Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1993 06:42:57 -1000 From: sasaki@das.harvard.edu (Marty Sasaki) Message-Id: <1993Jun1.164257.236@das.harvard.edu> Organization: Harvard University Subject: ECSKC VIII I got back late last night (after an 8 hour drive) from Wildwood, New Jersey, site of the 8th East Coast Stunt Kite Championships. I met a fairly large number of rec.kites readers there. We really should get a banner/flag or some name badges/patches to identify each other. Because I have such a bad memory for names I won't mention anyone (for fear of forgetting anyone's name), but it was great to meet you all and chat about everyone's favorite pastime, kites. Overall, the event was another winner. Plenty of large fields provided ample practice time. The weather was mostly warm and sunny, although there was a brief rain shower, and it got a bit chilly Sunday evening. The wind was pretty crazy though, with gusty high winds on Saturday, and changing conditions on Sunday. One moment the wind was howling and 15 minutes later it wasn't blowing at all, then the wind was howling again, but from a different direction. With the exception of the Bag Boys (;-), the level of competition was high and pretty intense (just kidding, Jeff). Competitors came from all around the USA, with some folks from Japan and Canada attending as well. During the banquet, entertainment was provided by Dave Brittain, Dean Jordan, and Bob Childs. Dean and Bob flew ultra-light delta/dart kites on short lines to the amazement of the crowd. The high point was watching Dave fly Rev's. Dave's control is amazing and he got a well deserved round of applause after he finished. No, the banquet wasn't held outdoors, but in the Wildwood Convention Center's main hall. The only down side was that my team's performance wasn't so good, but there was a funny side to this as well. Dave Gomberg (AKA president) was joking with me about renaming my team to "Higher Performance". This was just after High Performance had finished their 1st place performance in Masters Team Precision, and my team had just flown the worst we have ever flown in competition. Some other wise guy came up with the name "Barely Adequage Performance, Most Of The Time", or BAPMOTT. The new name might stick! Summing up, a great time was had by all at the largest stunt kite event in the USA. I sold a few kites, made some new friends, renewed other friendships, learned a lot about kites, and saw some great performances. I would recommend attending this event if you can... -- Marty Sasaki Harvard University Sasaki Kite Fabrications sasaki@noc.harvard.edu Network Services Division 26 Green Street 617-496-4320 10 Ware Street Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Cambridge, MA 02138-4002 phone/fax: 617-522-8546