From: "Fernando Silva" To: "GTA Yahoo" ; Subject: [GTA-Racing] Chilhowee results posted Date: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 10:48 PM A GTA Classic was held at Chilhowee this past weekend. We had a record total of 25 contestants - 20 in A class and 5 in B class. Saturday developed early and we were able to launch the whole field in a little over 2 hours despite having only one towplane. Leo Longhini did a total of 39 tows on Saturday by himself! Thanks, Leo. We really appreciated your dedication and speed as well as the cooperation of the many pilots who released below 1500'. The day developed as forecast with lift in the 3 to 4 knot range to 4,500' The B class all completed the task. Michael Poe was first in his PW-5 flying 82 miles at 44mph (hcp) for his first win of the series. Sarah Kelly, our most excellent host, was second in her first ever race! She borrowed Leo's Silent 2 motorglider for this great effort. Sarah, then organized a great hamburger cook-out for all of us. The computer racing and the lies went on late into the night (see attached picture). We all analyzed Sarah's race against Michael and she received a lot of coaching from two members of the US Soaring Team - Dave Stevenson and Francois Pin! GTA'ers watch out for Sarah next time... The A class had a great contest on Saturday with Francois Pin, US World Class National Champion in first place, Dave Stevenson, US Sports Class National Champion in second, and Dick Butler, US Open Class National Champion in third! Sunday was a blue day through the launch except for the clouds over the ridge. We had several relights but as the gate opened the sky popped. We had 4 to 5 knots to 6,500' by mid task and then it started to go blue near the end. Great streets developed and for those that stayed high and in "cloud suck" it was a great day. Several pilots, however, had a hard time as they disconnected from the clouds and struggled down low. A very technical day! Sarah did the towing for us, while Leo flew the Silent for his first race ever. And he did it in A class, finishing in fifth and besting many Regional winners. The winners from Saturday - Francois Pin and Michael Poe - repeated their performance by winning again on Sunday. For results and to see everyone's flight logs please check http://home.att.net/~g.t.a.race/ and click on daily scores and 2005 results. See you next week in Perry, the Masters of Soaring, and also at the next GTA on April 30 at Eaglevillle,TN, a new site for us. Fly high... Fernando Silva