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aeajr
477 Posts |
 Posted - 07/01/2013 : 09:11:09 AM
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Contest Report - LISF 1 - June 22, 23 2013
Mike Lavelle and Ed Anderson - Contest Directors
Report prepared by Ed Anderson
Saturday Photos from the contest by Sandy
Sunday Photo link from Ken
Pete S, the Majors photo
As this is the first ESL contest run by two new CDs, Mike Lavelle and I, this contest report should start off with a thank you to those who established LISF as part of the ESL and who gave so much of their time over the years to run the contests. They are the ones who set the standard that Mike and I tried to uphold. Since we don�t know the names of all the people who have been LISF CDs for this contest over the years we will simply name those who trained us by example and who let us help in the past. Specifically we would like to thank John Hauff, Frank Strommer and Paul Bell. We build on their work and their passion.
We would also like to thank Rich Verriest, the LISF master of the scoring tent. Rich was not with us for LISF 1 nor will he be able to join us for LISF 2, but it is his example we tried to follow. We hope Rich will be back in the scoring tent for 2014. We wish to thank Frank Nisita for stepping in to take over the scoring tent for LISF 1. He did an outstanding job and will be back as CD for the LISF Hand Launch Classic in August and scorekeeper for LISF 2 in September.
While we will not list out the names of all the other LISF members who helped, we will acknowledge that there were a lot of people who jumped in to lend a hand. And, of course there are the ESL members and guests at our field who always help whether asked or not. Most prominent of these, Steve Lucke who can�t be kept from helping with winches without the use of force, and Luis Bustamante who provided some valuable tips to the scoring tent. Thanks to all the ESL folks who pitched in.
Contest Report:
Saturday morning June 22, 2013
We woke to an absolutely beautiful day. Sunny skies with just enough white fluffy clouds to make it perfect. Forecast was for sunny, 76 with winds of 4 mph in the morning going to 12 mph in the afternoon. You just can�t get much better than that. We had 27 pilots registered with 23 actually flying the contest on Saturday. We only had two 2 Sportsman, Mike Lavelle and Bob Anderson, so they flew with the experts.
We were flying seeded MOM which means the first two rounds were random then we would seed starting round 3. Top score for a round would be 1000 points based on the C-Delta method for scoring landings. We had five 100 inch landing tapes. There were 4 launch winches with one pop-off winch on stand-by with all lines being pulled back by tractor. We flew 10 minute rounds all day.
After a pilot�s meeting, lead by Mike Lavelle, the contest got under way a little after 9 am. I was not able to fly on Saturday, due to a commitment that would keep me from flying the last round, so I called the line most of the day. Joel Rose took the retriever�s role on the tractor and Frank Nisita took lead in the scoring tent.
At the end of the first round our leaders were Paul Sullivan, Dimitir Katramatos, Mike Lachowski, Tony Guide, Anker Berge-Sonne and Steve Lucke. Most of the groups were won with times of 9 or better. Not bad for the first round of the day. Group E launched into some bad air with Anker taking the group with 6:26
Round 2 - All groups were won by people making full or close to full time. Top pilots in round 2 were Mike Lachowski, Tony Guide, Steve Lucke, Leszek Zyga and Luis Bustamante.
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Round 3 was when we began seeding. At this point it was clear that the main body of lift was down wind in the Northeast corner about 50 to 250 yards off the field. It was not unusual to see 8 planes up in various parts of the same thermal. The list of wining pilots changed a bit with Lincoln Ross, Alex Hall, Anthony Procino, Will Lipscomb, Bruce Schneider and Mike Lachowski taking their groups. Just a few points back in the round scores were Dave Walter, Steve Lucke, Paul Sullivan, Mike Lavelle and Dimitri Katramatos.
Round 4 � excellent conditions continued. Pete Nicholson and Chuck Robinett joined the list of pilots who won at least one round during the day with Paul Bell taking second in his round by just 6.7 points. At the end of round 4 the top pilots were Tony Guide, Bruce Schneider, Steve Lucke and Mike Lachowski. Challenging the top group was Dimitri Katramatos, Chuck Robinett, Luis Bustamante and Will Lipscomb.
