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