Fractured Axel

As mentioned in the events forum, the 2015 STACK UK National Championships will be held over the weekend of 13th - 14th June 2015 at Dunstable Downs.

The Nationals will have disciplines for Individuals, Pairs and Teams for two line kites and multi-line kites, with each discipline potentially having novice, experienced and master classes. We will be using the mix format (3 figures and a ballet) and the International Rule Book (IRB) rules. Weather permitting we will run two rounds over the weekend.

Providing there is enough interest we also intend to run a single round freestyle competition using (slightly modified) Tricks Party rules. We will also run a multi-kite single flyer ballet competition - a first in the UK as far as I know.

The rough schedule is as follows, but note that the programme and all times are subject to change, depending on what the weather does, and how many competitors participate.

Saturday 13th June
9:30 - Pilots meeting
10:00 - Round 1 of IRB Championship
(DL Individual - DL Pair - ML Individual - ML Pair - DL Team)
14:30 (est.) - Multi-kite ballet competition


Sunday 14th June
9:30 - Pilots meeting
10:00 - Round 2 of IRB Championship
(DL Individual - DL Pair - ML Individual - ML Pair - DL Team)
14:30 (est.) - Freestyle/Tricks completion

The figures for the IRB competition are:

Dual Line Individual:- DI-03 Circle over Diamond / DI-05 Lap & Snap / DI-08 Pyramid / DI-11 Split 8 / DI-18 Square Cuts / DI-19 Launch, Circle & Land

Dual Line Pair :- DP-03 Pair Circle over Diamond / DP-06 Inverted 8s with landing / DP-07 H / DP-15 Pair Thread & Rolls / DP-16 Pair Square Cuts & Landing / DP-17 Pair Jump with Rolls

Dual Line Team:- DT-03 Follow, Flank-Up & Square / DT-04 Hairpin / DT-05 Arc de Triomphe / DT-10 Team Diamonds / DT-11 Cascade / DT-16 Team Square Cuts

Multi Line Individual:- MI-03 Steps & Turns / MI-04 Two Down / MI-07 Arc Circle / MI-08 Camel Back / MI-09 Clock Tower / MI-11 Tip Pivots

Multi Line Pair:- MP-03 Quadouble / MP-04 Two Down / MP-05 Sticky Wicket / MP-06 Peaks / MP-08 Double Diamond / MP-13 Pair Pivots

For each discipline 3 figures will be selected from the 6 above for each round. (Yes, these are the same figures as selected for Euro-Cup '15.)

I will be there in time for the pilots meeting on Sunday.

Bryan

STACK UK Nationals - Freestyle/Trick competition

We will be running a freestyle competition at the National on Sunday, weather permitting. This will be based on the Tricks party format, using the version of the guidelines and trick descriptions published on the STACK UK website.

The 4 imposed tricks will be selected from the following list, taking into account wind conditions:

Jacob's Ladder (Group 4)
Backspin (Group 4)
540 (Group 3)
Lazy Susan (Group 3)
Flic-Flac (Group 3)
Slide (Group 3)
Cascade (Group 2)
Stall (Group 2)

Note: In an addition to the usual rules, less experienced competitors may elect to fly either of the two Group 2 tricks in place of any selected Group 4 trick, but these Group 2 compulsories will be weighted at 60% (ie will score a maximum of 6 points rather than 10).

Competitors will also fly a ballet. You will need a piece of music (ideally on CD, but we should be able to play from MP3 players as well) which is between 2 and 3 minutes. You must also provided a list of between 6 and 12 tricks which will be included in your routine.

STACK UK Nationals - 3rd Round

Provided the weather is kind next weekend, we will may well have time to fit in a third round of IRB competition at the Nationals, perhaps with Team and Pair on Saturday and Indi on Sunday. This would allow the final score to be based on the best 2 of 3 results. Obviously, the same set of figures would apply. It will very much depend on the wind and weather conditions, and the actual number of competitors. This is just to let people know that this may happen - we will take the final decision on the Saturday.

STACK UK Nationals - Multi-kite competition

On Saturday (weather permitting) we will be holding the first STACK UK Multi-kite competition. This is a new competition for individual kite flyers who fly two or three kites simultaneously. (That's controlling each kite independently, not flying a stack of 2 or 3 kites.)

This is a new format and for now it will be a ballet only competition (but if anyone wants to demonstrate some figures, we would be happy to watch). The rules and timings will be as for the IRB team competition. Ballet music must be between 2 and 5 minutes, ideally on CD, but we should be able to play from MP3 players as well.

Very 'interesting' weather on Saturday: fog for most of the day, sometimes so thick the flyers could hardly see their kites. Fortunately, Sunday was better, especially in the afternoon. Some pics here.

And blog post on the event here.