Northern F3F Winter League Round 5
8th March 2008Fastest time of the day 35.73 flown by Mark Redsell
Pictures, thanks to Ken Croft
Full Scores Breakdown Click here Save only!
Report by Jon Edison
What an absolutely cracking day! 15 sub40,s, 8 out of the 10 rounds won with one, several PB’s and winds to die for! Had the wind remained square on to the South Slope throughout the day, heaven knows what records could have been broken.
With only two rounds of the Winter League producing a score, this 5 th and final round was surely going to count , and the rule that the Winter League results would be based on three rounds was not going to be compromised. Forecast was for strong Southerly Wind veering Southwest before the afternoon rain arrived. In the event, the rain didn’t materialise, but the strong winds turned into near Hurricane force!! Wind speeds were measured during the day and ranged between 35 to 45 mph with gusts in excess of 60.
An early start had been advocated to miss the rain, and racing by the 12 competitors got under way at 9:45am .
Tony Fu was first man up, and appeared to enjoy the conditions. Subsequent rounds saw improvements in his score until disaster struck in R4. An over confident Tony catching a wingtip between bases, destroying his Skorpion in spectacular fashion.
Continuing with his Big Bird, he just missed out on a sub 40 in round 9 with a 40.67.
Mick Pattison was the new kid on the block, but don’t be fooled, this guy can fly! Using a second-hand Kobra bought from you know who(?), and having never flown an F3F comp before, Mick rattle in two sub 40’s to finish well up the points.
Paul Middleton, bitten by the F3F bug, continued in fine style with his Ocelot, having just taken delivery of a Big Bird. Conditions didn’t suit the small model, and Paul did well to finish the day without mishap. Next time with a more competitive model who knows.
Rocket Ronnie Lampe had another blistering day steering his Acacia to his first sub40 in R5 and a PB of 39.88. Subsequent rounds weren’t so productive, maybe a case of trying too hard eh Ron?
Paul Foster, another Acacia flyer, managed to fly very consistantly despite the blustery conditions. Ben Steele, like Paul, kept a very consistant time score with his Viking.
Keith Wood struggled for the first few rounds to master the conditions with his New Sting, but after R3, Keith’s times improved until in R6, struck lucky with a 38.50. Just to prove he was now on the pace, Keith finished the day with another sub 40.
Richard Bago kept pushing hard with his Big Bird, until in R5 cracked the 40second barrier with a 39.91. The following rounds weren’t as fast for Richard, but kept his times in the low 40’s all the same.
Dave Wright had a great day with his Skorpion, and after some variable scores early on, finished the day with two consecutive sub 40’s and a PB of 37.16 to place 3 rd on the day.
Fellow Skorpion flyer, Paul Garnett looked on the pace from R1, just missing the magic sub40 barrier, but was the first to get below in the very next round with 38.21. Subsequent rounds were a little slower, but still put Paul in 2 nd place at the end of the comp
Coming up the rear was Jon Edison, flying his Acacia. Jon never got on the pace, and always looked half a lap behind his model! Better luck next time Jon.
Congratulations to Mark for another fine win.
Thanks to everyone who supported the series, and look forward to seeing you all in the 2008 Summer events
Jon Edison
Positions in R5 after 2 discards were :-
1 Mark Redsell 7949.40
2 Paul Garnet 7311.78
3 Dave Wright 7229.39
4 Richard Bago 7044.75
5 Keith Wood 6983.21
6 Tony Fu 6955.72
7 Mick Pattison 6856.50
8 Ronnie Lampe 6581.85
9 Paul Foster 6550.98
10 Jon Edison 6494.10
11 Ben Steele 6402.92
12 Paul Middleton 5378.24
Fastest time of the day was by Mark with a 35.73
The Final placings for the 2007/2008 Winter League Series are:-
1 st Mark Redsell 3000.00
2 nd Paul Garnett 2786.12
3 rd Dave Wright 2738.57
