Gymkhana events

[Geedublya]

This coming weekend myself and a few mates are having a 4WD weekend away on some private property.
I have proposed that we have a Gymkhana type event as part of the amusements. Having only attended one such event in the past I'm interested in suggestions as to what events we could run.

So far I have these in mind:

Drive in a circle blindfolded using a snatch strap and center pole. Navigator holds strap and gives direction while keeping strap off the ground. Points are given based on who is fastest without strap touching the ground.

4wd course with passenger holding a bowl of water, points are given based on who has the most water left in the bowl on completion.

Obstacle course with various garages, drivers have to position the vehicle as close as possible to different parts of the garage. points are given based on the accuracy of the driving.

Any further suggestions would be welcomed, I'm looking for events based on skill and luck rather than speed type events.

Thanks GW

[460cixy]

Sounds like fun if you had a few people involved

[isuzutoo-eh]

Blind folded driver with passenger directing through a course of gates involving tight turns, reverses and the odd technical bit (crossing fallen logs, creek gully etc) is lots of fun.

[DiscoMick]

If I were you I wouldn't use a garage or any other building as, sure enough, someone will run into it and then there'll be an argument about who pays for repairs.

Instead you could paint a circle on the ground in open space, blindfold the driver and have a passenger give directions to park the entire vehicle inside the circle within a time limit - say 90 seconds. Paint multiple circles and have multiple attempts at the same time.

Activities involving exploding or collecting balloons on sticks in the ground seem to be popular too.

How about a tyre-changing race, including jacking up the vehicle? Each entrant could start with 100 points. Points added for the time taken to complete the job. Penalties added for unsafe practices such as failing to put the spare under the vehicle while it is up on the jack. Winner does the job in the least time with least penalties, so has the lowest score.


I suppose you could have a car washing contest. Each vehicle has the same amount of mud smeared all over it. Each contestant only gets a single bucket of water and a sponge, cloth or (to make it harder) a single sheet of paper towel. Winner is the vehicle judged to have been made the cleanest with the bucket of water.


I suggest you need a judging panel for these activities. Choose five non-entrants. Have a score sheet for each activity, which records how each event was scored. Each judge ranks each entrant on a scoring scale. Winner is the entrant placed first by at least a majority of the judges.


Sounds like a fun day.

[Don 130]

#1. See if you can get a suitable 4 wheeled trailer. The sort with a turntable at the front. Get them to reverse it through a snaking course of star pickets or cones.
#2. Drive with the left wheels on a log

[vnx205]

Paper cups or something similar along a marked, snaking course. Scored according to the number of cups crushed by the rear passenger side wheel. Cups crushed by front wheel either don't count or incur a penalty.

[discovery39]

Spike a spud. Driver drives with bucket on head, passenger hangs out window with a long stake, while navigating for the driver. Have to get enough spuds to fill bucket by the end of the course.
Reversing comp along a predetermined course.
A GPS course, the driver has a sheet of paper with coordinates, when driver get to specific spots, has to collect a coloured golf ball (or whatever) and bring back to start finish line. Failure to do so means that they have either cook the barbie or wait on everybody.....

[davew]

Our club has run a few of these over the years.
Some of the more successful tasks we've used are:
Place a piece of rubber matting in the centre of the bonnet, place a lipped tray on the mat (a round tea tray is perfect) and put 3 tennis balls on it. They then have to drive around a trials course against the clock. Each lost tennis ball adds a minute to their time, losing all three balls is a DNF. The rubber mat should prevent the tray slipping off !
Similar to the above but with a small water container on the bonnet, they have to drive over a rough course between two points. At the starting point is a water source, at the other end is a marked container. They take as many runs as needed to fill the marked container to the mark. Scoring can be by the number of fills required and/or the time taken. The passenger fills the small container at the water source and empties it into the marked container. We normally use a marker a few feet from each end and anywhere past the marker the container must be on the bonnet of the vehicle.
Blindfolded driver events are always fun and surprisingly difficult ! One we've used is to have a series of staggered canes in two rows. The vehicle is reversed up to the first cane, driven forward to the next, reversed up to the next and so on. At each cane the team have to indicate that they are as close to the cane as they feel they can get. A measurement is then taken from the centre of the appropriate bumper to the cane. Touching the cane gives a 3 metre measurement. The team with the shortest cumulative distance for all the canes wins.

[SuperMono]

Park the cars in a circle.
Build a smallish campfire in the middle.
Arrange chairs around the fire.
Sit and chat.

This is the final event obviously.


More seriously, don't introduce anything that is based on speed, leads down the path of 'if it can go wrong'.

[Geedublya]

More seriously, don't introduce anything that is based on speed, leads down the path of 'if it can go wrong'.

Exactly, especially when some of the competitors will be driving my car.