Welsh Open 2005

What an interesting three days. Fifty six pilots, six rounds and over 10 countries.

Friday started wet but with a reasonable westerly. By the time the rain cleared we set up a course on the SW side of Mickey's Slope as we didn't really have time to walk across to the westerly part. With the wind constantly 10 or so degrees off we flew the first round. Peter was first with a 39, Klaus was second, Greg third, then Dieter and then me.

We started round two and Klaus threw in a 36 but as the round progressed the wind swung off more and more and times dropped into the late fifties / low sixties. As the wind swung totally off the round was stopped and the decision made to group score. Personally I was thrilled to be in the first group and get the chance to use my discard nice and early with my 64.54 against Klaus' 36!

Next day the wind was due to swing southerly but it started easterly so we had no choice but to yomp across to the Crest. Conditions were pleasant and Mike Evans won the second group of round 2 with a 45. Klaus won round 3 with a 41, Peter was second, I was third, Roman fourth and Vaclav was fifth. We made a start on round 4 but the wind swung southerly as predicted and we got to enjoy the nice walk back.

Next was the back of the Wrecker for round 4. Klaus took this one as well with a 42, Dave Woods was second, K Y Mak was third, Dieter fourth and Ron Russell in fifth. Straight into round 5 and Klaus again clinched it with a 45. Ken Woodhouse was second, Mike Shellim third, Carlos Cantero was fourth and I was fifth.

Next day we again waited for the rain and low cloud to clear. When it did we were ready to start on the westerly part of Mickey's slope. This is probably my favourite slope - it's easy to use, smooth and capable of really big lift. It didn't disappoint and two thirds into the round Carlos Cantero flew a flawless course to net himself a 29.45 - the fastest time ever done without diving. Awesome achievement by one of the nicest guys on the circuit. Needless to say he won the round, Klaus was second with a 35, K Y Mak was third with a 36, next was Vaclav and fifth was local lad Shane Biddlecome.

We struggled to get another round in but the weather clamped down and pulled the wind off the hill as well.

Final results are below. Well done to everyone!!

Some fine sponsorship made the raffle winners forget the weather. Thanks to VV Model for an excellent Mini Corrado, Cubitts Models for an excellent goody bag and Microjet and also to Paul Fram for two FramBags that went down very well given the somewhat moist conditions.

Thanks also to all the SWSA helpers and John Phillips who all did incredible jobs in very difficult conditions.

A couple of observations. The idea of indicating buzzing errors worked very well and is definitely worth sticking with, as is the Norwegian idea of setting the bases right back for safety reasons. In my opinion group scoring was less of a success. In the circumstances it had to be used as they were rules set out at the start, but steadily worsening conditions weren't what was intended when the concept was introduced. As a result no one - including Klaus to his credit - wanted to keep the round, but there was no choice. You could say I was bitter because if we hadn't group scored I'd have finished third instead of thirteenth, and of course you'd be right!!

Anyhoo, 6 rounds with 56 of the best competitors in the world, a new world record, awesome trophies, great sponsorship and lots of laughs - guess we can settle for that!

Thanks again to everyone who helped make the experience a good one. Results below or download the full spreadsheet here.     

Thanks to BarkWeb for the webspace.

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