Friday 28 December 2012

It's looking a little wind and wet for the Woollybacks

Hi All
 
And I hoped you all had a Very Merry Christmas. As you all know this coming Sunday is scheduled for our traditional end of year Woollyback event.   

I have to brutally honest and say it doesn't look good, but seeing as it isn't a league event I will leave it to you all to make your minds up! it will be my intention to head up to the Bwlch with the timing gear Sunday morning for 9:30 ish and if there is enough of us there and the conditions allow we will run the event.

Why the little pessimism? Well if you trawl around you can find a few weather forecasts that suggest clear spells between the showers the more worrying fact is forecast wind speeds.  The Met Office  are suggesting 55 mph at 400 metres  and Metcheck is suggesting 22 - 45 mph and this is usually at valley floor level, so you can easily put 10 mph on top of this once on Mickey's. This is putting us right on the maximum for an F3F event with it building in the afternoon.  Not to mention warm moist air hitting a cold Welsh slope in the winter usually means rain and clag!

So if you feel mad enough to join me then you will be more than welcome. But if you decide to have the common sense to stay in bed, I can't blame you!

So just in case I don't see you Sunday, may I take this  opportunity to thank you for supporting the SWSA events throughout the year and wish you all Happy New Year.

Andrzej

Wednesday 19 December 2012

2012 SWSA Woolyback F3F Open - Sunday 30 December

Hi All

Those of you who weren't there last Sunday we didn't get to fly because  the clagg that stubbornly refused to leave the hill side.  

However, I took the opportunity to canvas opinions on the most suitable date for SWSA, "Oh no  I can't face another Turkey Sandwich F3F Open" or more commonly known as the "Woollyback Open". Why "Woollyback" well it in Wales and there are sheep, what more can I say! The consensus was Sunday 30th December for the event.
 

So that I am not wasting time arranging flying order on the hill if you can let me have your names and frequencies beforehand  I would be grateful. Let's face if we do this it will give all more flying time which what we all want after so much Christmas Cheer!   

I will post on the Friday night if the weather looks good and we are going ahead with the competition, just so that we can all mange the disappointment of not being able to enjoy the pleasures  of Christmas Sales Shopping, with one loved ones on this special day!

So until then may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas!
Andrzej


Sunday 18 November 2012

Round One SWSA 2012-13 F3F Winter League

The forecast suggested that we would be welcomed by 25 mph wind on Mickey’s, someone didn’t tell the wind! By half past the there was a little air starting to move but it was way off to the south, which it wasn’t forecast to move to until the afternoon.  

A quick trip over to the Back of the Wrecker confirmed that it was square on this slope, so we got everyone over there. Martin Newnham and Joel West were quick into action setting the course up. This was a first for me as I have never flown a Winter League on the Back of the Wrecker before.

Joel has developed quite a liking for the Back of the Wrecker after Slope Glide this year and the first round saw his good from continue by taking it with a 45:99. Mike Evens was second with a 48:22. Gary Harrison made a long journey to maiden his new Rotmilan and took third in the round with a 51:83.
Round two was taken by a newcomer to the Welsh Winter league with Les Wood with a 48:55. Joel was in the mix again with a 48:75 and Gary was in third spot again with a 48:91.

Round three was taken by Martin on his first visit to Wales following representing Great Britain at Rugen at the World Championships with a 44:79. This time Gary moved into the second spot with 45:61 and Joel was third with a 47:00.

Martin followed up by taken the next round with the F.T.D with a 44:37. Mike was second with a 47:79 and another newcomer to the Welsh Winter league Stuart Wallace was third 47:92.

Mike Evans took round five with a 46:64 quickly followed by another of the Mynd marauders Andy Burgoyne 48:26 fly his Radical. I was lucky enough to catch a bit of good air and took third spot with a 48:59.

The final round went Gary who had been knocking on the door all day for a round win with a 46:65. Joel was back in the mix with a 48:08 just pipping Martin who had a 48:68.

So for the first Winter League on the Back of the Wrecker it was very enjoyable. This slope is usually susceptible to a lot of thermal activity which can make it very erratic. However, this proved to be the contrary and a pleasant surprise in that we enjoyed very stable conditions throughout the day.   

So before the final results a big thanks to Martin, Joel and Andy West. They worked tireless all day to keep the competition running smoothly.

With the conditions so stable it was to close to call who had won the day, and once all the scores have been loaded into the spreadsheet it proved that there was hand full points between the top three.   

Joel won the day with Martin just behind him and Mike in third.    

I was great to see so many new faces at the Winter League and thank you for all supporting the event.

