Does anyone know if the DoTL intend to publish in advance of this year's TT, spectator viewing information? I understand that a number of popular vantage spots will be "Prohibited Areas" in 2008. I recall in 2006 a free booklet "The Guide" was produced for that year's races, is something similar to be made available this year? alf

Update: I am reliably informed that Paul Phillips has stated that documentation in relation to this matter is being prepared and will be published in due course. However it is unlikely this information will be available for at least a month. alf

Where will it be avalable from when it is please?

Last year they were handing them out, but I will ask Paul if it is possible to give us the info to post on the website.

It's not Paul's area of work, but he liaises with them and will point out the benfits of web publicity... keep watching this space.

Helen the guy PP should answer the replies after all he saved the TT.

Pykey, that joke is so old it has hair on it now.
The matter of spectator areas is nothing to do with the Department of Tourism, but Paul has suggested to the relevant people that they publicise the details on websites.

There will be some dissapointed spectators this year have heard on the grapevine of one or two places that i know will be restricted .

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/TT-viewin...3811871.jp

thewitch Wrote:http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/TT-viewin...3811871.jp

QB and Braddan Bridge maybe

thewitch Wrote:http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/TT-viewin...3811871.jp

Timing, impeccable as usual .

alf

It's amazing the effect a spell can have.............

YES WELL IF YOU WANT MY TUPPENCEWORTH, THIS INFORMATION SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WHY DO I GET THE IMPRESSION THAT IT WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOO LATE FOR MANY PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR PLANS IF THEY DON'T WANT TO BOTHER AS A RESULT OF IT? MANY, MANY MILES OF SPECTATOR VIEWING HAS BEEN LOST OVER THE YEARS AND THERE IS VERY LITTLE LEFT. AND I RECALL A SMUG RESPONSE FROM A CERTAIN PERSON THAT "THE CIRCUIT IS 37 3/4 MILES LONG AND THERE ARE TWO SIDES OF THE ROAD, THERE ARE LOADS OF PLACES TO WATCH FROM". THIS IS NOT TRUE. VAST SECTIONS OF THE TT COURSE ARE NOW OUT OF BOUNDS. YOU CAN HAVE THE MOST WONDERFUL ENTRY LIST IMAGINABLE, BUT ONCE TT FANS REALISE THEY CAN NO LONGER WATCH THE RACES LIKE THEY ALWAYS HAVE DONE, THE SHOW'S OVER FOLKS. FACT. AND THE SUBJECT WANTS DRAGGING OUT INTO THE PUBLIC ARENA ASAP. I'M NOT GOING TO SPREAD THE RUMOURS I'VE HEARD, BUT THERE'S NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE.

Barry tell us more pz?

I think that whatever is announced we are going to have to live with it as it is the insurers who will be dictating where the no go areas are. Without insurance there will be no event at all, and to disregard what they say will just hasten the end of racing on the Mountain Circuit.

I'm sure that the ACU and DTL will be trying to keep as much of the course available as possible but they can't play King Canute and hold back the inevitable tide of 'common sense'.

It's unfortunate that the choice in this is being taken from the individual and placed in the hands of a third party but that's the kind of world we live in these days!

People laughed when I said you will have to pay to watch the TT oneday.

Thank God some people look at this in a sensible way.

T-M is exactly correct.

There are several places around the course where, as I'm riding around, I think to myself, if I fall off here I will end up hitting someone. No one should be allowed to spectate in such areas.

Some people need saving from themselves.

You are so right. As a marshal, I get some total idiots who argue that:
No-one will hit me here (that was on the wall where a rider crashed and was killed some years ago)
It's my human right to sit here!
I'll move if there's a crash... (I wish I had a pound for every time I've heard that... so you move at 200 mph, then?)
I paid £xxx to get here and I'm watching right here.
and
I marshal in England so I know what I'm talking about.......... yeah, right!
Last year showed us that things can happen we didn't even imagine in our worst nightmares, so where we see any chance that a 200mph missile full of fuel is going to land, lets make sensible arrangements. Nobles is busy enough without unnecessary casualties, so, if you see a Prohibited Area sign, or a marshal asks you to move, behave yourself. That way you can go on enjoying the TT and life, for a bit longer.
I know it's disappointing to have to move from that spot you spectated from for the last 10 years, without incident, but:
bikes are much faster,
you may have just been lucky and...
as Steve Hislop said when he retired from the TT... "I've had all my lucky breaks"... maybe you have too.
Here's to a safe, fast TT with no avoidable incidents.

I have to agree with The Witch

Take it from me I KNOW what an out of control bike with no one on it can do at 150+mph
And there aint anyone quick enough to "move out of the way"

I think I can also claim some knowledge of the chaos a crashing bike and debris can cause.
I feel that your responses have gone slightly off what I was trying to highlight. I'm saying that the TT fans need to be made aware of spectator limitations sooner rather than later. Because like it or not, people may well decide not to bother if they can't see anything. It smatters to me of a "Let's break it to them gently but when we're ready" attitude. There are too many secrets behind the scenes these days, and that's the way it's going to continue to be.
There are many places you wouldn't want to watch at for obvious reasons. I watched almost every practice and race from Signpost and Bedstead since 1969, until I got involved myself, and saw most of the incidents on that part of the course. Almost all the crashes at Bedstead were caused by going in too hot, running out of road and colliding with the bank on the exit. For that reason spectators very rarely attempted to watch there, and the few that did were advised by the marshals to move down the road towards The Nook. No problem.
But I also saw the likes of Alex George, Tom Herron, Mick Grant, George Fogarty, Cap Davies and many others lose it at Signpost, and I agree that sitting on the bank on the immediate exit of the corner was unwise. But to make the whole length of the road down towards Bedstead out of bounds to fans to watch is totally over the top. There was NEVER any incident that would have endangered spectators sitting in that area during my lifetime, or having spoken to people a lot older than me, ever before that either, which would have been deemed to be high risk to spectators. Totally over-the-top reaction by those in authority.
So there is really nowhere safe to watch from these days? Better to ban all spectators from anywhere around the circuit, and all other road races too surely?