2015 English Open F3F

22 - 23 August 2015

Mark Treble launches the Elita of Vic Eldridge

Two in a row for Mike Evans

After last year's successful restoration of the English Open, hopes were high of a repeat - but would the weather play ball?

Day One

This was the first competition I can remember at Whitesheet where the wind was S - SE, necessitating the use of the 'rifle range' slope. Flying is normally strictly forbidden there, but thanks to the foresight of our organiser Stu Wallace, special permission had already been obtained from the farmer.

Saturday's flying started in glorious sunshine. Martin Drewett made the most of the rather variable conditions, flying his Pitbull to fine effect to win the round with 48.17.

A southerly shift in the wind towards the end of Round 1 necessitated a move to the middle of the bowl. The next three rounds were won by Andy Burgoyne (41.65), Mike Evans (39.82, FTC) and Neil Rogers (52.72). During the fifth round, the sun had all but disappeared to be replaced by rain. Sadly there was no option other than abandon the proceedings, before the round could be completed.

Day Two

Sunday began with a bunch of keen pilots sheltering from the rain in the car park. By late morning the rain still hadn't didn't abated, so the decision was taken, wisely, to terminate the competition and retire to a pub in Mere for the presentations.

So with four rounds flown, the result was a second successive win for Mike Evans. Mike was flying his Fosa using his brand new Taranis E, with programming based on my F3F setup.

Graeme Mahoney was runner-up flying a Pitbull. In third place was Martin Drewett also flying a Pitbull. Mark Treble came fourth flying his Toxic. It was very close near the top, with less than 7 points separating second and fourth!

The trophy presentation and raffle draw took place in Mere, at the Walnut Tree.

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to Stu Wallace for his excellent organisation including securing the SE slope, plus requisitioning the Walnut Tree at short notice, for the trophy presentation. Also to Sloperacer.com and South Coast Sailplanes and others for sponsoring the event with some great prizes. See links at end.

Image gallery

Results

Individuals

 1  M Evans         2882.21
 2  G Mahoney       2687.37
 3  M Drewett       2683.41
 4  M Treble        2680.63
 5  I Falconer      2601.56
 6  J Philips       2584.71
 7  S Wallace       2544.42
 8  T Livingstone   2538.88
 9  J Bennett       2528.03
10  A Burgoyne      2506.85
11  I Mason         2482.68
12  J Fox           2469.87
13  D Rumble        2468.28
14  P Stubley       2436.02
15  J Cubbit jnr    2423.08
16  M Shellim       2408.73
17  P Taylor        2380.34
18  P Burgess       2372.93
19  J Cubbitt snr   2344.77
20  T Robertson     2174.70
21  M Burr          2166.61
22  N Rogers        2153.63
23  R Hilman        2114.60
24  V Eldridge      2108.09

Teams

1 'Gifcof'    G Mahoney, M Drewett, T Livingstone  2538.88
2 'Bonkers'   M Evans, A Burgoyne, P Stubley       7825.08
3 'All Stars' M Treble, J Philips, M Shellim       7674.07
4 'Grombitts' S Wallace, Joe Cubbitt,Jack Cubbitt  7312.27