For 2019, the Lakes Charity Classic was held at the Grasmere Sports Showground in the centre of the Lake District. The event was held on a Saturday and Sunday with the possibility of a low key competition on the Friday/Monday

Although Friday was not a competition day, conditions were excellent. John Westall showed what could be achieved by taking off from Alcock Tarn, above Grasmere, and flying to Rillington in the Vale of Pickering! He took off at 11:45 and landed at 17:48. His big problem was that he had to get back in order to compete in the LCC. Everyone else had some good flying around Grasmere, flying until late.

On Saturday, the A and B competitions went to Blease Fell on Blencathra and the coaching group went to Jenkin Hill.

Sunday started with very calm conditions but with a forecast of strengthening south easterly winds later. The A and B comps set off for Coniston; by the time take off was reached, the wind was too strong and the competition was cancelled. On return to Grasmere, we had an entertaining ground handling race to complete the competition.

Many thanks to Grasmere Showground for all their help and assistance over the weekend.

You can see a video of the 2019 LCC coutesy of Matt Burton by following this link

2019 smashed our records for donations to charity with a record £5,460. Many thanks to everyone who helped us reach this amount.

Beneficiaries of the 2019 Lakes Charity Classic were

A Competition

The task setters for the A competition were Mike Cavanagh and Richard Bungay.

For the A comp we were considering the Langdales or Seat Sandal as a starting point, with a big transition, flying on to the Blencathra, Skiddaw range to extend the distance before heading out to Southwaite services on the M6, hopefully aided by sea breeze convergence.

The spreadout at the start of the day made it look like the big transition would put too many on the ground so we skipped it by starting on Blease. Conditions on Blease were pretty much as expected and the task was called directing the pilots to fly along to Scales Fell, then back to takeoff area and out to just past the A66, off to Scales again and then back again west to just past the spur coming down from Carlside, then tagging Scales for last time before heading out to Southwaite services.

At the briefing conditions were quite light which saw the keener pilots heading further up the slope to gain any benefit they could, but such action was not needed as the normal takeoff area was soon quite breezy.

An elapsed time format was utilised to take as much pressure of the pilots as possible.

I was a bit surprised to see pilots heading back from Scales so low, it looked like keeping high towards the back ridge was easier, although with the risk of stronger winds. As predicted the wind went off to the west as the day progressed.

Bud Paterson was one of the pilots who landed after a while back at takeoff as was having trouble getting his head around the task. Once he had it clear, although it seemed like he would then be playing catch up, as it was elapsed time he then stormed around the task, and almost took the win.

Ian Miskin was the winner and here is his track log

On Sunday the A comp had a walking circuit of the slate quarry on Coniston Old man before calling it a day for those pilots with a bit of metal to have a head to head at groundhandling and beer slurping.

You can view an animation of the 3 winners flights by following this link.

B Competition

The task setters for the B competition were Ben Keayes and Phil Kew.

Coaching

Lead coaches were Ed Cleasby and Jackie Knights.

We convened the full coaching group on the Saturday morning for introductions and outlined our role (as coaches) and expectations for the weekend. In total we had 20 pilots of varying levels of experience, for many it was their first LCC and with only a few hours airtime were a little nervous, others having in excess of 50 hours were keen to extend their flying experience. Some had already had an introduction to Grasmere at its best, enjoying excellent flying on the Friday evening from Alcock Tarn and were already buzzing from that. The LCC was off to a good start.

With the A & B comp already making their way up Blease we opted for nearby Jenkin. This afforded us more space whilst allowing us to enjoy the flying spectacle of the comp pilots flying their task. Conditions were pretty much ideal with a nice breeze, large grassy take off areas and mostly smooth thermals out front. The presence of a good number of coaches 'White Caps', meant there was plenty of help and reassurance on hand during the launch period and everything went smoothly with no incidents. The flying period extended over 3 hours until around mid-afternoon, when the sea breeze made itself felt, not in any rough way - the abundant lift just quite suddenly switched off. However, the sky still looked good, the sun was out and whilst some had had their fill of flying - often well over an hour, Malcolm and I offered them an evening options of flying from Seat Sandal and a 2000 top to bottom into the Grasmere base. Quite a few took up this offer.

We set off up Seat Sandal on a beautiful evening with seven pilots who may not have been fully aware of the stiff walk-up they had embarked on. Malc and I took the direct route (not doing that one again), whilst the others took a longer, but easier track via Grizedale Tarn. By 8pm we had all found each other again and the still, cooling evening air meant forward launching was going to be increasingly tricky! And so it proved. Before the life went out of the air the first three were away without too many issues. For the rest it became a multiple attempt struggle - however by 9.15pm I became the lone pilot on the hill. It felt a little lonely. A solitary Swiss wild camper became my salvation. With hand signals and speaking loudly I got him to hold up my wing and was soon (very) happily away.

Sunday, although sunny, brought more wind and we deemed it not flyable for coaching purposes. We ran three sessions and tried to squeeze in a fourth (by popular demand) on Rasp but time eluded us. With the A & B comp enjoying a walk up Coniston Old Man it gave us the time and space to run a one hour groundhandling session that proved very popular, colourful and seemed highly appreciated. This was followed by a general debrief from the Saturday that spilled over into a general Q and A session. Finally, after a short coffee break, there was a quick whiz through some photos from the previous day – with brief added commentary.

Personally, I found it really rewarding and enjoyed the experience immensely. The coaches worked superbly, a well-oiled machine that quite frankly made my life easy enough to take photos and shoot video. I don't have much from the top of Seat Sandal however. Special thanks to Malcolm and David May for leading groups.... and all the other coaches and helpers. Finally, I would also like to add my thanks to the coaching group pilots, they were enthusiastic, very appreciative of the help and advice on offer and contributed to a great LCC event.

Photo link: https://aeros.smugmug.com/Flying-2019/Lakes-Charity-Classic-2019/

 

22 June 2018

Start - Blease Fell. Finish - near Southwaite Services on M6

Task Details

A Comp Results

22 June 2018

Start - Blease Fell. Finish - near Southwaite Services on M6

Task Details

B Comp Results

Sunday - Ground Handling Competition

Cumbria Soaring Club would like to thank all of its sponsors and supporting organisations. Their generosity helps make the LCC a great event!

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