Des Hill <<deslightfly>>
writes:

After flying 5 of 6 days, the last task was called “Dog Day
Afternoon” as there were 2 turn points giving a double dog leg on the 65 km
task. The forecast relatively low useable lift of around 6,000 ft and the cross
wind component was expected to test the two leading pilots, Jason Kath and Simon
Braithwaite, who had the potential to win or lose, depending on their results of
the day.

The launch window was open at 12:00 noon but the light winds and lack of visible
thermal activity with very few dust devils was discouraging and no one was
launching. Around 1:00 pm, a few pilots tested the air but only two left the
paddock, one of them returning a short time later having found only weak and
broken lift. A few pilots had several tow launches over the next hour but around
2:00pm activity increased as pilots began to leave the paddock with the
occasional thermal coming through. In the end, only 8 pilots got out of the bomb
out zone, the shortest scoring distance flown being 7.8 km. 3 pilots made goal.

At the end of the day, Simon Braithwaite had the impressive time of 1 hr 45
minutes but Jason Kath held on to championship lead and ultimately the
competition trophy with a time of 1 hr 59 minutes. A close third was Gavin
Nicholls at 2 hrs 8 minutes.

That night, the various trophies were awarded at a dinner event and the
Intermediate winner was Phil Clarkson followed by Duncan De Koning and Ross
Smith. Duncan’s effort was notable because he had been out of flying for the
previous 12 months. Ross Smith did well for a pilot returning to the sport after
an even longer absence.

The Novice trophy was won by Gordon Bishop after his first ever cross country
flight in a floater that took him past the novice goal and a good distance along
the course line. A close second was Ben Marsh who probably had the most tows
during the event but managed a good single tow and XC flight on one of the more
difficult days. Ben’s persistence and good attitude, despite difficulties and
set backs was very impressive. Having said that, Ben also was the inaugural
winner of the “Get Bent” trophy when he managed to take out 2 down tubes and a
base bar in a single “Arrival” (it couldn’t really be called a landing!) on the
last day.

One interesting aspect of the WA Comp is the teams event. The scoring system
strongly favours successful novice flights and encourages experienced pilots to
provide help and guidance to their less experienced charges. Despite this
scoring lean, the team Ph**k Ya won the teams event by having the top advanced
pilots on their list. Second was the Dusties, the Kalgoorlie boys. 3rd was
Geroatrics, lead by the great example of Gavin Nicholls. While the Skyscrapers
came in last, they were quite symbolic of the spirit of the event with their
very capable leader, Rolf Schatzmann, getting accolades from his team mates for
being such a mentor and guide over the course of the competition and selflessly
putting aside his own scoring possibilities to help others get airborne.

The West Aussie flying community has not had a competition for a few years and
for the event to return to the calendar in such a successful fashion is sure to
guarantee it’s future as an annual event. Pilots who missed out in 2014 are
already talking about booking their leave for 2015! All pilots were extremely
grateful to the sponsors and organisers with Murray Wood and Richard Breyley
getting special mention for their great organisational ability and leadership to
bring together the motley crew of pilots and enable them to get some great
airtime in the best flying event held in W.A. for years.