All the best

Andrzej

1
Joel West
4865.95
2
Martin Newnham
4863.26
3
Mike Evans
4829.09
4
Gary Harrison
4759.25
5
Andy Burgoyone
4643.00
6
Andrzej Tabero
4561.82
7
Paul Stubley
4555.33
8
Mick Walsh
4463.88
9
Stuar Wallace
4315.26
10
Andy West
4308.39
11
Les Wood
4225.03
12
Peter Burgess
4190.93
13
Martin Drewett
4140.42
14
Tony Robertson
4133.74
15
Mark Williams
4103.16
16
Steve Sreetly
4047.24
17
Chris Studley
3928.16
18
Alex Hamilton
3753.26
19
Chris Perlins
2613.96

Sunday 7 October 2012

Welsh F3F Winter League Dates

Hi All

Just to confirm what has been common knowledge of late I will be running the Welsh Winter Leagues on the third Sunday of the month starting in November. The dates are as follows:

18th November 2012

16th December 2012

20th January 2013

17th February 2013

17th March 2013

I will look at dates for the Woollyback Christmas competition closer to the time but the weekend prior to New Year looks a good bet.

All the best

Andrzej

Sunday 16 September 2012

Welsh Open 2012 Results

Well you just can’t have a Welsh Open and not expect a few drops of rain. After two days with only one refight for rain the weather was going to play its part.

The hope was for us to get a few more rounds in to get a second discard, but the weather just wasn‘t playing ball. Low cloud was giving real concerns for landings and this soon turned to rain. So halfway through the second round of the day we had to call it day.

Not quite the finish that we would have liked for one of the best Welsh Opens in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy any of the blistering air that we can get on the south west facing slopes but what it did give us a very close and very intense competition.  The fastest time for this year’s competition went to the Swiss F3F Champion Stefan Bertschi with a 36.07.

So close was the competition a only a couple of seconds in one round made all the difference between getting into the top three places and defending Champion Joel West didn’t give his title up without a determined fight and it was only bad luck with poor air in the last two rounds of day two that stopped him getting a top three finish.

In contrast Mike Evans few a fantastic second day which cemented a base for him get third place this year.

The Welsh Open has always been kind the Spanish Pilots and the slope record holder Inaki Elizonda just edged in front of Mike Evans by six and half points to take second place.

Before announcing the Welsh Open Champion for 2012 there is the small issue of the team prise and this was taken by Team GBU who packed all three pilots, Kevin Newton, Simon Thornton and Martin Newnham into the first six to take a deserved team title.

Thanks to every one who helped out that kept the competition going. Ian Mason for helping with the registration and Mark Abbotts and Frank Hulton for collecting the money. Simon, Joel and Martin who got the course up in double quick time each day and not to mention Mick Walsh, Mark Treble and Paul Garnett who shared the Buzzer Supremeo over the three days.  

If I have missed anyone else please accept my apologies and thank you for your help.

So the reason for the three days of competition was to find a new Welsh Open Champion for 2012. That pilot was someone who has been knocking on the door for a major win. Not only that he has been tireless in promoting F3F over the last 18 months which made him a very popular winner. So the new Welsh Open Champion for 2012 is Martin Newnham, well done for a much deserve win.

I am sure Kev will do a more in depth write up with some stunning photographs so keep an eye on is Blog site.

Thanks to all of your for your continued support the full results are below. I look forward to seeing you all soon and all the best

Andrzej

     Individual Results
1
Martin Newnham
10271.60

2
Inaki Elizondo
10164.07

3
Mike Evans
10157.53

4
Joel West
10072.60

5
Simon Thornton
9972.50

6
Kevin Newton
9886.64

7
Greg Dakin
9706.08

8
Jose Luis Alvares
9692.70

9
Adam Richardson
9631.18

10
Stefan Bertschi
9523.42

11
Fernando Moro
9480.98

12
Mike Shellim
9460.83

13
Lazaro Martinez
9446.78

14
Richarg Bago
9425.87

15
Tom Foreman
9359.28

16
John Phillips
9322.51

17
Jack Cubitt
9291.76

18
Paul Garnett
9242.72

19
Keith Wood
9196.01

20
Mick Walsh
9190.40

21
Scott Ravenscroft
9150.05

22
Dave Rumble
9091.48

23
Peter Gunning
9089.46

24
Mark Abbotts
9068.16

25
Ronnie Lampe
9035.75

26
Andy Burgoyne
9026.61

27
Mark Treble
9025.03

28
Frank Hulton
8924.61

29
Dave Wright
8891.87

30
Andrzej Tabero
8861.93

31
Mike McCracken
8818.37

32
Inigo Herrera
8676.76

33
Jon Edison
8667.66

34
Ian Mason
8658.59

35
Ian Webb
8562.73

36
Tom  McPherson
8457.95

37
Rob Coles
8449.13

38
Paul Stubley
8344.27

39
Tony Robertson
8091.89

40
Vic Eldridge
7898.49

41
Bob Runyard
7764.50

42
Martin Drewit
7763.12






Teams


47
Team GBU
30130.73

48
Mickey's Massive
28685.48

49
Team T9
27560.46

50
Tea Swillers
27486.54

51
Team Willow
27316.38

52
Slope Junkies
25303.74