CD: Alan Simmonds. Judges Bob Ailles, Peter Brett. Score recorders: Matt Hoyland, Steve Hunt, checked by CD. Podium: Intermediate: Steve Hunt. Masters: Alan Simmonds. FAI: 1st Matt Hoyland, 2nd Keith Jackson, 3rd Brandon Ransley. F11 (scores not used for Competition results): 1st Richard Christopher, 2nd Brandon Ransley. 3rd Keith Jackson. CDs Report Saturday 1st May 2010 Checked the forecast for Sunday: wind and rain all day - ****! Logged on to the forum, 2 PMs, 2 more cancellations for the comp - ****! Will there be any pilots still entered by tomorrow? It had all started 3.1/2 months earlier when I had announced this new competition on the forum. It had taken just 5 days to reach the (ambitious) limit I had set of 20 entries and then over the next few days 3 more pilots were added to the reserve list. "Great" I thought, "that's a good start for my first comp as a CD". But, slowly, over the next few months, the cancellations started drifting in. Don't get me wrong, I'm not having a gripe; we all have another life outside of F3A. So, back to Saturday. We're now down to 12 pilots and the forecast is rubbish. Should I cancel the comp altogether and save everyone a wasted journey? I re-write the flying order for the third time whilst wondering if we'll get one round in let alone 3! I check the forecast again, correction - check 10 different forecasts and pick the best one! Damn, it's the BBC forecast but it's saying it will stop raining in Market Harborough at 10.00. That'll do; the comp's on then! Sunday 2nd May 2010 Up and dressed by 5.30am, I check the BBC forecast again: it's still showing rain until 10.00am. I load the car and leave home by 6.35am arriving at the field at 7.30 having pegged a decently sized (but obviously invisible) sign in the grass verge pointing to the entrance leading to the field. I'm amazed to see Steve, the club Chairman already there. I am even more amazed that the rain has stopped already!!! It's still very windy and very cold and the sky is the colour of oxidised lead. One by one all the competitors and judges arrive but no one is enthusiastic enough to get their model out of the car. Finally, It's Matt and Ashley that break cover and start assembling their models. Others follow suit. Eventually, I gather everyone together in the small club hut for the pilots briefing and we get set to start at 9.30. It's later than I planned but there are only 12 of us to fly. I sense there is still a lack of enthusiasm but with judges and scribes now seated, Adrian Harrison's Integral takes to the air. Flying now proceeds without delay with all these seasoned competitors, and halfway through FAI... the sun makes an appearance - right on centre! I honestly hadn't expected that or I would have set up the other flightline. Everyone somehow manages this extra inconvenience until the sun disappears again for good by the end of FAI. Brandon Ransley takes the first round in FAI with his lovely Oxai Adventure biplane. Steve Hunt and myself come first in Intermediate and Masters as expected. After a short break, we rotate the flying order and fly the first 5 in FAI before stopping for lunch. The lads from our club have the coals nice and hot for the bar-b-que by which we try to keep warm. The cold wind hasn't abated by the time we re-start the second half of round 2 but at least it's still dry. Keith Jackson wins the second round in FAI and Steve and I win in our own classes again. Four pilots had chosen to fly the F-11 schedule in round 3 (with the scores not counting towards the competition or league table) but Matt decided to fly P-11 again hoping to improve on his previous scores. And so, we flew P-11 first and then, after a short break, F-11 followed by Masters and Intermediate. We had made it! Three rounds and no rain; marvellous! It just goes to show that it doesn't matter how wet the forecast is, there is a good chance they got it wrong. Thanks to everyone who came and flew, judged, scribes and a special thanks to the LARCS club for allowing me to put the comp on. Oh, and just one last thing - Matt did manage to improve his score in the third round and moved from fourth place to win the P-11 competition! Final places for each class above.