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TT Marshals Newsletter

Author: IOMTTMA
Posted on: Monday, Feb 04 2008



IMC Course Update

There are a number of places still available on the courses at Bedford on the 16th & 17th February. Places on these courses can be reserved by contacting our office on 01624 618191 or emailing training@iomttma.com

If anyone tried contacting us by phone about the IMC courses just after the last newsletter, we would like to apologise if you kept getting the answer phone. Our Secretary, Nicki, has been on a well deserved holiday, and we were not in a position to staff the office during that time. Arrangements will be made so that this does not happen again.

Chairmans Column

The first of the social nights went off very well in Ramsey last Tuesday; well attended with around 60 people turning up. The gremlins were at work during the early part of the evening though when the computer running the PowerPoint decided to malfunction; it had managed to delete all the sound tracks from over 50 slides on the presentation. Fortunately the Minister Adrian Earnshaw and Eddie Nelson and Jim Parker from the ACU were present and they filled in with an impromptu question and answer session; this gave us the time to reload the computer and set it up for the presentation. We dealt with the crisis in a typical TT marshal manner all calm and collected; but cursing the wretched computer under our breath.

Anyway, as usual anyone passing the office remember you are always welcome to call in; you don’t need a reason. Recently there seem to be a whole lot of rumours flying about; many likely generated on message boards by people with too much time on their hands. By contacting the office it is most probable any nasty rumours you may have heard can probably be confirmed or denied; mostly the later. Gossip and rumour by ill-informed people can do more harm than good.

That’s about it from me for the moment, I’ll be at the IMC on Saturday and the next two in Bedford in a few weeks time and of course the next of the social nights; hopefully see some of you there.
regards
Bill Carden
Chairman

Night at the Races

There will be a Night at the Races (Bikes not Horses) on Saturday 8th March 2008 at the Masonic Hall in Douglas, admission will be £4 which will include a chip buttie supper, and all proceeds and admission money will be split between the TTMA and three other charities to be announced.

These are great fun, and will be hosted by Roy Moore, tickets are on sale now from our office at the rear of the TT Grandstand.

What to expect at an IMC course

Hopefully the above will help clarify some of the rumours that have been circulating. If we become aware of any new ones, and we have the answers, we will let you know.

You have probably noticed that we are constantly going on about why you should do an IMC course, this is of course good advice.

But what happens at an IMC course?

IMC courses generally start at 9:00am sharp so we advise that you arrive a little earlier so that you can partake in the coffee and biscuits that is provided of the trainees (and the trainers as well).

The course generally starts with a short power point presentation on the powers and duties of a marshal, then we get into the first aid and incident management parts of the course, this is a mixture of presentations and hands on practice. During the course of the day you will discuss incidents, learn what to do in the case of an incident, how to deal with cuts and broken bones, as well as putting a rider onto a stretcher and how to put that stretcher into the helicopter.

Somewhere among this frenzied activity you will have a couple of breaks, with more coffee and biscuits, and lunch, these are all provided by the TTMA.

The day usually finishes with instruction on flag procedures and the use of the Tetra radio (IOM Courses).


If this sound like a lot to fit into one day, then you are probably right. You will certainly be kept busy for the whole day, you cannot get bored on an IMC course

As someone who has been on both sides of the IMC, having taken them as a marshal and trained at them, the greatest pleasure I get from IMC courses is the effect that it has on the trainees who cannot wait to get on the side of the road dressed in tangerine ready to get some marshalling in.

Look forward to seeing you on a course soon.

Andy Dorman

Training Director


Rumours and Miss-truths



Well, the old jungle drums have certainly been busy these last few weeks, and we thought it was about time some of these rumours were put to bed once and for all, so here goes:



1) Jim Parker of A-CU Events re-iterated at the Social Night in Ramsey that all machines will be scrutineered before going onto the course for each session. A-CU Events want to streamline the process by having more bays available for the task, but will not compromise rider’s safety.



