Charles Allen <<cwalle>>
writes:

The Highland Challenge turned out to be a terrific regional
weekend race to goal comp this year and everyone had a great time. 17 pilots
registered of which almost half were in the sport class. We few 8 of 8 days and
covered a total of 556 miles across both classes. Many thanks to Sunny and Adam
of Highland Aerosports for dedicating 2 tugs on each day for our 2 hour launch
window, this comp would not have been possible without them. Results below:

Sport:

1. Matt Christensen – 2,624

2. Michelle Haag – 1,796

3. Alex Tatom – 1,524

Matt Christensen took 1st in the sport class and had a memorable flight on task
5 where he made goal and continued on almost making the open goal. Michelle was
the only women in the meet an placed 2nd overall and won 2 days. Alex placed 3rd
and had a great flight on task 6 winning the day after flying over both Jim and
I as we groveled in 25fpm. Many of the sport pilots had their personal bests.

Open:

1. John Simon – 3,599

2. Charles Allen– 3,372

3. Jim Messina – 2,681

John took 1st with a memorable flight on task 4 where he flew for well over 3
hours and made goal back at Highland. I came in 2nd and had a great flight and
made goal on task 5 which was the longest task, though, I was the only one in
the open class to leave the field due to the 103 degree heat. Jim placed 3rd and
won task 2 however I think his best flight was when he dug out from about 500
feet and then crossed 3 miles of water on task 3. Not only did we have fun but
we also pioneered a few new routes on the Delmarva Peninsula. My favorite new
route was a dog leg down the peninsula that hooked west towards the Chesapeake
Bay and crossed 3 miles of water just before reaching goal which was a grass
strip (both John and Jim made it).

The summary is here:

https://sites.google.com/site/highlandweekendcomp/summary-2012

For those interested in the 2013 Highland Challenge registration is open:

https://sites.google.com/site/highlandchallenge2013/

This is a great no stress way to learn about comp flying in a fun and safe
setting and rack up some XC miles. You don’t need previous XC or comp experience
to come fly. For those local mountain pilots on the fence due to weather
conditions on the Delmarva Peninsula I suggest showing up. 3 of the Highland
Challenge weekends had forecast rain. On the 1st task of the Highland Challenge
we were towed over wispy’s but managed to fly 15+ miles. On task 4 it was
pouring rain at 11:30am (the rain was going sideways) and the whole field
managed to launch starting around 1pm and John and I managed to make goal at
Massey (~40k).

We’ll likely limit the comp to ~20 pilots across both classes so please sign up
soon if you’re interested.