South African Nationals 2011

The Trophies

Open/18m Class

Douglas Bradley            GD       Johnnie Andrews Vote by Open Class Pilots

18m

Oscar Goudriaan            OG       Roelf van Tonder 1st All Nationalities

15m

3          n/a        Argus Trophy

2          n/a        Comair Trophy

1          n/a        Tim Biggs Memorial 1st All Nationalities

1          n/a        Ted Williamson Painting 1st South African Resident

Fastest 300 15m

n/a        Kevin Bottomley

Fastest 500 15m            n/a       Annandale

Standard Class

n/a

Club Class

LATER

Carol concludes Although a few of the 18m. class gliders were ready to weigh and head for the grid, there was not so much enthusiasm as the skies never really cleared or sufficiently for a task to be flown.  So finally at approx. 1 p.m. the day was cancelled and de-rigging, packing up, and so forth could commence.  Then over the last hour there has been a little shower of rain, so it was the right decision. All congratulations to the competitors and to the winners:- Open/18m. class:            ...
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Fat-Lady-Throat-clearing

Reports reaching South Wales indicate [from a normally reliable source] that the Open/18 Metre task is cancelled - Fat-Lady-warbling and party time approaches!
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Thurs. 22nd December – 11th Contest Day

The final day of the contest, and what a contest it has been.  A long time since we have enjoyed 10 days of good flying.  Excellent. Today we extend birthday wishes to Jaco Burger # YA.  May the coming year be a great one for you, Jaco. There are also rumours that it might have been birthdays of both Holger and Ronald . . . .  but I believe the rumours are just that! A huge vote of thanks to the ‘behind the scenes’ people - Peter a.k.a. Boris for his work and patience (sometimes extremely tried...
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After Flying - Day 10 - Carol relates the story .....

There was quite a long wait after the start gate was opened before any of the pilots announced their starts.  The sky remained fairly blue at Welkom with just odd clouds here and there, though by late afternoon it has got quite a lot darker to the south.  The humidity levels have definitely increased with the stillness prior to a possible storm later. The Club class winner for the day is Conrad Gerte – a pilot from Germany who has flown a lot of cross-country (in Namibia and in Europe) but not...
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Wed. 21st December – 10th Contest Day

Carol reports from beutiful downtown Welkom: Strong winds and dust ahead of a storm passed the airfield last evening and then looked somewhat clearer to the south, but was as black as anything to the north.  Later on in the evening there were some good rains, which were welcome to cool the air, and to water the gardens after the heat of the last few days.  There was also some more thunder, lightning and rain during the early hours of this morning. However by the time we arose, the skies were cl...
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After flying - Day 9

Allan Thole was sent up as a sniffer a few minutes after noon and was soon announcing lift so the rest of the pilots were launched.  There was an approx. 5 minutes delay whilst a King Air was permitted to land – the pilot obviously had not taken note of the NOTAM advising of the Championships taking place!  He was duly accommodated and will be back again tomorrow, but at a time that will not interfere with the gridding or launching. The task for the Open/18m. class was reduced to 2 hr. 45 min....
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Tues. 20th December – 9th Contest Day

Carol continues her sterling reporting ...... Good morning to one and all and the many visitors to the Soaringspot.com website following our activities here at Welkom.  It is always good to know that there are people around the world watching us and enjoying the flying activities here, if not possible in person.   Today it is another strong breezy easterly wind with cloud on the southern horizon.  Somehow the day does not feel as promising, but Sven assures me that it will be similar conditions...
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After flying .... and a good day's flying too ...

Carol relates this afternoon's happenings ... Sadly Gintas Zube flying the Nimbus # HS has packed up the glider and returned to Bloemfontein.  A problem on the glider was discovered that needs to be fixed, so he is not sure if he will be able to return to Welkom or not.  Also having problems is John Coutts - not with his glider, but rather his vehicle.  Hopefully the local mechanics can repair it.  Arriving for a day or so’s visit is Martin Attwell. It seems to have been a good day with both Cl...
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Mon. 19th December – 8th Contest Day

As the day starts for the 8th contest day, a word of thanks to the various people behind the scenes who assist in making the Nationals operate and work – the tug pilots Connie, Peter aka Boris, Rene, Will, Oscar and sometimes Uys.  Sven doing the daily met. reporting, and Laurens dealing with safety issues.  Also Boris, who is doing the scoring and ensuring that all the information gets onto the www.soaringspot.com website, and to Steve aka Taffy for adding my words also to the website.   A big...
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