The final evening of our annual convention… I’m bringing a close to our daily updates and would like to invite you all to the the next one to be held in Seaside Oregon, very close to our home office in Portland.
But first I’ll make sure to close this properly, and summate as best I can… Bear with me as it has been a long week and I didn’t get out of the room until 2:30 this afternoon working on the slide show for the AKA banquet so I’ll cover what I know… Full competition results should be on the AKA web site within 48 hours.
Although the main competition ended yesterday, many of the fliers came back out to check out each other’s kites and enter the Hot Tricks event.
With very decent conditions today there were quite a few more really cool inflatables out and about… Including a lobster I’d not seen before.
Peter Lynn’s new ribless foils were up most of the day again, looking like giant multi-color pillows in the sky… They use less fabric and are easier to construct, but do not seem to be as stable as more traditional styles of foil.
Mix McGraw made the long trip out from the San Francisco bay area to make another record attempt with 270 hyperkites flown in one train… With somewhat easier conditions than his last attempt in Berkeley earlier this year, he kept the kites up for over three minutes and completed one loop in each direction to meet the set standards by Guinness World Records, but there is a debate as to whether the requirement is 3 three minutes or four… Hopefully we’ll hear news on that in the near future.
A new crew from CBS even came out to film Mix’s record attempt but got there late, since they missed it he was inspired to put on another attempt which was the good one.
While more detailed results will be available on the AKA site, I am happy to report that Lam Hoac from Canada walked away from this event with quite a few trophies from kitemaking and indoor, as well as dual and quad line… Total trophies:
Highest Score – Craftsmanship
Highest Score- Structural Design
Grand National Champion
(1st time for a sport kite entry)
1st Open Individual Freestyle
1st Masters Individual Ballet
1st Masters Multiline Precision
1st Masters Multiline Ballet
The awards banquet was held in one of the hangars inside the Wright-Patterson Air Force museum and decorated with kites, so while people ate, congratulated and socialized they were surrounded by various kinds of planes… Ranging from fighters to stealth planes, from the Wright flyer to a strato fortress.
Yet again I find myself in the wee morning hours and need my beauty rest before flying home tomorrow afternoon… Now is the time to rest, retrospect, and plan for next year.
Ciao for now,
John Barresi
