Copyright ©: 1998-2000 NFKA

Wesport Kite Festival 1998

Howdy Fighter Fans,

For those of you who did not attend the Westport Kite Festival, you really missed out! The festival set up was the best we have had at a kite festival! So first I want to thank Creda Axton for the super job she did in organizing the festival and especially her eagerness to assist us fighter kite fans!

The fighter flyers seemed to really enjoy the fighter kite conversations and the friendships that develop from flying together. But the competition was at the core of their focus!

The Pacific Ocean and the beach were beautiful, the weather was, of course, mixed! During our "official" competition, the wind was about 10 - 12 mph. In the afternoon, our competitions stopped because of NO wind! I guess that is just part of the fun!

The "official" competition was structured as 2 separate single elimination heats. Each match was the best 2 out of 3 points. The points for 1 heat went OVER, UNDER, OVER, the other heat was UNDER, OVER, UNDER. Each contestant flew in each heat. The final 3 of both heats flew a round robin where each point was counted, and the total points determined the winner. The competition had 12 contestants. It was tooooooo much fun!!

The winners were: First Place - Bruce, flying an Orcon kite he designed and built. Second Place - Jordan, flying a mylar kite designed by Ed Alden of Seattle. Third Place - Dennis, flying a mylar kite designed and built by Jeff MacInnis of Portland.

An interesting note is that Jordan is 13 years old! Great flying Jordan!

Dave and Jeanette made for NFKA a beautiful bamboo set of numbered tiles for the club to use in determining the draw for each competition. We used it for the first time during the Westport competition and it worked great and is just an incredible work of art! When you see it, you won't believe it. I didn't when I first saw it! Thanks so much! NFKA members really appreciate your wonderful gift!!

I saw something at the festival I have not seen before, a person flying 2 fighter kites at the same time, 1 in each hand! Randy McKiernan from Bremerton, WA was the man doing it! Randy is practicing to do demos and competition pairs ballet with the 2 kites, maybe a battle or two also ;-) Wonder who will win? Anyone else done that before? Looks pretty cooool!!

All in all, the festival was a fighter fan's "best festival of the year" !

Next Saturday, July 18th, is the NFKA's regular "3rd Saturday of the month" fly. It is at Ocean Shores at the Pacific Blvd beach access road. This is the last meeting before WSIKF at Long Beach. It is a great time to get in some flying practice!

We plan to have 3 different competitions during Saturday: a regular elimination combat competition a 12", footlong hotdog, competition and, a Buka competition.

Remember, all flyers regardless of your competition experience are encouraged to participate. That is the best way to really learn how to fly! So please don't hold back because you think you will look foolish, we all look foolish, just join in and have fun!

So get ready for more fun and more grins next Saturday, mark your calendar that SATURDAY, JULY 18, IS FIGHTER KITE DAY --- A VERY HIGH PRIORITY !!

We'll see you on the beach! Until then, fly lots and grin lots more!

Bruce