EMC05

Eastern Mass Championships

NEIL SIMPSON, DICK SHERMAN,

PAUL KUBEK & BRIAN SEYMOUR

ARE TOP FOUR IN GX

BRIAN SEYMOUR WINS SPORTSMAN

F2D TROPHIES GO TO RICK CLARK,

NEIL SIMPSON AND KEN HARGREAVES

AUGUST 13&14, 2004-– MIDDLEBORO, MA - twelve contestants were on hand for this year’s Eastern Mass Championships. The weather was hot, high nineties with heavy humidity. This was a two-day event, first up was Formula GX combat.

In round one action Jeff Vader set the pace with 725 points, however, Paul Kubek, Brian Stas, Glenn Simpson, Neil Simpson and Miss Shaylene Vader were all in close pursuit. Round two saw Neil and Glenn Simpson stay hot each getting good wins while Dick Sherman moved into contention with a win of his own. In round three Neil Simpson just got past Glenn with a one cut win while Paul Kubek stayed in the hunt getting past Shaylene, three cuts to two, in an action filled match.

Going into round four it was Neil with 2070 points followed by Paul (1860pts), Dick (1755pts), Glenn (1540pts), Jeff (1535pts), Brian Stas (1440pts) and Shaylene (1425pts). This contest would come down to the final four flights. In the first of these flights Shaylene Vader and Brian Seymour faced off in a hook up that would decide the Sportsman winner and also impact the top four. When the dust had settled Brian edged out Shay three cuts to two in a very competitive match. The next two matches between Glenn and Jeff, followed by Brian Stas and Dick, ended in mid-airs, hurting all four pilots cumulative scores. In the final match Neil got a two cut win over Paul to take home the contest “gold”. The final order of finish was Neil (2695pts), Dick (2160pts), Paul (2060pts), Brian Seymour (1960pts) and Shaylene (1930pts).

On Sunday we were back to fly F2D Combat. There were five competitors, so we flew a round robin format each pilot flying the other four once each. This would be ten matches the best record taking home the win. The tenth match between Brian Stas and Rick Clark was pivotal. If Rick won he would take home the contest win, however, if Brian won all five pilots would have identical records of two wins and two losses turning the contest into a single elimination war. Rick would have none of that, however, as he got past Brian on airtime, as they finished the match one cut apiece. Ken Hargreaves, Jeff Vader and Neil Simpson finished in a three-way tie for second with two wins and two losses. In a three way fly-off for second, third and fourth Ken Hargreaves got a bye while Neil earned the right to face him with a hard fought win over Jeff. The battle for second between Neil and Ken was a war with each pilot getting two cuts in the first half of the match. Each pilot only had the knot left and the action was furious as the each tried to earn the win by capturing the other’s knot. In a match that had many opportunities to go either way Neil squeezed out the last cut just prior to the mid air contact that ended the match. Congratulations are in order for Rick, who earned this win by getting past a field full of blood thirsty assassins.

Thank You to Rick Clark, who cd’ed this event, and Thank You to the Wingbuster Model Airplane Club for allowing us to use their fine facility. It was also great to have Adam Proulx, trying his hand at GX combat, for the first time.

Eastern Mass Championships

Formula GX Combat

11 Contestants (9 from MA) (2 from NH)

22 matches - 2 mid airs

(E) Neil Simpson-East Brookfield, MA