Round 5 � Joining the list of pilots winning at least one round were Fritz Bien, Dave Walter, and Pete Nicholson, all making their times and landing points. Conditions were so good that more than half the field was making their time. Mike Lavelle and Bob Anderson continued to duke it out for first place in Sportsman.
As I recall we took a lunch break after round 5. Giant heroes were brought in along with salads from the Woodbury Country Deli. After calling people up for seconds, and judging by the minimal leftovers, it seemed that the food was good and no one went hungry.
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Round 6 - The breeze started to come up a little but not enough to be a concern. However the forecast did call for rising winds so we would have to keep a weather eye out for gusts. Lunch must have been uplifting because all but 3 pilots made their times in round 6 and landing points were abundant.
Round 7 - Going into Round 7 the leader board included Tony Guide, Chuck Robinett, Mike Lachowski and Steve Lucke. Hot in pursuit were Dimitri, Leszek, Will and Luis. During round 7 Kenny Sharp and George Hill joined the honor roll of those who won at least one round with Alex Hall, Pete Schlitzkus, Luis Bustamante and Mike Lachowski all winning their rounds.
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Round 8 - the final round of the day. The first group was Kenny S., Bob A. and Pete N., with Pete taking the 1000 for the round. Next up were Anker, Paul B., Lincoln and Alex with Alex winning the group. Group C was Dimitri, Mike Lavelle, Fritz and George with Mike Lavelle taking the 1000 for the round. Group D was Paul S., Bruce, Anthony and Pete S., with Pete winning the round. Group E was Dave W., Leszek, Will and Chuck. Chuck won the round. And the leader group, Group F consisted of Steve Lucke, Mike Lachowski, Luis and Tony. Mike took the round with the others close behind.
At the end of the day the weather conditions were still beautiful and the winds were still moderate. There had been only one line break that I recall and only a couple of pop-offs. Things had run pretty smooth. The scoring tent got the job done with skill and everyone seemed to have a good time.
At the end of the day, when all the scores were in, In Expert Class, Mike Lachowski took the top spot with 7920.21 out of 8000. In second, Luis Bustamente with a 7873.04 and Chuck Robinett with 7839.96 took third. Just out of the trophy range was Will Lipscomb in fourth with 7821.88.
Sportsman was won by Co-CD Mike Lavelle with Bob Anderson taking second.
While I did not join the group for dinner I heard rumors that the food at Majors Steakhouse was up to ESL standards and all who attended left well fed.
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Best regards,
Ed Anderson
Long Island Silent Flyers
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aeajr
477 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2013 : 09:12:57 AM
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Sunday � Day 2
The weather again cooperated with bright sun with a high forecast of 80 degrees. The wind was around 5 mph when we started the first round and was forecast to go to about 14 mph late in the day. There was no rain in the forecast. We had 25 pilots who registered to fly. Again we were flying random for two round then seeding on the third round.
Photos from Sunday
https://plus.google.com/photos/100674613262928505818/albums/5893009311546461537?authkey=CMSN4O6T74TWKg
Round 1 � Winning their rounds were Dave Walter, Leszek Zyba, Ed Anderson, Bruce Schneider, Steve Lucke, Anker Berge-Sonne and Will Lipscomb with all making landing points. I was timing for Dimitri when he got caught in some monster sink and ended up in the trees. He called it quits for the day after that. He found the plane fairly quickly and the tree climber was called.
Round 2 � We had some repeat winners in round 2 with Leszek, Dave, Anker and Ed repeating. Luis and Chuck joined the round winners. But even the second place finishers and many of the third place finishers were only seconds off the time.
Round 3 � Seeding began and to my shock, someone told me I was in the top group. Well, that certainly put a hex on it as I returned to my normal flying style and landed early putting me back in the pack where I am, usually. Bob Anderson flew Round 3 but dropped out after the landing with plane problems. Top pilots in round 3 were Lincoln, Alex, Chuck, tony, John Hauff, Mke Lachowski and Dave Walter.
