Not at all, later this year, there are three down south, Worthing, Maidstone and Portsmouth, and I'm travelling six hours to all of them
Starting in antweights is fine, and can be a good idea, but there are also benefits of starting with a feather
£600 is a large budget for even a feather, Explosion was only £500, but as I said before in another thread, you have to build it well before budget begins to really affect the robot's performance.
For a featherweight, within your budget, I would suggest the following:
RoboChallenge blue wheels with nut insert, probably 100mm, or 75mm if your design turns out to be especially low, set of two, £29.00
http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html (http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html)
RoboChallenge horizontal motor mount, two sets of two, £38.80
http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html (http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html)
RoboChallenge 12v motor and gearbox combo, 4 motors, £61.32
http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html (http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Mechanical.html)
Scorpion XL speed controller, £64.28
http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0-SCORP-XL.html (http://www.robotmarketplace.com/products/0-SCORP-XL.html)
Vapextech 12v 3300mah Ni-HM, two batteries, £48.00
http://www.vapextech.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2evapextech%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=12v%203300mah&PN=High_Power_Model_Control_Batteries%2ehtml%23a26#a26 (http://www.vapextech.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2evapextech%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=12v%203300mah&PN=High_Power_Model_Control_Batteries%2ehtml%23a26#a26)
ETRONIX EX4G Transmitter & Receiver set, one set, £42
http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Radio_Gear.html (http://www.robochallenge.co.uk/Events_and_Engineering/Radio_Gear.html)
HDPE, amount depends on your design, atleast 10mm in all areas, 20mm where possible, around £30 (probably)
http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/HDPESheet/Black/ (http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/HDPESheet/Black/)
Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer and Charger with accessories, £14.08
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_accessories.html (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_accessories.html)
12V 5A 110/240V 50/60Hz Power Supply, £6.12
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6256__12V_5A_110_240V_50_60Hz_Power_Supply.html (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6256__12V_5A_110_240V_50_60Hz_Power_Supply.html)
Total cost: £397.88
That will get you a basic featherweight 4WD pusher, which should turn out fairly competitive if built well
Sorta like this: http://www.teamshock.kk5.org/#/featherweights-2/4540056154 (http://www.teamshock.kk5.org/#/featherweights-2/4540056154)
EDIT: Oh, and watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ibaEOpYPAg&feature=channel_video_title# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ibaEOpYPAg&feature=channel_video_title#)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVWZdTVhh2I&feature=relmfu# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVWZdTVhh2I&feature=relmfu#)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9EaenXANGQ&feature=relmfu# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9EaenXANGQ&feature=relmfu#)