It’s not going to be long before entries for the Manx Two Day are available, and indeed the entries for the Classic Manx Two Day are already out and about (and probably full by now I guess). And you may well have heard or have read that the reciprocal health agreement between the UK and the Isle of Man health service has been rescinded, which could have a significant affect on your finances should you be involved in an accident on the Island. So at the request of the island’s trials organisers, I have repeated in full their press release about the situation as it is now.
The Isle of Man Health Service is not part of the UK NHS and, except for immediately necessary and emergency treatment which does not require admission to hospital, visitors to the Isle of Man (including UK residents) who require treatment will be expected to pay for it.
ACU and SACU competitors are only covered by the ACU Insurance Policy for treatment required as the result of injuries sustained in an accident occurring during the event. It is therefore strongly recommended that all visitors to the Isle of Man ensure that they have appropriate insurance in place which will cover any treatment costs and repatriation to the UK by air ambulance if that should prove necessary.
This new situation applies to the competitor and every member of his team and family.
Note - At the time of writing these new insurance requirements are still liable to change and clarification and further details may be published by way of Bulletins and Final Instructions. Please refer to our website www.manx2day.com for further details.
I was fairly critical in a passing remark last week about the cost of visiting The Tough One, Wirral Off Road’s extreme enduro that has a well deserved place in the winter calendar.
I was critical because WOR founder Steve Ireland was planning to charge £125 per car for an afternoon visit to a muddy quarry in mid Wales for his event. The event went off pretty well as far as I can gather, and whilst I didn’t attend – primarily due to the cost – Steve has posted a long reply on his organisation’s website and I read it as an admission that he got it totally wrong, witness the fact that the attendance was pretty poor.
Now, having been critical, it’s only right and fair to recognise Steve’s reply as a sensible admission that he misjudged the costings, and to admire him for it. The result next year as I understand it will be a significant reduction in the costs to spectate and a plan to move the event to a more agreeable time of year.
I’ve been to the Tough One a couple of times and it is a good event to watch, but in these financially straightened times, folks have to think they are getting value for money. And I think finances could well affect much of what happens this coming year. My own club, Lancs County, has the third round of the ACU’s Traditional Trials Championship in a couple of weeks, and there’s no way we are going to match last year’s fantastic 153 strong entry – at least not unless there’s a last minute deluge of entries through my letter box.
I think we’ll finish up about 25 riders short of last year’s total, and I consider that’s pretty good. The cost of travelling to north Lancashire from say southern England is considerable, particularly if riders interested in the series have been down to Cornwall the previous week. As it is, we have 121 signed up and I guess another half dozen or so will filter through this week.
As a club, we have tried to reconfigure the costs of our sport, even though they are small in comparison to other forms of bike sport, by offering a small reduction in entry fees for riders who bring their sons (or daughters) to ride in our Wednesday evening trials, by offering a dads/lads combined entry fee of £20, a saving of £4 from last year. The only qualification is that the youth is of school age – not for dads with 25 year old wage-earning lads!