The California Regional Canopy Piloting League kicked off its 2013 season on Saturday April 20th with 21 competitors. Skydive Sacramento in Lincoln, CA hosted the very successful event, which saw all 6 rounds completed by the end of the day. Although the competitors had two days of near ideal conditions for practice, Saturday morning came with 10 – 14 mph head winds for both the speed and distance rounds. This same head wind turned into a downwind for the first Zone accuracy round – which made for a nail biting and exhilarating experience for the competitors, judges, and spectators.
Steve Whittenburg excited to be finished with Zone Acc. Round 1. Photo by Katie Blain.
The competition went on a 2 hour wind hold, and as the sun started to set, the winds died down to almost nothing allowing for the final Zone Accuracy run of the competition.
Scott Harper navigates the Zone Accuracy course. Photo by Steven Hudoba.
In the pro group, 11 competitors registered for the meet and battled hard for the top three positions despite the very challenging winds. 3rd place finish went to Paul Rodriguez, 2nd place to Scott Harper, and 1st place was won by Albert Berchtold. Entire results and individual run scores can be seen on the results page.
Pro Group Podium – 3rd Paul Rodriguez, 2nd Scott Harper, 1st Albert Berchtold. Photo by Steven Hudoba.
In a sign of the continued growth of the CRCPL, 10 competitors registered for the Advanced group. The league is now giving overall medals for the advanced group as well, which was very well received by the competitors. Dave Hawley took home 3rd place, while Alex Cashman took home a 2nd place medal, and Max Bond from San Diego took home the 1st place medal. The difference between 3rd place and fourth place finisher Will Whittenburg was 12 points. It was a very tight competition, very technical, and extremely challenging conditions. All of the competitors did a fantastic job.
Advanced Group Podium – 3rd Dave Hawley, 2nd Alex Cashman, 1st Max Bond. Photo by Steven Hudoba.
We would like to thank all of our judges and organizers who volunteered their time to score and run this meet. Thanks to Pat Garcia, DZO of Skydive Sacramento, for allowing us the opportunity to promote the discipline of Canopy Piloting in Northern California and special recognition to our sponsors. Adrenaline Obsession, Sierra Nevada, Go Fast, Blue Skies Magazine, PD, and all of our photographers..thank you! The league is continuing to grow and you still have time to join the league for the final three meets. Our next competition is on June 29th. See you all at Nationals!
Photos of the competition by Steven Hudoba.
Video – Round 2 of Zone Accuracy by Steven Hudoba.
The 2013 season regular season has come to an end here in the Southeast. After 5 meets,Curt Bartholomew stood atop the podium as the 2013 league champ. Greg Windmiller took second and Rob Wallace placed third after a close race with Boston Hartley. Big thanks to all our Judges this season, many of them earned their FAI judge rating this season. Hans Paulsen, Tim Thacker, and TK Hayes for hosting our meets. These DZO’s are the most supportive we’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Our league supporters Performance Designs, Adrenaline Obsession have been there with us all year helping wherever need.
We’ve got 7 new PRO competitors this year!!! After working their butts off this season we’re proud to welcome these pilots to the PRO ranks.
We’ve made it to 2013 and this years FLCPA season is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever before. The 