2) Marshals DO NOT have to take out their own third party insurance. All marshals are covered by accident and third party insurance from the time they leave home to attend a practice or race until the time they get back home after the session has ended (but you must go straight home, not stop off at the pub on the way!). A full list of insurance benefits will be included in a newsletter in the next month or two. Eddie Nelson has also confirmed that a copy of the policy can also be viewed at the TTMA office.



3) There have been a few additions to the Prohibited Areas that were in place last year, but the vast majority are the same as in previous years. However, a marshal cannot stand in a Prohibited Area. For this reason, if a marshalling point was previously in a Prohibited Area, a portion of that area will become a Restricted Area where marshals and officials can stand, but spectators will not be allowed. A media campaign is currently being planned to inform all spectators of these new areas.



4) To make up for the new restrictions that have had to be implemented, the organisers are looking at positioning grandstands, with toilet and food facilities, at several locations around the course. Negotiations are currently taking place with the land owners concerned.



5) During the 2007 MGP, large areas of farmland in particular became prohibited areas. These were due to the threat of Foot and Mouth disease, and were forced upon the organisers for the Department of Agriculture. These restrictions have since been lifted.



6) Mountain Road one way system – no decision has been made by the Council of Ministers on this yet, but a decision is expected soon.





IMC Training Courses


We are continuing to maintain the momentum with the IMC courses, and have already started making arrangements and booking venues for next winter!



The list of confirmed courses for the spring and summer is as follows:



February 2nd & 3rd St Johns HQ Douglas

February 16th & 17th St Johns HQ Bedford

March 8th & 9th St Johns HQ Birkenhead

April 5th & 6th St Johns HQ Douglas

April 12th & 13th St Johns HQ Gloucester

April 26th & 27th St Andrews HQ Edinburgh

May 3rd & 4th St Johns HQ Douglas

May 30th (TT Practice Week) Masonic Hall Douglas

August 22nd (MGP Practice Week) Masonic Hall Douglas



In addition, we are also have confirmed dates for next winter as follows:



October 5th St Johns HQ Douglas

November 9th St Johns HQ Douglas

November 22nd & 23rd Liverpool



The ambition of the Isle of Man TT Marshals Association Limited is to have all our members IMC Trained.



Whilst we are on the subject of feedback, if you have taken an IMC course and have any comments or suggestions we would like to hear them. We are justifiably proud of our IMC courses, but we are always pleased to hear any ideas, which could improve what we do.



To make a comment, or to book a course, please contact us on training@iomttma.com or phone the office on 01624 618191.



Best wishes,



Andy Dorman

Training Director





Committee News




So, what has happened in the last few weeks? The list below is pretty much as it was last month, but we hope to have some of these items completed before the end of February:

1) Terry, Cathy and Bill have been in discussion with the DoTL and other bodies in relation to possible benefits for marshals. The meeting was fruitful, and we hope to have more details in the next few months. There has been no movement on this since the original meeting. We hope to get some updates from the DoTL in the near future.

2) Work is continuing on an update for the instructional DVD, which was made a couple of years ago. We are continuing to work on the script, and are also on the lookout for a suitable Helicopter!!!! We hope to be in a position to film in the next few weeks.

3) The Power Point Presentations to be used at the Social nights have been completed. We were kindly helped by Greenlight Television to produce the sound track which for the presentation.

4) The review of the ‘Novice’ marshal scheme is continuing and will be discussed with the A-CU shortly.

5) A review of benefits for Life Members is currently being undertaken, and we hope to have more news on this in future newsletters.

6) The Marshalling Matters handbook is currently being reviewed by the A-CU and we are awaiting an update from them before we can go to print.

7) A meeting took place with the CSM’s and the Course Maintenance Officers to update them on the preparations for 2008.

8) A second meeting with A-CU Events, CSM’s and their deputies took place in early January. More are planned in the coming months.

