2013 North of England F3F Eurotour
29 - 30 June 2013
Paul Garnett launches off Levisham during the North of England Open
North of England Eurotour
There's something rather cosy about flying at Levisham. The slope is set in beautiful Yorkshire countryside, and the only sound - apart from the birds - is the steam train, as it trundles and whistles its way through the valley.
Appearances can be deceptive though. Thermals from the valley pop up at regular intervals, and there's often turbulence to contend with as well. Accurate flying is also required as the lift band is quite narrow. The contrast with the Bwlch couldn't be greater, but we're all the richer for the variety.
This year's event was attended by 41 pilots from UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Holland. The weather was generally good, although CD Jon Edison had to delay the start by a couple of hours, until the wind swung round. Conditions varied from flight to flight, and inevitably some pilots lost out. By the same token, achieving a fast time needed considerable skill in order to extract energy from the available air.
When time was finally called at 4.30 pm on Sunday, nine rounds had been completed. Spanish visitor Alvaro Silgado was the pilot with the nerve and the golden thumbs, having climbed up six places on the Sunday to take the well-deserved crown.
Simon Thornton was runner up, and Mark Redsell took third place with Greg Dakin a whisker behind in fourth. Mark Redsell achieved the fastest time of 33.69.
It was a slick, well organised competition. Thanks go to Jon Edison and crew. And last but not least, to our sponsor T9Hobbysport for their generous prizes.
Image gallery
Results
Top 10
1 A Silgado 7311.02 Pike Precision 2 S Thornton 7162.38 Needle 124 3 M Redsell 7081.39 Freestyler 4 4 G Dakin 7077.34 5 P Kowalski 7016.60 6 M Newnham 7005.24 Freestyler 4 7 E Rosemann 6980.96 Vampire 8 P Garnett 6919.96 9 R Bago 6907.31 10 M Abbotts 6864.22 Caldera R
Full results plus spreadsheet are here
Other links
Tom Foreman's video
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