North of England Eurotour F3F

Many times with F3F even leaving the house in the first place can be a gamble.  Sleeping in my own bed has been an exception lately as work has been getting in the way of most things.  So did I really fancy two nights away watching rain after another hard week in work?  The other approach is to consider the good company, beer and curry; plus the fact that when the slopes at the Hole of Horcum aren't beset by rain they normally work pretty well. So off Andrzej and I trotted into the Friday night traffic and pouring rain, getting to Pickering with just enough time to cram in several beers and a chicken vindaloo before closing time.

Saturday dawned with bags of wind and no sign of rain, excellent stuff.  The direction put us on Levisham which, apart from the walk, is a slope I really enjoy.  The conditions would however prove a challenge as the strong wind and sunshine meant some pretty rough turbulence and a fair smattering of powerful thermals.  Thanks to a lot of hard work from the organisers we managers eight rounds of 43 competitors. 

Conditions certainly played a part in the final outcome, but there can be no doubt that Dieter Perlick made everything of the air that he had, made no mistakes, and for sure deserved to win.  Klaus Kowalski also shone and once again used the air he had with ruthless efficiency.  I managed third and whilst I didn't get the air to go sub forty, I didn't get any crap either, so I certainly can't grumble.

Each round was won with a sub 40, with Dieter's 33.27 being the pick of the bunch.  The Caldera was used by Dieter and Klaus.  It certainly looked very comfortable in the choppy conditions.  Skorpions again featured well and their natural pace really helped when the conditions were less than optimal.  The Freestyler 3 also looked more than capable but didn't really seem to have the edge over anything else, although the conditions were very changable so the jury should definitely not return a verdict on this evidence alone.

Visit F3X for the Caldera, Thuro to find your Skorpion dealer and Tud for the Freestyler.        

Full results below the photos.

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