next destination in that circle. Each check point will be flagged and will have a stamp/code/word that the team have to use in order to prove to the organizers that they have reached that check point.
The Event area was about 10 square kilometers with 22 checkpoint and the temperature that morning was 9 degrees Celsius. 10 teams of 4 cars each signed up for the event that made a total of 40 cars and over 100 people on the start point.
The evet started with a safety briefing followed by a few pointers from the organizers on how to strategically pick the checkpoints. The hunt began at 10:00 AM and finished six hours later with all teams back on time with no incidents to report.
Three teams completing all 22 checkpoints while the rest completed at least 16 checkpoint. A great testament goes out to the tam leaders and the Marshals and organizers who made this event possible.