THE national championships should be the highlight of the year for Eventing Ireland members but this year’s renewal will not be considered such by many of those who were at Kilguilkey House last weekend.

Firstly, at the original closing date, there were only 120 entries. “It wasn’t financially viable to run with those numbers so we had to come up with a solution, otherwise we would have had to cancel,” said a rather despondent EI chairman, Niki Potterton.

Referencing scheduling clashes with other major events and the weather-affected season, the decision was made to open up the championships to all registered EI combinations, even though they might not have met the qualification criteria, which others had spent time and money doing, and accordingly, the entries increased enough for the go-ahead to be given.

At the weekend there were issues with some dressage running late and this fact could not be broadcast as there was no P.A. other than that for the cross-country action. While the WhatsApp group facility worked well in many instances, it didn’t in all and made little sense when riders aren’t supposed to use their phones when mounted.

Those in the higher Graded championships were very happy with how Sunday’s cross-country phase ran but problems arose during the EI100 level classes when it was discovered that there was an error in the measurement of the track and therefore the optimum time was inaccurate. Some riders high up the leaderboards were very surprised to learn that they had been given speeding time penalties for coming home over 30 seconds or more under the optimum time that the scorers used.

It was obvious during the late prize-giving ceremony that competitors in these classes weren’t at all happy with the situation and, on Monday, having thanked Danny and Michelle Dulohery for hosting the championships again, EI acknowledged that there had been a problem with the results. As complaints continued to be made, the Board realised that a solution had to be found that would keep everyone happy.

Yesterday (Friday), before noon, a note from the Board appeared on the EI website and was emailed to members, saying that all time penalties in the EI100 classes are to be removed and that the website will be updated accordingly. Furthermore, those who were listed as prize-winners on Sunday can hold on to their prizes while those who will be the prize-winners following the change will receive their own.

The reports in page 92 reflect the results published on Monday.