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Open Finale 2009
 Picture by Frank Bayes
The last round of this year's Open Class Thermal soaring Event was held on Saturday 17th October on yet another nice day ! We have been very lucky with the weather this year, apart from being a bit breezy sometimes, it has been good enough for us to have fun trying to find those elusive bits of lift in a sky of sink.
The format has remained the same for this event through the year flying in pairs off a winch launch with a spot landing bonus added. This simple format provides a reasonably fair chance for both pilots and is easy to score and time, only needing a person to say 3,2,1, GO ! and a slot timer for the 10 mins max.
The series so far left Ian Duff and Nigel Bennett tied on 13pts with Martin Burr on 10 and Gordon Moore on 2 . Gordon made a late start missing some of the early rounds, but has been putting in some good scores, and will be a major contender next year.
The conditions were good, and lift was not always easy to find. On the day, Ian Duff narrowly beat Nigel Bennett by ONE point. Gordon was third and Martin Burr was last.
This meant that overall for this year's series;
1) Ian Duff 18pts
2) Nigel Bennett 17pts
3) Martin Burr 12pts
4) Gordon Moore 5pts
I would like to thank Frank Bayes for his help with timing and saying GO! and for taking the picture, he also took some video, and attatched his camera to Gordon's lil' Bird (2m Bird Of Time) for some footage of Chalbury. Nice catch Gordon !
If you click on this link, it should take you there;
5 pts win, 4 pts second, 3pts third, 2pts fourth,1pt fifth.
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2m Competition Finale
As usual, the weather dominates our sport, and the last round of our club’s 2m event for this year did not go without its fair share…. It was probably one of the nicest soaring days I have ever had, regardless of the Competition itself, it was lovely and warm with light winds, just the sort of conditions we dream of during the long Winter months.
I got to Chalbury bright and early ready for the days fun, the usual format had to be altered slightly due to absentees but after a bit of discussion we had a plan. Then we set about the onerous task of enjoying ourselves in the sunshine. Roger Crickmore caught the best Thermal of the day and milked it convincingly to fly out his 10 mins, he was the only one to do it, and that put him untouchable on the day, with a well deserved win. John Kerley had a really good day, and was just beaten to second place by Martin Burr. Ron Teasel was very chuffed to be in the points along with Mike Seale. Brian Adkins and Frank Bayes had a go at our Competition, and had a good time, they will be back for more next year !
So the overall positions for the year, discarding the worst score, are;
The simple "Round Robin " format has proven popular and easy to run, so if anyone fancies joining in next year please let me know. What better way to spend a Sunday morning, the grass will still be there when you get back !
5 points win, 4 points 2nd, 3 points 3rd etc
Pictures by Mike Seale
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