Author: GBSRA_Admin

The first event of 2025 took place on Mickeys West – the most physically demanding section of the Bwlch. Fortunately we had nice winds of 5 – 10 m/s and only a few spots of drizzle.

By the half way stage it had settled into a contest between Mark Redsell and Andy Burgoyne. Mark just managed to win after a late charge by Andy. Mark also recorded the fastest time with a 34.38 second run.

Pilot of the day was Phil Taylor with three sub-40s on the way to a splendid third place, flying his FS6. It was great to see him in such good form.

All in all a most enjoyable day and hopefully a portent of good things to come. Roll on the Nationals on 17/18 May!

Results

1 M Redsell   10334.85 1000.00
2 A Burgoyne  10327.15  999.25
3 P Taylor    10142.04  981.34
4 M Treble    10032.48  970.74
5 J Cubitt     9999.70  967.57
6 M Evans      9794.76  947.74
7 L Wood       9592.45  928.16
8 M Passingham 9495.35  918.76
9 B Hudson     9409.13  910.42
10 M Shellim   9321.45  901.94
11 I Mason     9271.79  897.13
12 P Stubley   9139.76  884.36
13 B Larrett   4263.72  412.55

Photos

A good turnout with 14 rounds flown. The winner was Greg Dakin who flew a tight course in the flat conditions.

Runner up was Mark Redsell, with Peter Gunning third.

Fastest time was by Mike Shellim.

Acknowedgements

Thanks to Jon Edison and Mark Treble for organising.

Results

After 14 rounds

 1 G Dakin        12121.96   1000.00
 2 M Redsell      12011.05    990.85
 3 P Gunning      11738.54    968.36
 4 M McCracken    11656.73    961.62
 5 S Haley        11602.68    957.16
 6 E Maxwell      11439.62    943.71
 7 M Evans        11304.84    932.59
 8 M Shellim      11256.68    928.61
 9 M Treble       11126.86    917.90
10 D Demott       10942.43    902.69
11 B Larrett      10903.38    899.47
12 J Edison       10202.93    841.68
13 B Dickenson     9999.76    824.92
14 T Heaversedge   2317.88    191.21

Fastest time 38.56 seconds by Mike Shellim in round 1

Round winners: Greg Dakin (4), Mark Redsell (3), Ewen Maxwell  (2), Dave De Mott (1), Mike McCracken  (1), Steve Haley  (1), Mike Shellim (1), Mark Treble (1)

Hard to believe that the Welsh Open has been running now for 30 years – it still feels as fresh as ever, though this year the numbers were a little down due to the proximity of the World Championships.

It turned out to be an excellent competition too, with some fast times – and an emphatic win for Joel West who won 7 of the 14 rounds with some metronomically precise flying.

Day One

The first day at Mickey’s West was the most demanding as it’s a long walk from the car. Fortunately those with 4×4’s were able to ferry some kit and pilots. The wind wasn’t quite so amenable though – the wind was NW and very light so it was DLG’s and electric until the wind swung round.

We finally started flying around mid-day, and managed to get in four rounds. Joel West (FS5) held the lead at day’s end, with Mark Redsell in second (FS6) and Aleix in third place.

Day Two

It was back to Mickey’s for the second day, this time on the SW slope. Conditions were a bit weird with thermal lift cycling at irregular intervals, and times varied between the thirties and fifties.

Nevertheless we had a great day’s flying, with ten rounds flown (not quite enough for a second discard). Stefan Bertschi slipped into third place with his Device, with Aleix dropping to fifth.

Day Three

SW slope again. The wind conditions looked brilliant but sadly low cloud prevented any competitive flying. So the results from Day 2 remained.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Kevin Newton for his usual excellent CD’ing – and for making the trip down from Scotland. Also to Andrzej, Mark and other helpers – as always, the many enjoy the fruits of the hard work of the few.

A couple more thoughts before wrapping up: it was great to see Phil Taylor flying so well after a difficult time. And good to have our Dutch and Swiss friends again.

Roll on 2025!

