Sunset over AMA headquarters.
By Mike Bergerson
I am sitting and writing this synopsis, enjoying a beautiful sunset from Site 5 overlooking the AMA headquarters building at the conclusion of day 2 of the 2025 AMA/LSF F5J Nationals.
Day 2 was essentially a rinse and repeat of the previous day, except for one major change; it wasn't overcast! There was a light breeze from the east, making surfing the first few rounds easy, with enough altitude.
As the morning progressed, the lift showed up again in spotty locations. If you could follow it, you did well, but the thermals were small and it was tough to stay centered. There were those that dared to make low launches, some with good results, and a lot with low scores and zeros. “Speakin’ a zeros!”… David Bradley Jr. won the $10 pot (five $2 bills) for scoring five zeros! He and his brother, John, were egging each other on to launch lower and lower. They said they haven't had this much fun at a contest in a long time.
When the smoke cleared, we completed five rounds for a total of 11 rounds over the two days, finishing up around 3:00 pm.
The pure joy of getting your time and landing, and the disbelief at falling a foot short of the landing tape. The exaltation at taking out a low launch and disappointment at having to motor up made this a very well rounded competition. OK, here it comes…(cue ABC Wide World of Sports) ”The joy of victory and the agony of defeat.” That bobsled going over the wall just makes me cringe!
Anyway, back to the joy of victory. Easily one of the most skilled and competitive pilots in the country, Oleg Golovidov, is your new 2025 F5J National Champion. WAY TO GO OLEG!
Contest Director Norm Poti deserves a big thank you for a wonderful contest.
Festivities wrapped up with a fantastic BBQ. Thank you Wally, Ed, and Jim, our LSF officers, for a wonderful spread and an informative, informal joining of the ranks…a minding of the meets, so to speak.
I want to take this opportunity to mention a great friend of soaring, and an absolutely wonderful guy who is at home, unable to attend the festivities, Jeff Carr. Jeff, we all miss you and care about you mi amigo. We will begin to fly F3L in the morning, one of Jeff’s favorite events.
With that said, enjoy the pics and videos! You can find the complete scores and individual results on gliderscore.com, as well as a posted screen shot of the basic scores.
F3L begins 7/23 and runs through Thursday, 7/24. Come on out and enjoy what most consider to be the most fun team event in existence that was ever on this planet (possibly others) today… and in the morning.
Blue Skies!!!!
