August 2006 Vol. 23, No. 8 – R/C - RCSoaring.com

They have my support, big hopes and best
wishes.
Finally USA, with full teams, back on the
Europe circuit, led by a new TM Jim
Monaco and with a formidable list of helpers.
No new names to report with seniors
Skip Miller, Joe Wurts and Tom Kiesling.
Junior team is Cody Remington, Joseph
Newcomb and Casey Adamcyzk (Are the
dads coming too?).
I am intrigued to know what Skip, F3B
world champion from yesteryear, will fly.
He was testing his Espada in Istanbul last
time we met, and he found that the best
CG position in Colorado had to be moved
forward nearly 10 mm to cope with European
air. He’s also model trading along
with his garage workshop business and he
could pick from Pikes and others when in
Martin. He will be supported by Dusty, his
son, junior at the first Upton WCs, and last
year placing fourth in the US team trials.
Tom almost certainly will be choosing to
fly Supra, and the only intrigue is whether
he has updated to the moulded wing or
stuck with bagged blue-foam. Can he
maintain the form which saw him beat Joe
in the trials?
All the upbeat publicity from Kennedy
Composites which features Joe Wurts
cuddling a green Supra had most of us
assuming he was switching from his Icon,
which I guess is what was intended. But
my spies tell me that Joe will fly his faithful
Icons. Joe himself wonders if that
design, now six years old, will manage to
stay in contention, but that can only be
modesty. He is eager as ever for the grand
battle ahead, and he wonders if Philip’s
Perfect can triumph or if Dave Hobby can
work the magic once more.
This year I am more than reluctant to name
the winners, but I appreciate from many
kind messages that is what many readers
are waiting for. Few would plough
through all this gossip unless they were
betting too.
My senior flyoff “guess list” is ten from the
following: Carl Strautins, Arend Borst,
Damir Kmoch, Jaroslav Tupec, Lionel
Fournier, Sebastian Feigl, Philip Kolb, Cor
de Jong, Roy Dor, Massimo Verardi, Jo
Grini, Primoz Rizner, Nejc Bozic, Juraj
Adamek, Tony Vale and Joe Wurts. They
cannot all make it, maybe none of them
will, but I find it hard to chop six from that
list. By 4/5 August we shall know.
The winner and 2006 champion: my bet is
on Primoz Rizner. He is on form, he has all
the calm qualities, quiet confidence and
skills needed, and he did not win, as I predicted
he would, in Croatia 2005. In 2004
I bet that Philip Kolb would be champion
in Canada and he made me wait a year for
the EuroChamps. So the Primoz choice is
following precedent.
Junior team prize should go to Germany,
but with luck it will all be much closer than
in Canada. Senior team will be Slovenia,
just pipping Germany and hosts Slovakia.
Do not put too much money on it!
Whatever turns up, let us wish for fine
weather, tricky conditions for the flyoffs,
and the usual friendly spirit of international
goodwill every day of the week.
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This year’s Eurotour contests have been
more closely fought than ever. To get into
the top ten in the 14 international competitions,
and this year so far 329 flyers have
flown in at least one, you need to score
more than 100%. (For those who don’t
know, you pick up extra flyoff points if you
are placed in the top five).
Philip Kolb, for instance, scored 103 in
Istanbul and 102 at Osijek. But that’s not
enough because Primoz Risner scored
101.90 in Forli, 102.71 at Osijek and 102
in Kiskunfeleg, and leads so far this year
with four more contests to fly. I can see
that soon the winner will need a first or
second place in three fly-offs as well as
winning the preliminary rounds. Before
then perhaps, Contest Eurotour will have
moved to “best four contests” from the 14
rather than best three.
Nice question is: which is the harder to
win, an FAI world or european title, or one
of the Eurotour events?
30 R/C Soaring Digest