Results

After 14 rounds

 1 J West           12563.32   1000.00
 2 M Redsell        11345.49    903.06
 3 S Bertschi       11254.60    895.83
 4 G Dakin          11208.97    892.19
 5 A Ingles Elias   11065.74    880.79
 6 S Bernardy       10973.93    873.48
 7 K Newton         10959.05    872.30
 8 M Treble         10934.86    870.37
 9 G Mahoney        10925.77    869.65
10 E Heijne         10813.57    860.72
11 F Donker Duyvis  10800.95    859.72
12 M Shellim        10758.82    856.36
13 P Gunning        10749.74    855.64
14 A Van Vark       10649.97    847.70
15 M Evans          10607.42    844.31
16 M Passingham     10540.71    839.00
17 W Fourie         10530.67    838.20
18 P Lemans         10398.97    827.72
19 L Wood           10375.16    825.82
20 P Taylor         10368.52    825.30
21 P Stubley        10328.95    822.15
22 A Burgoyne       10306.57    820.36
23 D Rumble         10191.53    811.21
24 I Mason          10148.54    807.79
25 B Hudson          9911.98    788.96
26 D Demott          9747.88    775.90
27 J Edison          9695.09    771.69
28 J Phillips        3293.01    262.11
29 M Freeman         3012.93    239.81
30 M Fletcher           0.00      0.00
30 R Bago               0.00      0.00
30 J Bioletti           0.00      0.00

Fastest time 31.67 seconds by Joel West in round 7

Round winners:
Joel West (7), Aleix Ingles Elias (1),
Dave Rumble (1), Frits Donker Duyvis (1),
Les Wood (1), Mark Redsell (1),
Mark Treble (1), Stefan Bernardy (1)

Images

The English Open is always fun! This year we welcomed two new F3F pilots in Mick Fletcher and Mike Crofts. Visiting from Holland was Eric Heijne accompanied by his dad.

The comp

Flying took place at Whitesheet on the NW slope. The wind was light and just four rounds were completed on the first day. Sunday was much better with ten rounds flown.

Graeme Mahoney went one up on last year by taking top spot with less than a point separating Graeme from runner-up Mike Evans. I can’t recall scores so close! Last year’s winner John Phillips was third.

Acknowedgements

Many thanks to organisers Nigel Witchalls, Graeme Mahoney and helpers for a splendid weekend. And to Allen Elliott for expertly manning my camera while I flew – it’s not often that I get to see photos of myself at a comp.

Looking forward to next year already!.

Results

After 14 rounds

 1 G Mahoney     11298.81   1000.00
 2 M Evans       11298.05    999.93
 3 J Phillips    11191.81    990.52
 4 M Treble      11113.29    983.58
 5 M Shellim     11068.93    979.65
 6 P Taylor      11049.18    977.90
 7 E Heijne      11044.51    977.49
 8 M Bleathman   10953.50    969.43
 9 B Hudson      10816.06    957.27
10 P Stubley     10795.97    955.49
11 A Elliott     10507.32    929.94
12 I Falconer    10259.04    907.97
13 D DeMott      10213.53    903.94
14 A Burgoyne    10035.47    888.18
15 G Hill        10002.33    885.25
16 M Fletcher     7574.67    670.39
17 M Crofts       6679.83    591.19

Fastest time 41.73 seconds by John Phillips in round 10

Round winners: Graeme Mahoney (2), Paul Stubley (2), Eric Heijne (2), John Phillips (2), Mike Evans (1), Bruce Hudson (1), Mark Treble (1), Phil Taylor (1), Mike Shellim (1), Andy Burgoyne (1)

Images

Results after 14 rounds

 1 Armin Hortzitz      11754.91
 2 Peter Kowalski      11602.49
 3 Dieter Perlick      11504.20
 4 Manuel Rath         11464.19
 5 Mike Evans          11431.60
 6 John Philips        11313.88
 7 Peter Gunning       11169.51
 8 Eric Heine          11095.32
 9 Markus Meissner     11092.55
10 Stefan Bertschi     11064.12
11 Rich Bago           11033.65
12 Andreas Aigner      10968.04
13 Mark Treble         10967.63
14 Frits Donker Duyvis 10904.43
15 Josef Wiklicky      10839.33
16 Nic Wright          10821.69
17 Willim Fourie       10816.62
18 Stefan Bernardy     10786.09
19 Arjen van Vark      10734.10
20 Torsten Herman      10630.12
21 Siegfried Schedel   10524.45
22 Ewan Maxwell        10412.69
23 Rick Ruijsink       10245.86
24 Mike Shellim        10220.30
25 Bruce Hudson        10139.99
26 Jon Edison           9846.81
27 Dave Demott          9826.06
28 Maria Freeman        9698.70
29 Dave Watson          9578.14
30 Robert Carson        9440.72
31 Les Wood*            8962.11
32 Steve Macken         8804.37
33 Andy Burgoyne*       8333.96
34 John Treble          3668.22
* flew two rounds only

Fastest time Mike Evans 33.96