District IX Report
News from Colorado
The Rocky Mountain Soaring Association (RMSA) Spring Thermals Contest was held April 13, 2003. Contest Director (CD) Jim Barr wrote the following report, taken from Thermals, the club newsletter.
The RMSA Spring Thermals, held the first Sunday after the April meeting, usually provides excellent soaring conditions. In the 24 years that Jim Barr has been the contest director, this year's original date was the worst — a winter storm brought 20 to 30 mph winds and put an end to any soaring plans.
The following Sunday was warm and sunny — ideal conditions for five rounds of 10-minute duration tasks with AMA landings. As 25 pilots began the day, the majority soon realized that 10 minutes was obtainable and that on most flight groups the score depended on a successful landing. Fliers soon learned it was necessary to achieve at least an 85 to stay with the pack in Master's Class.
As the afternoon wore on, the brisk crosswind launches hampered novice fliers somewhat, with launches less than optimum. Danny Dermer and Steve Suntken hung on and finished the contest, with Danny coming in first in Novice, some 70 points ahead. Chuck Stasek led the Sportsman class, beating out Jim Newcomb and Wayne Hollenbeck.
The remaining 18 pilots fought it out in Master's Class. The scores were very close — only 75 points separated the top four fliers over five flights; only 17 points separated first and second, and 32 points separated second and third. Mark Howard, flying a Zenith, was top dog with 4,986 out of 5,000 — 14 points shy of a perfect score. Lenny Keer and Bob Lewan were runners-up.
Special thanks to Tony O'Hara for helping out with scoring, which gave Jim Monaco a chance to enjoy the contest more than usual.
Better luck next year!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
