[Tejas@perioimpl]

Nice pics! Congrats to the O team and the participants. More pics please.

[dhanushs]

A special Thanks to Mr MP. Sreenivas sir, and his partner. Who contributed invaluably towards the marshaling part of the event.



Unmatched passion towards the sport!

[M P Sreenivasan]

It was a great pleasure being part of a wonderful team and accommodating members, once again I thank all of you for having given me an opportunity to be part of the great event.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Hi All,

My Special thanks to BODA team & others from Bangalore, Arka & Team from Chennai, Team-Bhp, Mysore Guys, KTM Jeepers, Tamil Nadu Offroaders, Thirunelveli Team, Coorg Guys, Cochin Team, Mangalapuram Jeepers, Hyderabad Offroaders, SUV guys, and all other participants for all the support you've given to make the Wayanad Annual Monsoon Offroading - 2014 a HUGE SUCCESS!!!...

Thank you for all the wishes that you've given us. I'm glad that you are all happy.

Will post more details soon.

Regards,

Dhanush

Yes, can vouch for the BODA team that we all were happy an enjoyed the 2 days of wonderful stay, hospitality at the wonderful resort. The boys who did the trail were happy as it rained when they attempted it.

You guys did a good job of taking care of ensuring clean & comfortable stay -- it was like 5* for offroaders.

Originally Posted by dieselbelly

Quodos to the JEEP CLUB WAYANAD for having sucessfully organised one more OTR at Wayanad.

The outstanding part of the event was the awesome accomodation and food / party at the Vyithri Village resort, a proper 3 or 4 star facility with beautiful rooms, lovely food and a great party at the resort on saturday night.
It felt we were in there for a proper holiday in pampered 5 star luxury and not for an OTR where normally drinking water and covered toilets were a luxury.

Couldn't agree more. Comfortable stay makes any event worthwhile -- irrespective of the trail. For many, it's the whole experience of trail + stay that matters in an event and that was great in this event.

That said, the 1st day trail was held at a cul-de-sac with one path of around 1.5 kms for both entry and exit. Further the trail cut out for us at the end of the path was in a loop fashion which means that it could not hold more 20-25 vehicles at a time. The next batch could go in only after full exit of the previous batch.

This made us wait from 10 am to 2.30 pm outside the trail till our batch was allowed in. The participants who completed before us said that it was a tame trail " one could do in 2wd". This was a disappointment, but to our luck, it rained heavy for just 30 mins, which converted the trail to a proper rainforest slush challenge where even easy small inclines were difficult hard ones by the end of the day.

Yeah, such things can happen and at times can be beyond the control of organizers. Just ensure that you have effective communication with participants while they are waiting. Letting the participants know of issues will help as they (participants) are your friends only and will help out/understand.

That said, whoever from BODA team went to the trail enjoyed to the hilt.

Look forward to next year event.

PS: For me, one more highlight was seeing some nicely prepped vehicles in the event. Almost every vehicle was well equipped with proper gear - including the SUVs. One special vehicle that caught my eye was a SPOA Jeep with twin shocks from Coorg. It was a delight to watch and very very nicely done up. The way it handled & performed on the competition day was nice.

[robinson.s]

Well done and kudos to the organizing team for giving us a great weekend. As everybody mentioned, the stay / food / party and every other basic facilities provided was classy.

Over all the entire organization part was handled very well, right from the registration to accommodation and adventure drive to the final day of skill drive.

The rain GOD wasn’t kind enough like last year, that’s something which most of us missed during the first day of adventure drive. However, some of the participants had the blessing towards the end with very heavy downpour, which made the track challenging and exciting.

Making two separate tracks for diesel and petrol class was a good strategy, which I guess made life easy for participates and even the organizers. Watching both the track with revving engines was real fun. Waiting to see the score sheet.

Good show guys, in-spite of all the local and unwanted challenges faced, you guys did a good job.

