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Morey's Piers 3501 Boardwalk Wildwood, NJ 08260 |
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Cape May County Airport (WWD) , Wildwood, NJ
The 2009 Wildwoods Acroblast is in the books. Competitors from 52 in Sportsman were Jason and Joe Flood who took first and third, Aaron Ham, Scott Jordan, Bob Sabbatino, Michael Zeltkevic, and Mark Mattioli; Kirill Barsukov took third Intermediate with Jim Wells, John Fellenzer, Stephen Seidel, and Will Morey; Doug Lovell and Sergey Prolagayev took second and third Advanced, with Ron Chadwick and Rob Marsicano. Fifty-two's Kendal Simpson and Dennie Thompson were the sole Unlimited Competitors. Kendal won the contest and Dennie won the four minute free.
Chapter 11's Karen Greenfield took second in Sportsman. Adam Cope from Alexandria, Chapter 11, took first in Intermediate. Larry Bashore from Pennsylvania, Chapter 58 took second Intermediate. Chapter 11's Scott Francis took first by a hair in Advanced. Chapter 52 took seven out of eleven placings. We're not a shabby bunch.
Jay Tesauro flew primary with ... Jay Tesauro. Says Jay, "It was a great experience for me personally to participate. I learned a lot although I'm a bit disappointed my only competition had a mechanical issue. After analyzing the judges scores I flew better when the heat was on ... I'm going to try and make VT. There are already 3 competitors pre-registered in primary including the venerable Randal Webb and Farell Woods. I'll need to be on the top of my game for this one."
Evenings were reserved for socializing. Thursday night we enjoyed a beer and wine reception at the Naval Air Station museum and listened to a public presentation from SR-71 pilot Tom Alison. Friday evening families gathered for a beach style barbecue at the Ocean Oasis of Morey's Piers. Adults and children had fun making s'mores at the fire ring after dark. The Saturday evening banquet featured a private presentation from Tom Alison.
While families enjoyed the waterparks, they also stopped by the observation tents at the contest, especially Sunday, to watch their favorite competitors. The competitor and family observation area at WWD is on a grassy space right in the middle of all of the contest activity, with almost the same view of the contest performances that judges have.