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Event info

The Santa Cruz Flats Race will run from Sunday, September 13 to Saturday, September 19, 2015. Come on out and join us for some unique flying and loads of fun in the desert. Based at the Francisco Grande Hotel in Casa Grande, Arizona.

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Flying site

The Francisco Grande Golf Resort is hosting us for the 10th straight year. The resort allows us to park fully assembled gliders in the green grass under the shade of many trees just adjacent to the "tower" where all of our rooms are.

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  • left before start of event

Prize funds and scoring categories

  • Class 1 Open
  • Class 2
  • Class 4
  • Class 5
  • Class 1 Sport

Event info

The Santa Cruz Flats Race will run from Sunday, September 13 to Saturday, September 19, 2015. Come on out and join us for some unique flying and loads of fun in the desert. Based at the Francisco Grande Hotel in Casa Grande, Arizona. Aerotow.
In the memory of a hang gliding pioneer and dear friend, Mark Knight, who died in a Dragonfly accident in 2014. Mark was an incredibly skilled pilot, great fun guy and one of the local pilots that made this whole event possible. He is so missed and we want to dedicate this event to him and the example he set for all of us with his kindness and great attitude.

Flying site

The Francisco Grande Golf Resort is hosting us for the 10th straight year. The resort allows us to park fully assembled gliders in the green grass under the shade of many trees just adjacent to the "tower" where all of our rooms are. You can sit in the comfort of your balcony and see all the gliders below.

Towing takes place a few hundred meters past the driving range at a dusty paddock with crossing runways created just for our event. There is a short walk from where you rig your glider to where we stage for towing.

The flying in this area is highly technical. Towing is normally reasonably smooth and lift often goes from being somewhat light to solid and strong and then back to light again. The taskable day is relatively short compared to some other flatland sites like Forbes or Big Spring, but the pilots seem to really enjoy it.

Francisco Grande Hotel, the legendary Arizona golf resort, is located halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, and is just 45 minutes from the Phoenix airport and an hour drive from Scottsdale. The place located on the border of famous Sonoran desert and Santa Cruz mountain ridge. It offers high thermal activity and fine flying conditions with 10,000 ft cloudbase.

The hotel has got all possible resort facilities a pilot may need after a
Launch field is located next to the hotel.
Launch method - aerotow by dragonfly.

Launch field coordinates: 32.882694, -111.847021

Selection and entry fee

Entry Fees: The entry fee for the competition is $325 (does not include tow fees) and is required in full to complete your registration and to secure your entry. If you want to save a few bucks, early entry is $300 and must be paid by July 1st. If you would rather contribute to the crew's beer fund, late entry is $350 and applies to anyone paying after September 1st.

Aerotow fees: will be announced at least one month before the start of the meet, but we expect they will be in the $350-$375 range depending on fuel costs and other factors.

Remember, this is an aerotow launch competition, therefore it is absolutely necessary that you are thoroughly skilled at aerotowing and capable of aerotowing the glider you plan to fly in competition conditions. An international competition is no place to learn how to aerotow. If you are unknown to the organizer/meet director, you may be asked for proof of your aerotow expertise when you pre-register. During the competition, the meet director/safety director reserves the right to remove (without refund) any pilot who does not demonstrate appropriate aerotowing skills.

Refund Policy
If you cancel at least two months before the start of meet there is a $75 cancellation fee. Between July 14 and August 14 there is a $150 cancellation fee. After August 14 there is no refund. There are no exceptions so please be certain you can attend before you register.

Payment Method

If a check, US $ dollar account only. Must be received within 10 days of registration to guarantee entry. Complete and submit this form then send a check payable to: Jamie Shelden, 1760 Suite F, PMB -220 Airline Highway, Hollister, CA 95023.
If PayPal or Dwolla click the BUY NOW/PAY button back on the website http://santacruzflatsrace.blogspot.ru/ after registering there too.

Prize fund and scoring categories

Class 1 Open, Class 1 sport. Women.

General schedule

September 12, 2015
8-11 am Registration
September 13 - 19, 2015
Competition days
September 19, 2014
Prize giving ceremony
I add an extra day here to take care of a bug in Live Tracking.

