Scatters as they are often referred to are not to be confused with road rally’s, were a road rally has a set route and is accurately timed the scatter does not have a defined route.

When competing in a scatter you will be given a list of 6 figure of grid references which correspond to a location on a map, the maps used are usually from the Land ranger series produced by the ordnance survey. There may be 20 locations on the list but usually the instructions will say something like ‘You are only required to visit 75% of the locations’ meaning that the competing crew have the choice to visit any 15 of the 20 locations, the clever bit done by the navigator is to plan the best route so as to visit all 15 locations. There is also usually a question relating to each location that may be ‘what is the telephone number of the public phone box?’ or ‘what are the numbers on the hydrant sign?’ etc. etc. these questions ensure that the competitor must visit the location to gain the correct answer. If the question is difficult or at a remote point on the map the question will score more points, so not only must you visit as many of the 75% of locations as possible but you should choose which locations will score you the highest points within the time allowed.

It is common to give competitors around 2 hours to complete their chosen route, it is also normal to include a penalty for going over the time limit, this is usually in the form of deducting points from your total score per minute of lateness, so being late can easily bring down your score.

Some may say that the driver has got the easy bit, as all they have to do is drive around the route safely. Huddersfield motor club usually run three or so scatters per year in the winter months on a Monday evening, see the calendar for details of when these might be.