Crosslines clinch 2nd round of UK Nationals

Hackney hosted the second round of the Team UK Nationals. Six teams were there to do battle including Air de Rien from France. Air de Rien were first but Crosslines just beat Punchline keeping them ahead in the Nationals after two rounds.

The local paper - Former Airkraft member Jeremy Boyce founded the festival in 1993

In addition to team there was a round of the dual line individual with a large field also including several pilots from a good sized party from France. Team L'Atalier were in town!

Saturday was competition day and there was a lot to get through. Fortunately the organisers had provided two large arenas and several disciplines could be running at the same time providing there were sufficient judges.

Competition got under way in some very fickle wind

What there wasn't sufficient of was reliable consistent wind. Crosslines got to Hackney just after 7:30 and super ulralight kites on 50lb line indicates how light the wind was. The wind started to pick up as competition got underway it never got very strong, but it got very blustery and could not make up its mind where it wanted to go.

Most teams suffered from severe wind shifts at some time during the precision element of the competition. Unfortunately scores were effected and a teams ability to survive was just as important as the quality of their performance or their luck.

Ballet in the afternoon

All the ballet had to be done in the main arena, the only one with PA. Team was last on the bill so the they had a long wait. They did however have the distraction of watching some very impressive flying from the Individuals.

Christophe Cardon flew an outstanding ballet but suffered a technical disqualification. He didn't realise it until the PA operators started the music but he had handed in the wrong tape. This lead to lots of Gallic waving of arms and lots of running around to collect and replace the tape. By the time this was done he was out of time.

Team Ballet gets under way

It was getting on for 5 o'clock by the time the teams took to the arena. The wind was now more directional but was still very up and down. It was very much a matter of choose a kite and line combination and hope the wind didn't drop of during the routine, best to err on the side of powered up.

Air de Rien put in an excellent performance indicating the strength and depth of French flying at the moment. Crosslines ballet made up the shortfall they had with Punchline in the precision. The results are shown below.

Results too close!

The results are however so close. The breakdown is shown below. After the first round there was about 0.7 between Crosslines and Punchline. At Hackney the difference was about half that at 0.3. That means there is 0.5 between us going into the last round. Under last years rules Crosslines would be UK Champions having won two rounds but this year with the best two rounds counting there is still everything to play for. Its all too close for comfort but should make for good competition and an interesting day at Western super Mare (24 and/or 25 July 1999).

Thanks to the organisers and sponsors

One of the many side shows - Carl Robershaw give single line kite flying lessons

After a hot sunny day of competition on Saturday Sunday started a bit like a damp squid. Cold damp and overcast. The slick organisation we are used to at Hackney and the collection of highly skilled flyers ensured that the day went well. There was something for everyone to enjoy be they kite flyer or passing spectator.

Thanks have to go to Dave Ellison and his team of helpers and sponsors.(June '98)

back to the top of the page

You can return to the Headlines Pagefrom here.

Full UK STACK Results You can find the full results at the STACK UK site at Netspaces.com/stack

Wins for Sascha Reading, Barry Savell and Carl Robertshaw This article concentrates on the team competition. Congratulations must also go to Sascha Reading with a second win in the Junior Cup, Barry Savell winner of Indi Novice and Carl Robertshaw winner of this weeks round of Indi Masters. Full results can be found at Netspaces.com/stack

Keith celebrated his birthday in a tent on a wet Sunday afternoon on Hackney Marshes!