A day out with the Co-pilot

After a weekend away Co-pilot Ben wasn't going to be left behind this weekend and with a Fox to Maiden we headed off to Whitesheet hill.

The Fox went great for him but I'm not sure that he's quite got the hang of the camera yet:-)

I flew a combination of thWillow and Compact Wizard- having a ball playing with Whitesheet's famous thermals.

Willow Practicing for the Worlds

The Willow is continuing to go from Strength to Strength.  Looking at this video on the French team practising for Rugen.  Which model pops up from 2.45mins onwards?  I did much of the Willow testing on the cliffs on devon and she's looking very much at home on the cliffs of France too!

What a Weekend

  First of all- congratulations to Simon Thornton- who proved his golden balls are equally adept in thermic summer breezes as bitingly cold northerlies, as he held off the late surge from behind of big martin.  Allso AJ for being the lucky owner of a new Willow.

  The second day of the Champion of champions race started in perfect blue skys and sunshine- a good long walk up and then along the Levisham slopes, until we found an edge that was square to the building breeze. A CD’s night mare handled with the calming style that Jon is renowned for.

  The variations in round times – of sub 40s and over 80’s really kept everyone on their toes and I saw the over-night scores being looking at a few times.  Richard Bago, Paul Garnett and Mark treble benefitted the most from big air and fair to say they made the most of it.

  It was the first time that I’d raced the Willow in such light conditions and a big learning was that she benefits form a few slugs of lead, even in these conditions.  In that was she really reminded me of my old Sting.  John Philips but especially Adam really showed how to get the best out of the light air with a Willow and finished in 8^th and 6^th respectively- Beating a lot of more expensive models along the way- competetive in all conditions the Willow felt as if it came of age this weekend.. 

  14^th is my best finish in the Champion of Champions race in a Weekend I really enjoyed.  I can’t think of another model that would have survived the round 8 turbulence I launched into.

  Thanks have to go to Jon Edision for CDing the race along with AJ and Richard Bago, Big Martin for supplying the Bibbs and Tony Fu of SlopeRacer for helping to sponsor the event.  After 4 years I think that the race is solidly established in the F3F calendar.

champion of champions day 1

A very quick note on day 1 of the race.  Some challennging conditions in a cold northerly wind that never really came on the slope.

FTD with paul Garnett 34.XX as he made the most of the best lift off the day.  Even this couldn't get Paul ahead of Simon Thornton- Who leads the race.

most other pilots had a mixed bag of times from the low 40's to mid 50's. 

It was good to see 4 willows racing and in the hands of Adam and John Philips they delivered some excellent times and dealt with the conditions really well- resulting in a number of 40's- I'll tell you about my horror run in round 8 later:-)

  2 willows in the top 7- a great day for team willow and the battle between Adam and John tomorrow on Levisham should be a cracking one!

Finding the Champion of Champions Race

  For those of you who have not been to the Hole of Horcum before (where have you been?) here’s is a link to directions and a site map

http://www.nymrsc.org.uk/how%20to.htm

Meeting for the race will be at 8:30- for a 9:00 start (locals permitting) at the main car park. If you can’t see the car park when you are at the HoH, please re-consider flying fast glidersJ

The time for the ‘last round in progress’  will be announced at the start of the day (expect around 5pm).  There is a great deal of accommodation available near-by in Pickering and the surrounding area, including a camp site.

  For those coming from the south, the BP garage in Pickering is probably your last and best bet for slope-side snacks.

Getting ready for the champion of champions

  I though I'd best get some practise in for the champion of champions.  With the sun out and a spring breeze blowing up Beer head Cliff I really remembered why I do this sport, a stunning day.  After passing a foamie flyer failing to fly a few years in land, it did take a leap of faith to hurl my Willow towards the sea.  If there is any model I trust the Willow has to be it.  Are 2 Willows a small coppice?

  Its too far off to start looking at the weather forecast but the sun cream is now packed!

5 more days to get your entries in

The SlopeRacer champion of Chammpions race is on March 31st and time is running out for confirming your entry.

 A willow up for grabs and the chance to tustle with cool hand Redsell on hhis home patch (or out side the pub on Saturday night)

More French Willow weilding here