Looking forward for next year

[Jaggu]

I really enjoyed the event, the stay and food was just awesome. We had good fun catching up with friends and as spectators on the competition day. Had opportunity to co-drive in Lokesh's 540 and it was a very smooth consistent drive with a very admirable timing.

That reminds me, arent you guys posting the overall timings and standings?

If i have to really suggest an improvement area, then that would be coordination and communication while on trail. I did observe that marshals were short staffed this time around and did their best; still keeping informed of delay would have really helped. And do hire some walkies, they help tremendously for coordination.

[fazalaliadil]

Dhanush,

Congratulations to the O team on a successful event.

Looks as if the participants enjoyed the trail as much as the pampered stay.
Kerala has been on my wanted list since long, the lush green ghats and slush are too much to miss. Ill prepared this year, hopefully next year.

It is nice to know jeepers from Hyderabad were there. BODA in their full strength are a treat to watch, nice guys and great camaraderie, long live.

MP Sreenivas Sir, where does he get the energy? A few days back he was with us at the Winch Challenge at Goa, helping selflessly as always.

More pics please

Regards,

[M P Sreenivasan]

MP Sreenivas Sir, where does he get the energy? A few days back he was with us at the Winch Challenge at Goa, helping selflessly as always.

Hi, Fazal it is nice to hear from you, what to do to meet SHERS (off-roaders) I have to come to the Jungle (event).

[Endeavour333]

Representing the Terratigers from Chennai at the Wayanad Monsoon Offroad were two SUVs - one Pajero and one Endeavour.

We were most shocked by the class of accommodation provided for the price charged. We thought it was a phenomenal deal to be staying in 3 or 4 star resort for an offroad event. Not that it is required but like some others have said, it felt a lot like a holiday.

Since there was much less rain this time around compared to last year, we decided to go at the end of the pack so that we will have maximum chance of catching some rain later in the day. After a long wait for the first batch of vehicles to clear the trail, we finally entered. After 15 mins of trail driving we finally got to the first climb. Check out the video from my newly acquired GoPro: (Sorry for the creaking sounds - from a worn bush in front suspension)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRjW..._wtGNK5KU8qjFA

Had more traction on that climb than I thought I would have since it was still a bit dry, so turned out to be an easy climb. Wish I could have come back here after it rained though. It really would have been a challenge.

After some trail driving and small obstacles it finally started raining. Pouring in fact. As we waited for vehicles to get winched up at the next big climb, I could finally see the rivers of slush flowing down like I remember from last year. Video from GoPro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG3H..._wtGNK5KU8qjFA

Attempted twice with as much momentum as I could generate. The problem was that track was so bumpy and riveted that it was throwing the vehicle all over the place. Could not manage to get over that last hump. But even a Nissan Patrol with 35" SIMEX tyres didn't make it past that point so I guess that made me feel better :P Very few vehicles made it past that point in these conditions. Only 1 gypsy that I know of actually. I assume someone else must have made it up unassisted as well. But it was definitely the most enjoyable climb of the day.

Next was a really tight hairpin right followed by an extremely slippery steep downhill left. One Pajero with AT tyres was actually prevented from doing that obstacle because it was severely lacking traction. It could have just slid straight off the road into the ditch.

The next series of obstacles I could not cover with the GoPro but there were a few nice climbs and a deep slush pit. Great fun since it had rained.

Then finally the last competitive day. It was a really tight track that gave the SWB vehicles an advantage. I had to reverse a few times due to not being able to make the turn or not being able to turn the steering wheel fast enough. Fun track nonetheless because traction was really limited, forcing me to be EXTREMELY gentle on the throttle. Finished the track in a decent time and secured 2nd place in the SUV category. If you're wondering why I skipped the articulation pit it was because everyone else was skipping it so I didn't want to lose time compared to them especially when there are some nice prizes on the line (30" LED light bar from Ironman 4x4!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUJx..._wtGNK5KU8qjFA

Great even overall and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Will be back next year for sure. Here are some pictures I have collected from the event, some are my own, some are from my co-driver.