Yes Alan, competitor number 1, Ron Watkins, was the overall championship winner. (Great photos, by the way!)
There were 19 teams at the British Championships this year, 7 of them were military. The overall standard was very high, as teams had clearly been putting in a lot of practice in advance of the World Championships, in the hope of selection for the British team, which will be decided over the next few days.
Although Ron was the overall champion, it was a nail-biting finish as Caroline Gough-Cooper did brilliantly well in the final fender event and it was thought possible that she had won. Ron had performed exceptionally well throughout, but unusually had an “off day” when it came to the fender. Even so, he won. Well done to him and his crewman
Caroline, as the reigning World Champion, gave as polished a performance as ever, despite having apparently had little time to practice. She is a real asset to the team, not only because of her flying skills, but by her willingness to share tips and advice to less experienced teams who are trying to improve.
So many trophies were given out that my memory has already blurred as to exactly who won what, so I had better not risk being too specific until I have re-checked.
One team that stood out was Russell Harrison and his crewman Paul. Russell is a fairly new member to the HCGB and I do not think he has nearly as many flying hours as many of the other competitors, but they had put in over 40 hours of training in the run up to the championships, and it certainly showed. After last year, which was their first try at the competition, when they gave a fairly inauspicious performance, Russell and Paul walked away with armfuls of trophies this year. These included being the overall winners of the “club” event which is limited to non-professional aviators.
Everyone was pleased to see Russell and Paul’s success as it is difficult to think of two more likeable people. Not only were they good fun, but having use of a fully set up course not far from Heythrop, they gladly offered it to other training teams, with Russell even turning up with a hand held radio to see if he could help one visiting team to train.
Well done to all of the winners, and also to all of the judges who stood out in fields for hours on end, as well as all the people who put in long hours to organise the events. (Shame the hotel produced such a rubbish lunch on the Sunday though!).