F3J - Thermal duration Thermal #9 Diggers Rest - Report and Results
Thermal #9 Diggers Rest - Report and Results
Fourteen pilots attended the penultimate thermal league event for the season and despite wind and rain on the days preceding, the forecast for the day was for light winds and no rain, which thankfully is how it turned out. It was great to welcome Jaime Cannon and Clive Warman who made the journey from NSW (Sydney and Newcastle) and to see Graham Norman dust off his models and get them in the air after a hiatus for most of the year. We all looked forward to getting some serious competition air time and fine tuning before Jerilderie, only two weeks away!
13 pilots in front of the camera with Marcus Stent taking the shot
Conditions proved to be challenging, and achieving 10 minutes was not always easy. However the best pilots on the day managed to work the conditions well and find enough lift to get their time. Most of the models flown were Perfections, Maxas or Explorers, as seems to be usual nowadays. I wonder if there are any other new model designs to be unveiled at the upcoming world championships? It was great to see Dave Pratley’s very light new Explorer 3 making the most of some low level lift and saving himself from a dropper. It was also good to see Graham flying his Icon 2 smoothly and beautifully in the challenging conditions.
Jamie Cannon hitting the spot with Clive Warman timing. Jamie has represented Australia at the F3K worlds and great to see Jamie getting into F3J/Open Thermal. No doubt he will be fighting it out at the top very soon. A huge thanks to Jamie and Clive for making the trip down!
Bob Wilson with his Maxa. Bob finished the day strongly with his last 3 rounds all 960+.
After six rounds there was less that 30 points between the top three places and 12 points between 1st and 2nd. It came down to the last round to decide the competition. Consistent and high quality flying by Tom Dupuche finally gave him the edge over Marcus, and Tom, emerged the victor for the second competition in a row! Gerry finished third separated by only 26 points or 0.37% of the winners score!
Tom Dupuche's Pike Perfection Light Strong being launch by Daniel Haskell. The working time clock showing 10:58 left...only a little bit of sand bagging!
Daniel Haskell's Pike Perfection Extreme.
Hugh Blackburn with his Fosa Lift. He flew it near the end of the day and easliy got his time in very light conditions.
The completion ran very smoothly due in no small part to the incredible Glider Score program designed and built in downtown Glen Iris by Gerry Carter. But this competition was even more professional with the use of the new RCGA working time LED display also made Gerry – great work and thanks from all of us.
So at the end of the day it was:
1st Place Tom Dupuche - 6991
2nd Place Marcus Stent - 6984
3rd Place Gerry Carter - 6965
Tom's win sees the Thermal League go down to the wire. With Marcus ahead but Tom still in the hunt at the final round in Jerilderie.
See you all at Jerilderie – Daniel Haskell