The 2009 Equinox Cup

The Equinox Cup was held at RAF Barkston Heath in still and sunny conditions on the 19th and 20th of September. We had competitors from Germany, Great Britain, Slovenia and Spain. The competition was intense in the four world cup classes and even more so in the non-World cup parachute class. The weekend was rounded of by a spectacular Odd Roc flight by John Jacomb.

S4A Boost Glider

The first event was S4A boost glider and the conditions were the most difficult of the weekend. It was almost completly still with local air movement taking models in different directions. It turned out to be a very close competition between Harold Maehl of Germany and Jordi Roura-Font of Spain. Harold had the best flight in the first round, but was overtaken by an excellent max by Jordi in the second round. In the third round Harold just piped Jordi to win the competition by 2 seconds. It was a family affair for Harold, with his son Manuel taking third place.

S6A Streamer

This was another close competition which needed a fly off to decide the winner. Harold Maehl held a slim lead after two rounds but and excellent final flight from Esther Roura-Misse of Spain enabled her to draw level, before winning the fly off. Francesco Palomar of Spain took third place.

S8E/P Rocket Glider

There were three competitors in the field, including Mitja Zgajner of Slovenia and Manuel Maehl of Germany who are both in the top ten of the world cup rankings at the moment. Add to this our former world champion Mike Francies and it was going to be an interesting competition. In the end the result went along the current ranking position with Mitja, who is still only sixteen years old, beating Manuel into second place, with Mike taking third.

S9A Helicopter

This was finally our chance for a home medal. In perfect conditions John Jacomb and Mike Francies scored the only two maximums of the competition. John's helped him to the gold medal, but the consistency of Jordi Roura-Font edged Mike into third place by a margin of just 4 seconds

S3A Parachute

This is not a world cup class. After two rounds any of the six competitors could win, with Manuel Maehl holding a slender lead. In the final round Manuel's parachute did not open properly enabling Verney Montague to win, what he assures us will be his last International competition. Trevor Seabrook came second and Nuria Crusellas of Spain came third.

Full Results

You can download the full results of the Equinox Cup here