Daily schedule

11:00 - Pilots' briefing / Previous task official results / Task definition
12:00 - Take-off window opens
18:30 - Scoring office opens
22:00 - Provisional results

Accommodation and Activities

Hotel and resort http://www.franciscogrande.com/

How to get here

South of Phoenix on I10 or I8. 5 miles west of Casa Grande on Gila Bend highway.

Casa Grande, AZ 85193, USA
Casa Grande, Arizona United States

Plane

The nearest airports are:

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Web: https://skyharbor.com/

Tuscon International Airport
Web: http://www.flytucson.com/

Car

From Sky Harbor International Airport:
Head East on East Sky Harbor Boulevard and merge onto AZ - 153 South towards I-10/AZ-143. Merge onto I-10 East via exit number 1A towards Tucson. Stay on I-10 East for 32 miles and exit AZ-387 South (make right at top of ramp) for 9 miles. Turn Right (West) onto AZ-84 (Gila Bend Highway). Head West for 5 miles until Resort on right.
Total driving distance is 46 miles and 50 minutes.

From Downtown Phoenix:
Merge onto I-10 East via exit number 1A towards Tucson. Stay on I-10 East for 32 miles and exit AZ-387 South (make right at top of ramp) for 9 miles. Turn Right (West) onto AZ-84 (Gila Bend Highway). Head West for 5 miles until Resort on right.

Total driving distance is 47 miles and 52 minutes.

From Tucson International Airport:
Take I-10 West to Casa Grande exit 194 Florence Blvd. Make a left onto Florence Blvd. Take Florence approx. 10 miles and we are on the right hand side.

Total driving distance is 78 miles and 1 hour 16 minutes

Downloads

Waypoint files

Organizers

Jamie Shelden
Meet organizer
Davis Straub
Live tracking
Mitch Shipley
Meet Director / Scorekeeper / Trike Pilot

Contacts

Socials

Confirmed
Selected
Registered
# Name Nation Sponsor Glider Status
Women
,
Men
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# Name Sponsor Glider
Class
Status
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Category Tagline Participant Email Phone Description Price
Please sign in and register before posting your own classifieds.

Class 1 Open

  1. Jonny Durand
  2. Pedro Garcia
  3. Kraig Coomber

Class 1 Open results

Tasks and results

Task 1

13 Sep, 2015

Class 2, Class 4, Class 5 — 67.8 km — Race to goal

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Task 1

13 Sep, 2015

Class 1 — 67.8 km — Race to goal

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Task 1

13 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 27.9 km — Race to goal

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Task 2

14 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 68.2 km — Race to goal

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Task 2

14 Sep, 2015

Class 1 — 63.7 km — Race to goal

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Task 2

14 Sep, 2015

Class 4, Class 5 — 63.7 km — Race to goal

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Task 2

14 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 39.5 km — Race to goal

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Task 3

15 Sep, 2015

Class 1, Class 5 — 75.8 km — Race to goal

Task 3

15 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 75.8 km — Race to goal

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Task 3

15 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 38.4 km — Race to goal

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Task 4

16 Sep, 2015

Class 1, Class 5 — 81.5 km — Race to goal

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Task 4

16 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport, Class 4 — 39.5 km — Race to goal

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Task 4

16 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 110.4 km — Race to goal

Task 5

17 Sep, 2015

Class 1 — 81.6 km — Race to goal

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Task 5

17 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 38.2 km — Race to goal

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Task 5

17 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 90.7 km — Race to goal

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Task 5

17 Sep, 2015

Class 4, Class 5 — 81.6 km — Race to goal

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Task 6

18 Sep, 2015

Class 1, Class 4, Class 5 — 88.2 km — Race to goal

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Task 6

18 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 43.0 km — Race to goal

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Task 6

18 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 116.5 km — Race to goal

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Task 7

19 Sep, 2015

Class 1 Sport — 30.6 km — Race to goal

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Task 7

19 Sep, 2015

Class 1, Class 4, Class 5 — 87.2 km — Race to goal

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Task 7

19 Sep, 2015

Class 2 — 118.0 km — Race to goal

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