Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 50

Senior took his wife Heather for a
tandem and flew to Mansfield, then
Withrow, and partway back. Their
flight secured his top finish. Roberto
Cardosa finished the meet very strongly
by flying three consecutive days over
Banks Lake and increasing the mileage
each flight: Day 4, 46.8 miles; Day
5, 57.4 miles; and Day 6, 64.6 miles.
His effort paid off with a second-place
finish. Frederick Bourgavalt’s one flight
on Day 1 was enough to secure third
place. It makes one wonder how well he
would have done had he flown for the
full week!
In the Sport paraglider class,
Morgan didn’t fly, leaving the door
open. Reavis cracked off another
personal-best flight of 57.2 miles and
moved from third to first. Morgan
finished second. Davidson DaSilva
secured a third-place finish. Paulo
Miranda was not far behind in fourth
place.
The meet-organized barbeque at the
Chelan Falls soccer field LZ provided a
tasty end to the awesome Day 6 flights.

Saturday, July 6: Awards
At the sparsely attended awards ceremony, I took the opportunity to thank
all of the volunteers: Lori Lawson,

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

co-meet organizer; Tom Johns, weather
(Tom and Lori’s home also served
as meet HQ); Ron Barbera, safety
and BBQ; Aaron Rinn, scorekeeper;
Danny Uchytil, Steve Hollister, C.J.
and George Sturtevant, launch directors; Larry Majchrzak, water-wagon
maintenance and site coordination;
Stacey Beck, registration; Debbie
Casey, BBQ; Kelly Munro, graphics
and website; Stas Zee, website; Kevin
Baron, pilot-orientation guide book
editing; and Chris Culler, scoring
computer program support. A special thanks to all participating pilots;
competitors, and free flyers! Your
entry fees and donations went not only
towards the cost of running the meet
but also to the Chelan site fund which
allowed year-round flying this year and
will continue to do so for many more
to come.

T

his year’s weather, unfortunately,
wasn’t great. None of the days
deserved to be called epic. Only
a handful of flights ever got over
10,000 feet. But despite the sketchy
and challenging weather conditions,
we safely flew every day, and flights
over 60 miles were scored on five of
the six days. A number of personal

bests were achieved, and that’s what
this meet is all about.
On a personal note: I’ve been flying
Chelan for 25 years, competing in the
Classic for 16 of them, and I finally
won my class! Simultaneously helping
run the meet and flying competitively
took a lot of work and physical and
emotional energy. I spent a good portion of Saturday with drink in my hand
and my toes in the sand, all the while
suffering through the pain caused by
smiling with chapped lips. After a final
swim in Lake Chelan, I relaxed and
enjoyed a long afternoon nap.
Chelan Butte is not volcanic; Lake
Chelan is very clean and refreshing.
The wineries, the restaurants, the bars
that are so inviting, and the fine dust
that serves as thermal markers, a result
of land regularly tilled for our benefit
by the Waterville Plateau farmers,
will all be here for sure in 2014, and
the annual Chelan Cross-country
Classic—the 33rd in 2014—will be
here, too. We’ll see you then!

ABOVE After cross country near Banks lake.
RIGHT Roberto C. on his R12.