Welsh Open F3F
15 - 17 September 2017

Watching the action on the Wrecker
Two out of three
I always love competing in the Welsh Open - it's a big event, attracting some of the best pilots in Europe and the slopes are some of the best you'll find anywhere. However my expectations this year were somewhat dampened by the weather forecast.
As it turned out, we had two pretty good days of competitive flying, with eight rounds flown by the 48 competitors.
Day 1
Proceedings started with the usual pilots briefing ("all point to Base A...") courtesy Kev Newton. Flying took place on the 'VR' slope, so named for its association with the 1998 Viking Race. The slope falls away steeply from the road, making it tricky to set up camp and move about, nevertheless it's a fine slope for F3F.
Wind was dead on the slope, around 5 m/s. Iñaki achieved fastest time in Round 4 with 35.59. At day's end, it was Fernando in the lead, with Inaki in second place, and a sizzling Mark Abbotts in third. Sadly the Scottish party had to return home early.
Day 2
The second day started with very little wind and everyone reaching for their Alulas and Ahis. At midday we decamped to the Wrecker in anticipation of better conditions. Unfortunately the wind gods hadn't read the script, instead a big black cloud parked itself directly overhead and dumped all its contents on the hapless pilots. Not exactly a fitting reward for our patience! Fortunately the memory was soon erased by a splendid curry back in Bridgend.
Day 3
The final day commenced with glorious sunshine, and continued more or less as it started. The wind was very light to begin with, picked up during the first round, then dipped again in the middle of the final round, only to pick up suddenly for the last few runs. So a day of ups and downs. There was drama in the 7th round when Mark Abbotts damaged his Caldera following an encounter with the ridge. In the true spirit of F3F, he was able to continue after Jason Bioletti lent him a spare model and he eventually finished 7th. With competition over, Inaki was the well deserved winner, Fernando was runner-up, and Rich Bago third.
Acknowledgements
Sincere thanks are due to Kev Newton for organising and CD'ing - and making the trip down from Scotland. My appreciation also to AJ, Joel, Mark Treble and all the other helpers for keeping things running smoothly, to curry organiser Stefan Bertschi, and last but not least to Rich Bago/T9 for sponsoring the event through MKS. It's easy to take these comps for granted, but it takes a good deal of effort to organise and run these events.
The Welsh Open is a great tradition as well as a showcase for F3F - roll on 2018!
Results
1 Iñaki Elizondo 1000.00 2 Fernando Moro González 975.32 3 Richard Bago 962.16 4 Mike Shellim 943.66 5 Joel West 933.00 6 John Phillips 917.24 7 Mark Abbotts 915.29 8 Alvaro Silgado 910.68 9 Greg Dakin 909.98 10 Kevin Newton 909.27 11 Arjen van Vark 909.18 12 Mark Treble 899.23 13 Graeme Mahoney 894.22 14 Stefan Bertschi 891.47 15 Andy Burgoyne 882.65 16 Jose Luis Alvarez 882.23 17 Stefan Fraundorfer 877.92 18 Paul Stubley 876.00 19 Daniel Schneider 869.74 20 Peter Aanen 869.25 21 Dave Rumble 868.86 22 Thomas Deinert 866.38 23 Keith Wood 860.39 24 Jose Ramon Azcona 856.29 25 Mark Passingham 853.98 26 Klaus Brettner 853.35 27 Stefan Bernardy 850.53 28 Martin Drewett 848.12 29 Bernardo Gomez-Mayan 844.61 30 Mike Evans 837.14 31 Jason Bioletti 833.01 32 Martin Ulrich 828.80 33 Tony livingstone 823.53 34 Martin Overberg 818.84 35 Rick Ruijsink 818.41 36 Nigel Witchalls 809.35 37 Stuart Wallace 808.59 38 Michael Walsh 801.59 39 John Treble 800.62 40 Tony Robertson 785.23 41 Jon Edison 776.38 42 Les Wood 775.22 43 Allen Elliott 771.84 44 Pete Burgess 767.63 45 Scott Ravenscroft 492.46 46 George Young 391.78 47 Peter Gunning 391.66 48 Dave Watson 233.15
Fastest time: 35.59 by Iñaki Elizondo in round 4