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- Proceeds benefit New England Lighthouse Foundation
The Lighthouse Depot Road Rally runs regardless of weather or road conditions.
Topping off with windshield washer fluid beforehand is often important. The
Lighthouse Depot Road Rally to be held this September 7th will benefit the New
England Lighthouse Foundation. Everyone is invited to participate.
So how did a road rally make it into a magazine about lighthouses anyway? Well, there is a tie-in, honest.
Lighthouse Depot of Wells, Maine is sponsoring such an event later this summer, and you're invited to enter. You don't need to own a sports car to compete. The rally vehicle can be almost any street legal vehicle, as long as it has a working odometer and speedometer. Most events have classes for vehicles with such things as variable odometers and computers designed specifically for rallying. As a beginner, you don't need to be as fancy. You should bring along a watch with a second hand or a digital readout, a basic pocket calculator, a clipboard, paper, a highlighter, and assorted pens and pencils.
So what is a road rally? Well, it's very different from the usual concept of motor sports. Teams (consisting of a driver and a navigator) running a time-speed-distance road rally drive a course on public roads at moderate and legal speeds. The course is described by a set of written instructions (such as Left on Main Street, Right at Stop) which also indicate the average speed at which you are to drive.
A road rally is not a race! Your arrival time at secret "checkpoints" along the course is noted and your score is calculated by comparing your arrival time with the theoretical correct time. The smaller the difference, the better the score. An early arrival time is penalized just as much as a late arrival: for example, one minute early at a checkpoint results with a score of 100, while one minute late at a checkpoint results with that same score of 100. The object is to shoot for a perfect score of zero.
A special "first -timers" class is offered in this rally, so your competition will have the same level of experience that you do; none. Quick . . . how would you interpret the following route instruction: SAP at SI. CA 35. Sound Greek to you? Not to worry. A rally school will be conducted on the evening before the event to brief you on all of the information that you need to know in order to stay on the rally course and to keep you from getting lost. Incidentally, that route instruction would be correctly interpreted as: proceed as Straight As Possible at a Signalized Intersection (traffic light). At that point you would Commence an Average Speed of 35 miles per hour.
Anyway, back to the "Lighthouse Depot" rally. This 160-mile event, which is hosted by the Cumberland Motor Club and is sanctioned by New England Region/Sports Car Club of America, starts at Lighthouse Depot on U.S. Route 1 in Wells, Maine on Saturday morning, September 7th. The course proceeds northerly to the lunch break at Two Lights State Park from where Cape Elizabeth Light can be admired. After lunch, a 10-mile tour of the South Portland/Cape Elizabeth area treats the rallyists to gorgeous views of Portland Breakwater Light and Spring Point Ledge Light. The tour ends at Portland Head Light, from which Ram Island Ledge Light and Halfway Rock Light (in good weather) can be seen. After a brief visit, the competitors will follow a southwesterly course back to the finish in Ogunquit. After a day of driving along scenic back roads, rally participants will have an ample opportunity to socialize and swap "war stories" at Splash a popular pub/grill located on one of Maine's premier beaches, before awards are presented to the top finishers in each class at 8:30 pm.
A portion of each entry fee will be donated to the New England Lighthouse Foundation and the awards and prizes will be donated by Lighthouse Depot. To register for the event or for any questions you can call rally organizers Mick & Patti Mikkelsen at 207-583-4148. If you are in the Wells, Maine area you can also stop by the Lighthouse Depot Gift Store for an event flyer and registration form. Pre-registration for the rally by August 24th is strongly recommended
This story appeared in the July 1996 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995 - 2003 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
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