Cathy Pullen’s Column

We are now into February and the work that Bill, Andy and I, in our capacity as the training sub committee, are concentrating on right now is updates. Having updated the social night PPP to bring in the few alterations to flags etc the next step is the DVD we show to all new marshals. This also needs to be brought into line with current regulations and so needs re filming, we have been promised help with this, more later on that one.

We are also running a fair few Incident Management Courses to get as many of you trained as possible. It has been really heartening to see so many new marshals on the courses we have run since the Manx Grand Prix, and long may this continue. Those prospective marshals find the course informative and useful, so hopefully when they go out onto the roadside, it will be with greater confidence than they would otherwise have had.

A good number of those who have updated their IMC have said the course is well run and better than the last time they did it. This is due to the hard work put in all round to prepare a good balance of practical training and Power Point Presentations. It is also good to know we have such a good selection of trainers for the first aid part of the course; they make learning easy and fun, whilst teaching everything that is needed. As always, at the end we do the TETRA part. It is a long time since the MGP and the last time many of you have taken the radios out of their boxes, so remember we are also taking some to the social nights for that ‘oh yes, I remember that bit now’ refresher training, and we are happy to spend some extra time with anyone who feels they need it, or indeed someone who has never used the TETRA but feels they may need to do so whilst marshalling. Just let us know.

Whilst on the subject of training, we are running an IMC in Bedford on February 16th and another on the 17th but we still need some more willing marshals or prospective marshals to attend. It is an expensive business conducting one of our courses over in the UK, and although we are willing to do this, we do need the support from those of you based across the water, so if you live within striking distance of Bedford and can attend one, please contact the office to book a place as soon as possible and make our training cost effective. I will look forward to seeing some of you there. If you have any friends who are coming to the TT with you who would like to marshal, you know what to do!

Cathy Pullen.
Director


A-CU Events Limited

Leading Manx officials will work alongside ACU Events Ltd personnel, the TT Co-ordinating Committee has confirmed.

The news was announced as the supplementary regulations and entry forms for TT 2008 were released.

Eddie Nelson, Assistant Clerk of the Course during the Centenary TT, takes the role of Clerk of the Course. Eddie brings 20 years experience of running motorcycle events to the role, including many spent officiating in senior positions at the TT.

The Deputy Clerks of the Course are two Manx officials with many years experience – Phil Taubman, who has been involved in successfully organising the racing on the Southern 100 course for many years, and Peter Cain, representing the Manx Motorcycle Club and Andreas Racing Association.

Plus, there are a number of local senior officials with many years experience appointed as Control Officers – including Les Doherty, Gavin Corkill, Phil Crimp, Andrew MacKay, Ian Morris MBE, Barry Skillicorn, John Simpson, Mike Stewart and Carole Sutherland.

Don Ryder will act as the ACU Ltd appointed Chief Steward, with Martin Moore and Geoff Karran, of the Manx Motor Cycle Club, in the other two Steward’s positions.

The Chief Technical Officers will be Dr Paul King and Trevor Shelton, both from ACU Events Ltd, while Colin Hurst has been appointed Technical Steward. Colin has previous experience from a similar role in British Superbike and MotoGP.

Kevin Brookes, who was the Chief Timekeeper at the TT in 2007, has been reappointed to the position, as has the MMCC and Southern 100 Chief Medical Officer Dr David Stevens MBE from Motorsport Medical Services.

Allan Killip MBE and Manx Motor Cycle Club member Ned Bowers will combine the role of Chief Incident Officer. Both have previous experience in the position.

The success of the Rider Liaison role has seen a second appointment from the ranks of former riders. Former TT winner and Manxman Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle is joined by John Barton, who performed notably at TT 2007.

Both are responsible for working with teams and riders, particularly newcomers, to ensure that they are able to focus solely on racing safely and successfully.

Tourism and Leisure Minister Adrian Earnshaw said:

‘I believe that these appointments will reassure people that we will be running a well-planned, well-organised TT races in 2008.’

