Home now, and van un-packed - just waiting on my turn in the bath, so I thought I'd write this up whilst it's fresh... Sitting comfortably? - Then I'll begin.
First off, great big thanks to all thems' that turned up and came out to play - and thems' that turned up, hung around watched and supported. Apprieciated. I hope the show was worth it.
Bigger thanks to Tony and Doug for judging duties, and Mary-Anne for field direction. Can't do it without y'all. Doug stepped into the line of duty last minute after a bit of gentle persuation and really came through for us - nice one. Tony has been and done this more than a few times - appreciated every time, and Mary-Anne ran around like a good-un in a new format she'd never seen before - Well done. Oh, and thanks to the Missus for some deft calculator button pushing. Ta Babe.
One more Thank You to Keith for making a long day-trip to make the Arena and PA available to us, and remembering nearly everything.
OK, Saturday.
Wind was ermmm... variable and challenging, whilst not being harsh enough to cause too many problems. Pretty much STD conditions - a bit of sunshine and a bit of cloud. T'was allright really - can't remember being rained upon much.
TP Imposed Tricks - Spike, Comete, Rolling Cascade, Slot Machine.
1st - Chris Goff (Fury .85) - 29.5 (73.75)
2nd - Piero Serra (CTC) - 28 (70)
3rd - Jon Eales (CTC) - 20.5 (41.25)
4th - Bryan Beasley (CTC) - 16.5 (41.25)
5th - Al Tanner (CTC) - 10 (25)
6th - Yan Spooner (Se7en) - 1 (2.5) - 1st day nerves and arena wobbles
It was kind of agreed that this set of imposed tricks was tough for a kick off set - certainly a challenge to hit 'em well.
TP Ballet
1st - Chris - 107 (105.9)
2nd - Piero - 94.5 (93.56)
3rd - Bryan - 85 (84.15)
4th - Jon - 71.5 (70.79) This for me, was an object lesson in exactly was TP Ballet is all about. Sweet flying - simple tricks, executed cleanly and well with a smooth flow to the whole thing. Nice fly Jon.
5th - Yan - 56 (55.44)
6th - Al - 54 (53.46)
The wind, as described, wasny perfick - but there was some great performances in here. It really highlights strengths and weaknesses in control, Arena Craft and the ability to know limitations where they are.
Overall day 1 then.
1st - Chris - 179.65
2nd - Piero - 163.56
3rd - Bryan - 125.4
4th - Jon - 122.04
5th - Al - 78.46
6th - Yan - 57.94
We did some other stuff to fill time and drew a horde of 4 or 5 appreciative spectators.
Trick Ladder. (Big fun this BTW, with everyone on the field at the same time and DJ Doug Superfly on the mike.
)
Open to all...
Yan dropped out first - failing on Insanes.
Keith was next - missing his 540
Tony fell next having lost his backspins - or was it the fade that was lost?
Al and Jon both missed flic-flac (That's CTC's for you
)
That left Chris, Piero and Bryan.
The next bit ain't really worth talking about - inconsequential - doesn't matter at all - Meh!
Oh, OK, Chris hit his Taz on the .85 and both Me and Piero missed 'em on the CTC's. I mean really, F - F - S. Couple of nice Twix's though.
Ermm. Chris won.
So, seedings applied and the TO went like this...
Chris v Tony - Chris wins
Keith v Jon - Jon wins
Bryan v Yan - Bryan wins
Al v Piero - Piero wins
Semis.
Chris v Jon - Chris wins
Bryan v Piero - Bryan wins
Final.
Chris v Bryan - Chris wins.
Nice day Saturday - all reasonaly relaxed, everything went through pretty smoothly, well done all. Piero had sorted out Al's hoodie early on and some mad scientists were blowing up Oxy-something-or-other balloons to music later on, which was entirely unnecesary and way too loud, other than than, 's all good.
Sunday.
Sunshine and lighter, more favourable winds - looked like being a nice day.
TP imposed tricks - Cascade, Rolling Susan, Slot Machine, 2 pt landing. Them there nice judges had obviously listened to the requests for easier ticks then, except that when it comes to it nothing is that easy with a couple of blokes yielding clip-boards behind you demanding you do it there and then.
1st - Chris - 31.5 (78.75) We could have really done with him missing one at this point though!
2nd - Piero - 26 (65)
3rd - Bryan - 24.5 (61.25) (I've gotta learn how to land a CTC properly
)
4th - Jon - 20 (50)
5th - Al - 17 (42.5)
6th - Yan - 12 (30) Better, but 2nd day nerves and Arena Wobbles again.
TP Ballet
1st - Chris - 142 (140.59)
2nd - Piero - 135 (134.15) Absolute class flying all weekend BTW, Sublime control and style - Brilliant, especially this ballet.
3rd - Bryan - 99.5 (98.5)
4th - Jon - 83.5 (82.67)
5th - Al - 74.5 (73.76)
6th - Yan - 50 (49.5)
Superb performamces in here again, helped by the kinder conditions but the definition and actual ballet performances really started to shine through. Top flying, even if you're not at all interested in competing, it'd be worth coming along to next years event just to watch this as a showcase for what we're all about. Good stuff guys.
OK, overall for the day then...
1st - Chris - 219.34
2nd - Piero - 199.15
3rd - Bryan - 159.75
4th - Jon - 132.67
5th - Al - 116.26
6th - Yan - 79.5
Sooo, our TP 2010 National Champion is... well, it's Chris - except he's got a certificate to prove it now. and a Troph... oh wait, no, he's got Jaffa Cakes - except we ate them all.
the gap between 1st and 2nd place over the weekend though, was 30 points (and that's out of 600) - that's like, 2 trick scores difference over a weekend!
OK, we did fill some time on Sunday...
Trick ladder.
Adrian fell first failing his lazy susan (good to see you though)
Yan was next to fail on his Insane (same place as Saturday!)
Jon missed the rolling cascade
Tony missed his comete
Al fell at the Wap doo Wap
That left Chris, Piero and Bryan again. 's all change now though, 'cos Chris missed his Wap as well and DJ Superfly sent him packing off'v the field.
I missed the Crazy Copter and Piero nailed it and so won through no problem.
Trick out seedings applied - except Craig (nice to see you Craig - freestylin' - 's good for blowing all the shite out of your head on a weekend
) took my place.
Piero v Jon - Piero wins (after a fly-off though - mighty close)
Yan v Al - Al wins (best flying of his weekend though from Yan! sheesh.
)
Chris v Adrian - Chris wins
Craig v Tony - Tony wins
Semis
Piero v Al - Piero wins
Chris v Tony - Chris wins
Final
Piero v Chris - Chris wins - Absolute Masterclass this, nailed down yo-fades included - Awesome show.
Ok, bathroom is clear, so that's that. One more thank you all to everyone involved - and a mention for Roy and the Northants guys for welcoming us along. Decent Purley uniforms BTW
. I do have everyones scoresheets here still, so if you want to see you're own results - drop me an e-mail and I'll punch the numbers in and send 'em on.
Oh, and well done Chris.
Bryan