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2008 BMFA League 1

30th March 2008

High winds

The start of the new season was launched at Tinkers Hill with 28 pilots turning up. Notable by his absence was Mark Southall who is reportedly taking a break from F3F this year.

Tinkers is a nice site with fine views, and when the hill and wind are working together it can be very good for F3F. The forecast for Sunday was for a rather optimistic 15 mph wind - in reality it was gusting to around 65 mph, well above the legal limit for F3F. Consequently we spent most of the morning sheltering in a hollow, waiting for the next pilots' briefing from CD Andy Ellison.

By midday, the wind had abated sufficiently to start the competition, and thanks to a manageable entry we managed to get four complete rounds in before the contents of a humungous cloud bank put an end to the proceedings.

Challenging

Conditions on the slope were pretty challenging. The hill wasn't working well in the strong breeze, making ballast selection rather trickier then usual, and many pilots had difficulty getting into a groove. Kevin Newton (Ascot), Greg Dakin (Race M) and Mark Redsell (Skorpion) made the best of it, ending up fighting for top spot, and coming home in that order. Tom MacPherson came in an excellent fourth. Kevin set the FTD of 41.6.

Our thanks to CD Andy Ellison, and the Huddersfield club for their slick organisation. Full results here.

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