‘We said when we brought ACU Events Ltd in to run the racing side of the TT that we would be looking to have a mixture of highly qualified Manx and ACU personnel running the races and that’s exactly what we’ve done.’

MGP Clerk of The Course

Following the resignation of Neil Hanson from the Manx Motorcycle Club, Phil Taubman is to be the Clerk of the Course for this year’s MGP Races. Phil has been Clerk of the Course at the Southern 100 for a number of years, and is also a Deputy for this years TT.

Andreas Racing Association

The start if the 2008 Andreas Racing Association season is just over 6 weeks away! Many of you will have helped us out at Jurby in the past and of course we're always keen to see new faces.

So if you want to polish up your marshalling skills and check out who's going to be the hottest up and coming newcomers this year, get yourself along to Jurby Airfield on the 16th March! You'll get the best seats in the house to watch all the action on the airfield and get even closer at the two Jurby South Road meetings!

Signing on for Marshals is in our Marshal's Lounge in the control tower.

For airfield meetings sign on from 09:45 onwards, ready to be in position a 10:30 start. For a road meeting signing on takes place from 11.00 onwards. So that we can be in position ready to start for a 12:45 roads close, we should leave the paddock by 12.30.

For those who intend to marshal and join as a social member before the first meeting they are eligible for a full refund on your annual subs, just bring your marshal's membership card together with your social membership card to the Race Secretary Sarah Blake in the race office or Phil Kneen.

If you have any questions, contact our Chief Marshal Roger Moore on 240888 or email him on roger@manx.net

Our race dates for 2008 are:

Sunday 16th March 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 6th April 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 27th April 2008 - Airfield Championship
Saturday 17th May 2008 - Jurby South Road
Sunday 15th June 2008 - Airfield Championship
Saturday 12th July 2008 - Jurby South Road - National
Sunday 27th July 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 14th September 2008 - Airfield Championship
Sunday 5th October 2008 - 4hr Endurance Race

Keith McKay
Chairman
Andreas Racing Association.

Winter Social Events

The first of the winter Social Nights was held in Ramsey this week, and once again there was a good turnout of marshals and officials. Both Jim Parker and Eddie Nelson of the A-CU were present, as was Tourism and Leisure Minister Adrian Earnshaw. They answered a range of questions from the marshals, and I am sure everyone who was there, was glad to have some clarification on some of the rumours doing the rounds, but more of that elsewhere in this newsletter.

We hope that both Eddie and Jim will be able to attend some of the other Social Evenings we have planned in the coming months.

The dates for the remaining evenings are as follows:

Douglas on Wednesday 20th February at the Hydro Hotel

Peel on Wednesday 19th March at Peel AFC Football Club

Sulby on Wednesday 16th April at the Sulby Glen Hotel


All evenings start at 7:30pm and all marshals and prospective marshals are welcome. A complimentary drink will be provided.

Contacts
You can contact our office by email at info@iomttma.com or at the following address:
PO Box 149

Isle of Man TT Marshals Association Limited
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM99 3JA

Tel: +44 (0) 1624 618191

Training enquiries should be emailed to: training@iomttma.com

Our website address is http://www.iomttma.com

Finally

It has been a strange old month, with plenty going on. Hopefully the contents of this newsletter will have put to bed some of the rumours that have been circulating. It has often been said ‘don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story!’, and that has certainly been the case recently.

It is sad to see that Neil Hanson has resigned as Clerk of the Course for the Manx Grand Prix. Neil has been involved in the TT and MGP races for as long as I can remember

Whilst you may not have always agreed with everything that Neil has done, especially with regards to postponements, Neil never made decisions lightly, and always stood by his decisions. He will be a hard act to follow, and we all wish him well in the future. It is going to feel a little strange not seeing him about at the MGP in August.

The Directors have a busy few weeks ahead, and lots of the ongoing projects need to be completed in the not too distant future, but we are getting there!

Till next time.

Regards

Dave Clarke
Treasurer


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