Forecast was very much on the iffy side and after some discussion on the club WhatsApp group on Sat night it was decided to go ahead, as the forecast said the weather should improve shortly after 10am. Winches and models were set up and then we had a short delay as a rain shower came through. CD set the comp as 5 rounds of 10 mins, (1 discard) with a short landing tape laid out with a 20 point bonus for nose within the circle. With it being Fathers Day and the start of holiday season we were a little down on numbers, but still had 6 ready to fly.
Models were: a PuRES, a fantic, a Cumic, an Aquila Grande, a Circle Dancer and a Tragi Cluster.
Rd 1 was ‘interesting’ for the 2 lighter built models, as the line had been put through the constant tension device incorrectly and they both had basically full power. The Fantic did a very good impression of a hummingbird, the wingtips were fluttering so fast and the PuRES had far more wing bend than I suspect it was designed for, but both survived. Rds 1 – 3 were competitive between Andrew & Paul, with the rest of us fighting for last place. Rd 4 saw Andrew find lift nobody else did and he simply decimated the field, the closest to him being 700 points behind! The spot was proving elusive for almost all, as there seemed to be a wind shear on the main approach and models seemed to suddenly drop, even keeping speed on did not guarantee the bonus. Rd5 and Bill lost the model in the sun on the winch line and when it reappeared, it was rolling on the line and heading rapidly for terra firma. Some frantic stick stirring got the model off the line and landed safely, but he decided not to take the offered reflight and call it a day!
Andrew again got away from everyone else, putting more pain on the rest of the field and with consistent flying deservedly took the event win.
