2009 Welsh Open

18-20 Sept 2009

Podium lineup (L-R): Bjorn Tore Hagen (2nd), Graham Reed (winner), and Simon Thornton (3rd). Graham received the magnificent Vector III, kindly donated by RCRCM.

Fifty of the best

Boasting some of the fastest F3F slopes in the UK, the Welsh Open is one of the highlights of the F3F calendar and attracts some of the best pilots from Europe and beyond. This year, fifty pilots entered from as far afield as Spain, France, Norway, Switzerland. The farthest travelled was C. M. Cheng from Hong Kong.

Good start, but could it last?

Friday morning saw fifty pilots assembled on the north slope with their models. The competition got off to a cracking start with several sub-40's in the first round. In fact, some of us dared to believe that we might be in for a classic competition. Sadly it was not to be, as the wind deserted us on Saturday and Sunday, with zero rounds flown on both those days.

Fortunately, thanks to the usual efficient organisation, five solid rounds were flown on the first day which is of course enough for a result, and those of us who were fortunate enough to have lightweight models enjoyed some excellent sport/thermal flying off the Wrecker.

Results (five rounds, one discard)

So it was that the Day One results stuck, with young Graham Reed ending up the winner.

1  Graham Reed                  3781   26 Julian Perrott        3287
2  Bjorn Tore Hagen             3750   27 Andy Burgoyne         3285
3  Simon Thornton               3681   28 Peter Gunning         3284
4  Cedric Grandseigne           3675   29 Jesus Herrera Borrego 3281
5  Iñaki Elizondo               3665   30 Gary Harrison         3267
6  Kevin Newton                 3633   31 Keith Wood            3266
7  John Phillips                3631   32 Paul Middleton        3262
8  Gerardo Plaza                3630   33 Andy West             3253
9  Greg Dakin                   3590   34 Dave Watson           3245
10 Paul Garnett                 3589   35 Tom Macpherson        3239
11 Mike Evans                   3574   36 Mick Walsh            3210
12 José Luis Alvarez Fernandez  3570   37 Mike Shellim          3197
13 Alvaro Silgado               3527   38 Warrick Smith         3193
14 Mark Redsell                 3526   39 Jon Edison            3189
15 Joel West                    3508   40 Iain Rose             3159
16 Pierre Rondel                3506   41 Frank Hulton          3154
17 Dag Skoglund                 3486   42 C M Cheng             3153
18 Lage Salomonsen              3479   43 Ian Mason             3131
19 Jean-Luc Foucher             3469   44 Mark Passingham       3121
20 Espen Torp                   3459   45 Dave Rumble           3118
21 Jonathon Sage                3408   46 Steve Clutterbuck     3118
22 Angel Lopez Cabrera          3403   47 Stefan Bertschi       3072
23 Mark Abbotts                 3388   48 Ian Stewart           2999
24 Mike Young                   3360   49 Vic Eldridge          2931
25 Andrzej Tabero               3292   50 Tony Robertson        2749

Fastest time 35.54 (Graham Reed)

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Andrzej, Kevin and the rest of the SWSA for the usual efficient organisation. Also to Vic Eldridge for taking time away from home to organise the super banquet (I can see this becoming a fixture for future WO's). And of course to all the visitors from so many countries who made the event what it is. Finally to our sponsors SlopeRacer, RCRCM and SmartModel.