Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 16:47:18 -1000 From: CFWONG@pb1.pacbell.com (CFWONG@PROFSP1) Message-Id: Organization: Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University Subject: Road to World Cup - Part I *** Resending note of 09/19/94 18:41 FROM: CRAIG F. WONG (CFWONG) FROM: CRAIG F. WONG (CFWONG) FROM: cfwong@pb1.pacbell.com SUBJECT: Road to World Cup - Part I Disclaimer: (This is a personal account of Team Tsunami's quest for the World Cup and some of the more interesting things that happened to the team while we were in Le Touquet. All views are strictly personal and do not represent the collective opinions of everyone on the team. Lastly, some names will be omitted to protect the guilty :->.) The road to WC V for TSUNAMI began just before the All American in Berkeley. Going into that competition, the team knew it has a good shot at making the WC only if we flew cleanly and did not DQ. We had won at two earlier competitions in the year, but we had been inconsistent and made some errors that could have cost us dearly at a major event such as Berkeley. The format at Berkeley re- quired two ballet heats, one each day - A crash could cost us the chance at going to France. We had also developed a new 6 person precision routine, --- it was shorter than we would have liked, but decided that we would go with it anyway for this event. On our practice day Friday, we flew fair but still had some problems. Our Reactors were a tad too fast for the strong Berkeley winds. The six inch wind tamer we had however, slowed the kite down too much. So that night, I put together 6 two inch tamers which did the trick and helped us maintain the correct speed and pull. Despite a bad warm up at the "outback", and a broken line at the demo, everyone flew really well when it came our turn to fly. We survied the event and thus qualified for WC V !! With less than 6 weeks left after Berkeley, a critical decision was made during a conference call in first week of August. After a review of the compulsory figures (5 in all of which 3 will be selected and announced the day of the competition) and their associated weights, TSUNAMI would go into World Cup as a four person precision team and retain 6 people for the Ballet. That meant a new precision freestyle would need to be developed and we would only have two weekends plus the Golden Gate Challenge to get it ready. This was kept secret for a long as possible (but not too successfully as it was hard to find good places to secretly practice.) It was decided that our most experienced flyers (Randy, Raul, Darrin, & Rick) would make up the precision team. Manuvers from the 4 person TSUNAMI and AIR ART teams were dusted off and integrated. After the first practice in Southern California, the team knew it had a "killer" routine that would keep us in contention in the precision event. We also needed to tune up our ballet routine and the new music had yet to be completed. It was getting close, and our practice time was limited. As the unofficial team worrier, I was getting worried. Job duties were divided up among the members. I would be responsible for kites, Darrin would track and document the wind ranges and the associated lines so no guessing would be necessary at the competition. Rick would be responsible for the compulsories (transitions, etc), etc. As a lark, Darrin requests 500 lb team lines - this turns out to be a key request that we would not appreciate until we got to Le Touquet. In Part II, the final days before our departure to World Cup V and the long and amusing trip to Le Touquet. Craig Wong If something DOESN'T go wrong when you least expect it, then something IS wrong !!!!! ...MURPHY'S SEVENTH LAW --------------------------------------------------------- = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =