ISR 2008 Recap / Results
by Contest Director, Scott Woodward
Saturday May 31, 2008
The day started with overcast skies and moderate winds about 15MPH coming straight into the hill.
The matrix was adjusted to accommodate 18 contestants and Round One commenced around 10AM. Starts where challenging with starting altitudes about 2/3rds of max height attainable. What with taking turns in the CD chair, turn judging, calling and flying all the entrants were more involved right off the bat. Everyone was working out the opening nervousness and getting a feel for conditions. Ron Vann was flying his new freestyler beautifully and quickly established himself as the top contender. Bill Delhagen and I were close on his heels with our trusty Aris's. Mehrdad Amir was flying solid with his Trinity and Ken Gregory was getting smoother each heat and gathering momentum with his Shockwave. Martin Falarski was exhibiting solid flying with his Typhoon and tied with Merhdad and Ken for 4-5-6th. The winds speed filled in and by 4PM was gusting over 25-30 and conditions were primo. Early winning heat times were in the 2:20's but started dropping as the winds filled in. By late Saturday the starts were ballistic and heat times improved with Bill Delhagen posting a nice 2:00 in the 6th round for the fast time of the day. Eight rounds were completed and a slight northerly wind shift slowed up the heats 5-6 seconds in rounds 7 and 8 and made the downwind base A turns tricky and hollow feeling. A vote was taken and the decision was made to "call it a day" and shoot for a 10AM start on Sunday.
The races were 1/2 over and everyone was getting a handle on the best lines and start strategies. I must say there was more interaction and camaraderie than I can ever remember in many years of flying in the ISR. With only 18 pilots there were times when your usual caller was either in the heat before yours or in your heat making for more interaction. A lot of tips and helpful discussions were shared by all. Maybe with a little coaxing some of the veterans could be persuaded to share some of the tips picked up this year. After a nice full day of racing a bunch of us made our way to the Davenport Inn for a few brews and steaks, a fitting end to exciting day of racing.
Sunday June 1, 2008
Sunday started where Saturday left off with bright sunny skies, winds on the rise but a healthy 22-25 at the 10AM start that got even stronger after that. I managed a 1:59 in heat 9 and that held up until Ron Vann's 1:58 in round 12 and Ken Gregory's 1:58 in round 16. After 16 rounds it became clear that Ron's lead was solid and the battle was going to be for 2nd and 3rd. Ken was getting faster and smoother as Sunday wore on but Bill just couldn't catch him despite some solid flying. Sunday was a solid Davenport day with lots of power and depth to the lift.
No fly-off was needed to determine the top three pilots. Awards were handed out and raffle prizes awarded to the volunteers.
Congratulations to Ron Vann for his dominant performance over the weekend earning only 1 point for every scored heat (with two throw outs).
Here is a summary of the top finishers. Detail results of all heats and scoring are linked below.
1st Place - Ron Vann
2nd Place - Ken Gregory
3rd Place - Bill DelHagen
This was an exciting weekend of flying. I can't wait to do it again!
Scott Woodward
Vice President, NCSS
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