• BMFA Nationals 2013

    2013 BMFA F3F Nationals Wales from Tom Foreman on Vimeo.

    Sun, 24 degrees, a view across the Welsh Valleys, just a few more ingredients, wind 10m\s increasing through the day to around 15m\s coming from the ENE direction placing us on Britain’s premier slope ‘THE WRECKER’ along with plenty of good air (thermals;-) ) And finally, 32 pilots to compete in the BMFA F3F Nationals 2013 Championships. It all made for a really fantastic weekend in South Wales.

    Meet on day one was 8:15am to get registration and pilot numbers out of the way. Simon Thornton and Andrzej worked on getting the course out, setup and 10:15 we was able to get the first of 8 rounds on the way and the start of a total of a 123 sub forties including one sub thirty.

    As the early rounds started it was clear that a mid to low sub forty was going to be required if you wanted to stay in touch with the early leaders. The round takers for the day were as follows:

     

    Round 1 1st Martin Newnham 35.54
    2nd Jonathan Wells 38.14
    3rd Mike Shellim 38.47

     

    Round 2 1st Joel West 29.75
    2nd Scott Ravenscroft 33.02
    3rd Greg Dakin 34.58

     

    Round 3 1st Martin Newnham 31.87
    2nd Mark Abbotts 32.60
    3rd Joel West 32.73

     

    Round 4 1st Martin Newnham 31.86
    2nd Joel West 32.71
    3rd Mark Redsell 34.11

     

    Round 5 1st Joel West 33.76
    2nd Mark Redsell 34.79
    3rd Paul Garnett 35.62

     

    Round 6 1st John Phillips 32.87
    2nd Greg Dakin 34.12
    3rd Paul Upton 34.24

     

    Round 7 1st Joel West 32.65
    2nd Mark Redsell 32.91
    3rd Mark Abbots 32.97

     

    Round 8 1st Mike Evans 31.92
    2nd Paul Upton 34.98
    3rd Rich Bago 35.29

     

    Each round requires a 300 metre walk to the landing area, by the end of the day everyone was suitable exercised and ready to get back to the various hotels to sooth the sunburn and get ready for the curry.

    Mark Abbotts had taken care of the food arrangements at a different curry house for a change, those of you that stayed away missed some great food, Mark also excelled in laying on street entertainment, and you had to be there to understand.

    Day 2 we meet at 8:30am again Simon and Andrzej got the course organised whilst I updated the pilot flying list. The wind again put us on the Wrecker and the normally most trusted sites for the area suggested it would stay there all day, this unfortunately wasn’t the case and by the time it swung round it was too late to change location and re-setup on the Crest.

    We did manage a further 3 rounds:

     

    Round 9 1st Paul Upton 37.47
    2nd Jonathan Wells 37.52
    3rd Mark Abbotts 38.63

     

    Round 10 1st Paul Upton 33.46
    2nd Joel West 35.43
    3rd Mike Shellim 36.41

     

    Round 11 1st Mike Evans 38.42
    2nd Martin Newnham 38.45
    3rd Rich Bago 38.62

     

    Even with the early finish it made for a great weekend, the standard of flying by every pilot was excellent and I am sure there are some new PB’s to be updated to the list which is growing with every contest we have in UK as is the numbers to each event.

    Special thanks have to go Andrzej who CD’d the whole weekend, he kept it flowing and without him we wouldn’t have completed the rounds we did. As a pilot that takes dedication for so many others to be able to enjoy their flying, whilst he choose not to.

    Simon Thornton made sure the course was up and ready to go at the start of each day and disassembled it at the end of each day. John Phillips our buzzer supreme kept the base going over both days, which isn’t easy trying to make sure a pilot is back in time ready to fly in each round.

    Thanks to all of you and to all the other pilots that take the time to get involved rather than letting the normal individuals take the load.

    You have already seen the results from the weekend; Joel West flew stunningly, not one mistake all weekend and is without and doubt a deserved British Champion for our sport. He also took fastest time of the competition posting a 29.75 in the second round.

     

    Thank you everyone for making it such an enjoyable weekend, I look forward to seeing you on the slope again soon. I have plenty of pictures and I know Mike Shellim also took plenty; I will post what I have soon.

    Best regards Martin