The following article is from John's April 2012 Controller's Corner. I believe we are pretty good at handling this issue these days but John's thoughts are a good reminder.
What should you do as a competitor if when locating a control you feel that it’s in the wrong position? You might be tempted to move it to what you consider to be the correct placement. But should you?
The rules are in fact pretty clear on this one:
26. Fair play
26.1 All persons taking part in an orienteering event shall behave with fairness and honesty and a spirit of friendship. Competitors shall show respect for each other, for officials, journalists, spectators and the inhabitants of the competition area. The competitors shall be as quiet as possible in the terrain. Competitors or spectators shall not interfere with control equipment.
At the recent 3 Day event at St Helens (back in 2012), a competitor did move a control which he / she presumably considered to be incorrectly placed. No comment was made to the officials on the day – they learned of the matter through hearsay.
Now not only does this breach rule 26.1 in terms of both interfering with a control but also shows (lack of) respect for the (experienced and accredited) officials on the day. At events such as these, every control site has previously been visited probably on at least three occasions: by the Course Planner who puts out a tape; by the Controller who checks the placement of the tape; and by whoever puts out the control stand, flag and SI unit. The Course Planner and Controller have the responsibility to correctly place the control, and certainly that is sometimes a difficult task – especially on a detailed map such as Mt Pearson with its complex rock detail - somewhat compounded by distortions due to the change of scale to 1:10,000 (when it was originally produced at 1:15,000).
For the competing orienteer to make a judgement that a control is wrongly placed also assumes that the competitor is correct in his / her judgement – based on that one visit.
Nevertheless, we can all make errors – as Course Planners, Controllers and competitors.
So what should you do? Move the control to where you consider it should be? But then you are interfering with a control, and what does that do to the fairness factor? What are the consequences in terms of those competitors who have been through the control before you moved it and those yet to run? Can it be fair for all? And does it show respect for the officials? It’s your judgement against theirs. And if you do move it, how can the correct location be properly checked if a complaint is lodged?
The procedure should be: do NOT move the control, but on completion of your course report your concerns to the Controller or Course Planner. You have the right (and the responsibility) to make a complaint – especially if you feel the course might have been compromised. The issue can then be investigated by the officials. If you are dissatisfied with their ruling you can then lodge a complaint and a three person jury will make a final ruling. We have a fairness rule – let’s make sure we keep to it.