Hi there, seen your Username elsewhere amongst the forums, obviously well into the Land Rover/off-road scene!
So, where do I start? Quick questions they may be but no quick answer I’m afraid. Perhaps I ought to repeat in here exactly the same information that I emailed to a potential entrant yesterday for it covers your queries. I have to say it goes on for a bit (I’m renowned for waffling) and some of it is not altogether relevant to your own questions, but as I always say “better too much information than not enough”. Here goes:-
Good to hear from you. First and foremost, the whole event is all about fun – an entire week of socialising with other like-minded enthusiasts. The competition side of things is merely an excuse to get together around the barbeque … that for me is what’s it’s all about!
Regarding costs, this obviously depends on what vehicle you’re thinking of and how many crew on board. As you will have already gathered from the event website, entrant’s mechanical/personal/medical well-being is down to them (standard AA/RAC Continental touring insurance is quite adequate as it’s important to realise that Landy Rally is a non-speed event) as is accommodation. Choice is camping (Sept. temperatures are very good in France and beyond) or hotels of varying price. Depends on the exchange rate, but budget hotels cost roughly £33 per night – that’s for 2 persons (bunk beds), sometimes 3 if they have an ‘open-up’ bed in the room normally meant for a child but large enough for an adult. On that ‘banger’ rally I went on last year, twice I sneaked in with my mates and out early in the morning, kipping in my sleeping-bag quite literally on the floor between their single beds. Didn’t cost me a penny, plus I joined them when they had breakfast and pilfered some buttered bread rolls, ham and jam from the self service display. That was cheap too!!! Okay, you may be able to afford hotels but not everyone can, or may want to, hence this story.
Ferries are another expense of course, but in September they are a lot cheaper as traditionally the French go on holiday in August so ferries are not only fully booked, but bloody expensive. Prices drop dramatically in September. I think return is about £60 for the vehicle and up to 4 persons. Again it depends on vehicle size.
As for fuel, depends on what you or your club colleagues can afford – and even if you are minted none of us want to pay over the top for fuel if we don’t have to. I would say to take as many jerricans as possible (that’s what roof-racks are for) that way when we go into countries that have cheap fuel, Andorra and Spain spring to mind, you can fill up for the journey ahead. So, whether it’s a V8 RR Classic or a Disco Tdi, there is money to be saved along the way.
The bottom line is, for a vehicle entry with a driver & co-driver it’s £450 (£225 per person) which includes all the rally paraphernalia such as road book/rally plaque/T-shirts/competition numbers/etc. + the prize-giving dinner at close of play. For each additional crew member it’s an extra £150 each, but for this they receive all the same privileges afforded to the driver & co-driver, plus they can join in the competitive daily tasks en route. The biggest advantage of course of having 3 or 4 crew, running costs can be halved at a stroke.
As for the charity side of the event, I must stress that although Landy Rally may be called a ‘Charity Drive’, charity fund-raising is not compulsory. Let me explain. IF and only if you can afford to spare the time and cash to go raising funds for charitable causes, then all well and good, for very often it will cost you fuel, etc. to raise those funds. Great if you can afford it, daft if you can’t.
Also, in all the Land Rover and car rallies/road runs/etc. I’ve ever taken part in, companies (in return for advertising on the vehicle) have assisted with the actual vehicles costs – fuel/ferries/campsite or hotel fees – while the actual charity fund-raising have all been by private individuals. Depends again on your situation. A young lady I know joined 799 other maniacs on a 3-mile Santa Run over Christmas, and via her friends, family and work colleagues she raised £150 in £1 and £2 donations. No need to talk of thousands of pounds, the charity in question was more than happy to be £150 better off … £150 more than they had the previous day!!! Granted, as in any event some will raise quite literally thousands of pounds whilst for others it will be a lot lower, but the simple fact is … whatever you raise is a bonus.
A few ideas for you to chew over, hope it helps.
Over and above all that, with a fair few booked in already via the net/word of mouth and the fact that to date I have not attended a single show or handed out a solitary flyer (something else I seem to be infamous for), my feeling is Landy Rally will be fully subscribed with 100 teams as we head towards the summer.
Does this answer your “quick questions” Phil? See, told you I could waffle!!!
Subject: Landy Rally 
Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:57 am