Round 4 � Top pilots in Round 4 were George Hill, Pete Nicholson, Paul Sullivan, Pete Schlitzkus and John Hauff. As I understand it, Will Lipscomb had been trying out a light layup of his Super Supra but pushed it a bit too hard causing a tip failure, but he still turned in almost two minutes. Will withdrew after Round 4. At the end of Round 4 the leader board showed the top four pilots being Lezsek, Mike Lachowski, John and Dave.
We took a lunch break after round 4. Another great feast was devoured and everyone ate their fill.
Round 5 � Next to last round As we went into round 5 the wind started to pick up. I don�t know what others were doing, but I added about 9 oz of ballast to my Supra Pro taking it to 68 ounces. While the lift had typically been downwind I managed to find some wave lift out in front, well beyond the tree line along the South edge of the field and won the round. I think the ballast I had added helped a bit as others did probe this area but did not stay. Lift became spottier as the breeze picked up with about half the field not making their time. Top pilots for the round were Ed, Lincoln, Frank, Steve, Tony and Mike Lachowski.
Round 6 � This was to be the last round of the day. At this point we were down three pilots. The wind was picking up, hitting perhaps 10 mph with higher gusts. Not enough to be a big concern but you still needed to plan for it if you decided to probe deep down wind.
In group A was Paul Bell, George Hill and Pete Nicholson. George won the group. In group B was Anker, Mike Lavelle and Ed Anderson with Anker winning the group. Group C was Lincoln Ross, Firtz Bien, Anthony Procino, Pete Schlitzkus with Pete winning the group. Group D had Chuck Robinett, Paul Sullivan, Luis Bustamante and Frank Strommer with Frank winning the group. Group E was Alex Hall, Bruce Schneider, Steve Lucke and Tony Guide, with Alex winning the group.
The last group, the top pilots, Leszek Zyga, Dave Walter, John Hauff and Mike Lachowski decided to work the downwind lift with some heading deep. Everyone made it back but there were some tense moments, at least for the spectators. Dave Walter one the group.
When it was all totaled up, Mike Lachowski won the day. Dave Walter was 4.5 points behind Mike for second and Leszek came in third, about 30 points off first place. John Hauff just missed the trophies a few points behind Leszek. And Mike Lachowski was crowned weekend champion.
Sunday ran pretty smoothly. We did have several line breaks as the line started to show its age. At least two planes were retired with some kind of damage and one was in the trees waiting for the tree climber. But overall, we had six good rounds with excellent flying conditions. Everyone was on their way home by 3 pm.
On behalf of the Contest directors and the Long Island Silent flyers, we would like to thank everyone for coming. If you fly hand launch we hope to see you in August at LISF and again in September for the next ESL TD contest.
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Best regards,
Ed Anderson
Long Island Silent Flyers
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ljb0001
37 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2013 : 3:25:35 PM
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Great Contest! Mike Lavelle and Ed did a great job running their first contest. All worked rather smoothly. Just the way we like it. Nice weather, challenging condition, especially in the afternoons.
My only suggestion to improve the contest would be to fly a few more rounds on Saturday. Conditions in Long Island get particularly interesting in the afternoon and we can see some seriously hard soaring that mix up the standings and add to the fun.
My favorite memory from Sunday's contest? Last group, last round of the day, contest on the line. The four top guys did an amazing job in the tough air to make their time. Each of them had to find at least two thermals and take them waaayyy downwind in the stiff Long Island afternoon wind to make time. Their landings were VERY difficult in the wind. Four of the best landers in ESL did amazingly well to get any landing points. The whole scene punctuated by a loud "SON OF A ****" when one of my favorite LISF pilots had the nose come come off after a landing that may have won him the contest! Amazing flying and final approach control in tough, tough conditions.
Below are the detailed scoring reports.
Luis
Download File: LISF I Saturday Standings
Download File: LISF I Saturday Report Cards
Download File: LISF I Saturday Scoring Detail
Download File: LISF I Sunday Standings
Download File: LISF I Sunday Report Cards
Download File: LISF I Sunday Scoring Detail
Download File: LISF 1 Weekend Standings
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LISF 1, June 22, 23 2013
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