The U.S. Open National Championships
Monroe, WI June 9th-12th
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SCORES HAVE CHANGED
Over the past three seasons Pong has always strived to bring you timely, accurate reporting from some of the top competitors, crew members, and Officials in the country. Rarely will we offer criticism of an Event, Official, or Venue, but when we do we aim to make it constructive. It is important to note that we all come from different walks, backgrounds, and lifestyles and don't always share the same opinions. That's ok, and we celebrate the fact that we are all different and can work together to improve ballooning. With that said, we believe critiques are a healthy way of providing feedback to Events and potential participants. Simply put, we wouldn't be providing accurate reporting and would be a disservice to the ballooning community if we embellished what went on at an event.
For the sake of disclosure we have provided (at his request) Maury Petrehn's email to Nick Donner and all competing pilots in the Monroe, WI event as well as communication to and from Nick Donner regarding his complaint on Task 7.
Post Race Drama - Around 12am on June 17th (early Sunday morning - the event ended Tuesday) the scores were republished with a correction to Task 7 that ultimately changed the winner of the race. Maury gave an account of his reasoning on why the scores were changed via email to the participating pilots. It should be noted that the lone score to change was Nick Donner's baggie on Task 7 dropping him out of the race lead. Maury explains that while he was returning home from the event he reconsidered Nick's score based upon the baggie landing on the hood of a vehicle parked within the confines of the scoring area. Maury was the Official that scored Nick's baggie Tuesday morning, the one that calculated the results, and the one that revised them nearly four days later -- only after BalloonPong editors posted their final review of the event. Coincidence? We'll let you decide.
Lastly Congrats to Scott Armstrong on some great flying in Monroe, WI last week!
For the sake of disclosure we have provided (at his request) Maury Petrehn's email to Nick Donner and all competing pilots in the Monroe, WI event as well as communication to and from Nick Donner regarding his complaint on Task 7.
Post Race Drama - Around 12am on June 17th (early Sunday morning - the event ended Tuesday) the scores were republished with a correction to Task 7 that ultimately changed the winner of the race. Maury gave an account of his reasoning on why the scores were changed via email to the participating pilots. It should be noted that the lone score to change was Nick Donner's baggie on Task 7 dropping him out of the race lead. Maury explains that while he was returning home from the event he reconsidered Nick's score based upon the baggie landing on the hood of a vehicle parked within the confines of the scoring area. Maury was the Official that scored Nick's baggie Tuesday morning, the one that calculated the results, and the one that revised them nearly four days later -- only after BalloonPong editors posted their final review of the event. Coincidence? We'll let you decide.
Lastly Congrats to Scott Armstrong on some great flying in Monroe, WI last week!
Tuesday Morning Flight
Again on Tuesday morning pilots and crews in Monroe were greeted with fairly windy but flyable conditions. The forecast was for the winds to stay low enough for flying/landing up until 8am. With Sunrise at 520 there wasn't much question on whether flying would happen but how many tasks Event Director Maury Petrehn call.
While waiting for the briefing to start pilots were told to pick up their baggies in the back of the room, there were seven to pick up. Soon thereafter the task sheets rolled out and after looking on the front and back there were 10 total tasks called for the morning. Task 4 was a Multiple Judge Declared Goal with the two targets being virtual. One was to a road and the other was to a driveway/yard. This second target also had a PZ to contend with just a couple hundred meters to the north. Pilots were to chose whichever task they felt lined them up best for the rest of the flight. This task had a requirement to be 1500 meters from it for takeoff. Tasks 5, 6, and 7 were all grouped together in a large common area just on the west side of town. The first was an X on the northwest side of the field followed by a Memorial Task where pilots had to put their baggies on the fabric of the X or on the outside of a large tarp. The last task in this area was a MAX distance task being measured from the center point on the X in task 5. This grouping of tasks was unique in that the way they were laid out there was no way a pilot could expect to win all three of these targets as the wind line would not allow you to maneuver between all the target especially with the speeds being well in excess of 15 kilometers an hour as pilots approached. Tasks 8 and 9 we also grouped together with 8 being an X on an island. Pilots could put their baggies on the island or on land within the confines of the field around the lake/pond. Task 9 was virtually undetectable as a virtual target in the lake to the south of the X on task 8. These two targets were not situated in such a way for a pilot to get a close score on each. If you went for the island and the X you were well to the north of the virtual target in this area. Tasks 10, 11, and 12 were all individual targets pretty much in line with the wind. With the winds being very quick and the second of these two targets on roads themselves that required baggies on the road or in the short grass beside the road, these were going to be very difficult to hit. After task 10 the winds started to become what can only be described as a variably windy condition. Several pilots were able to mostly get close to all three of these but the earlier you were the easier it was to get to these targets. Task 13 was a Pilot Declared Goal to be declared before you left the briefing and then could be changed via text before 730 or your closest point to the target in task 12, whichever occurred first. You could also write the coordinates for the PDG down on the baggie tails of any of the previous three tasks. Scores were pretty good on this task considering pilots were in some cases more than 20 miles from where they had taken off. All in all the morning was very difficult considering the flying conditions in combination with the tasks that were called. A more competitive flight would have involved far fewer tasks given the windy conditions at flight time. One of the other things we hope to see in the future is tasks that are combined in the same fields together either be lined up or taken off the task sheet. When approaching a target a pilot should not have to choose to go for one X and sacrifice his score on a different X just for the sake of having more tasks. Pilots want to have the most competitive flying available, this does not mean flying more or less tasks. Virtual targets are also good at times but to have them also have an altitude restriction above an obstruction is dangerous as the BFA Nationals saw with a virtual target in Anderson, SC a few years back. There are some great things and some bad things to take away from this new style of competition ballooning. With all things new come growing pains and this is certainly what happened in Monroe. Pressure to fly might have gotten beyond the big picture of what might be best for actual competition. Wind speed aside, Tuesday morning should have had easily two less targets to help with aligning approaches to targets. One of the biggest talks of the day though was Gary Heavin coming on strong and having the lowest points totaled for the morning followed closely by Kinnie Gibson and Scott Armstrong. Gary was able to get scores with all of his baggies and Kinnie really zeroed in on his virtual tasks. Scott closed better than anyone winning a couple of the Judge Declared tasks at the end of the flight. In the end though it was Nick Donner who held on to his lead even with making a mistake on task 13 and texting the wrong coordinates and getting a poor result there and at the two previous tasks. Pilots will now have the opportunity to fly in Chillicothe, IL July 19-21 to take the title in the overall part of the Open Championship that Event Director Maury Petrehn will again call the tasks for. Complaint submitted by Nick Donner for Task 7Complaint in response to Task 7
Back Ground: Competitor 6 initially received a second (or third) place score for his distance on the MAX task. This was published as final and the director agreed this was an accurate score and measurement. The baggie had landed on the hood of a vehicle that was sitting in the scoring area. Score Change: Came in response to the director stating “We can/will correct officials’ mistakes at any time we become aware of them” which is straight from the rulebook. The mistake in question was known at the time the baggie was measured and when the scores were published as final unless there was a question by 5pm on June 15th. When asking Google what the definition of a roof is, a response to Wikipedia.com comes up with: A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Also when asking google “what is the front part of a car specifically called’’ the response from yahoo answers is if it's the part w/ the engine, in the US it's called the hood (the part you lift)… Conclusion: I would like to respectfully ask that the original score be reinstated based on definitions and the intentions of the definition as written in common English (US) language. Thank you – Nick Donner Competitor 6 |
E-mail received from Maury PetrehnNick, (All Competing Pilots)
In response to your Pong tweet and wanna be article... Here you go again! Let me set the record straight and offer an opposing viewpoint - The TRUTH! 1) The BalloonPong Balloon Banner flew for Free/No Corporate Entry Fee! (Never going to Happen again!) Nor Pong Cameras) 2) You were hours Late for master briefing! (we personally delivered your pilot pack and gave you a briefing to get you checked in/ready to go) 3) You did not pay any entry fee ! (Never mind the crew I got for you as well) 4) Before you launched on Sunday AM you told me I made a "Good Call" the forecast winds were 20, 30 to 40 mph - surface under/at 10 knots 5) 18 out of 22 balloons launch/fly Sunday AM - 4 did not fly! Tuesday am - 6) The forecast winds - 10, 20, 30 as low as 6 on the deck - (Less than SUN AM!) 7) 20 out of 20 balloons launch/fly - including 3 of the pilots who did not fly on SUN AM! 8) No one forecast, knew or expected the winds to pick up the way they did! NO ONE! 9) It was PERFECT conditions (better than the Sun AM flight) with 90 degrees of steering for competition for the entire 1st part of the flight! 10) Pilots scored on all 10 tasks! (scored Well) We did find an error - that I made - which I am now correcting! - Rule# 5.2.1 states clearly - "We can/will correct officials' mistakes at any time we become aware of them" - On task #7 MAX - Nick Donner pilot #6 baggie was on the "roof" of a car The task sheet clearly says "No roofs" Pilot #6 receives a 7.5 score this will change the results! Congratulations to 1st Place - Scott Armstrong, 2nd Place - Rhett Heartsill, & 3rd Place Kinnie Gibson! 11) SO -If it was so - questionable or bad why did you say nothing at the briefing? 12) If it was so bad - why did you launch? 13) Why didn't you and ALL the other pilots call and discuss it with me? 14) Why did ALL of the pilots launch!? 15) WHY! 16) Because it was PERFECT! 17) Was I 100% consistent in my call(s) - As Always - YES! 18) You chose to fly - no one forced you! 19) You could have landed at anytime - you chose not to. 20) Why did you not say anything to my face afterwards? - Why didn't you file a protest? Why days later on your own guarded blog, do you babble away? 21) Winds/weather change at every balloon event, during every flight! (I called good tasks on a perfect wind line - All of the goals/targets were scored on - even with the wind increase - I am not in charge of creating the winds/weather - Higher power at work there!) 22) Task 4 Was Multiple Judge Declared Goals - to test a pilots ability to make a good choice - Almost every pilot chose not to fly to the goal close to the PZ - You chose that 1!? Both tasks at the island also involved making choices to get the best score on both goals/targets! No task at any event is ever designed for winds that increase the way they did that morning... Yet - Again all the goals/targets were attainable and were scored on by every pilot! Another - more fair way my points system works! A little clue for you - the closest baggie/track won every target/goal! Amazing! 23) Having 10 tasks had nothing to do with any outcome of the Morning or of the flight. ZERO! 24) If you would like to put up $20,000+ of your money - 6 months plus of your life - 1000's of hours of labor to put on your perfect little balloon race - GO FOR IT! This is My Race - My Rules - if you don't want to participate - Don't! As if I care at all! Don't come! Really - go ahead and be a closed minded following sheep. I could care less - its Your choice! Have you ever been to a balloon event and not complained about something - EVERYTHING! (NO) - Will you ever... I feel sorry for you Nick! 25) But to sit behind the safety of your computer screen and voice an unchallenged Opinion - with no facts or safety net is a personal attack on me & my family is a mistake - (Something I have avoided with you - Until now!) 26) If I called 1 task & it was only the second to last goal and you got 7.5 points would it have been the wrong call? Or if you texted the wrong coordinates on your PDG - oh you did that! 27) If I called only 5 parts - farther apart - are you saying things/winds/weather would have all somehow been different? (FYI - there were only 5 scoring teams sent out during that flight) 28) Oh Yes - part of the whole picture - the event is not over! Part 1! part 2 to go 29) This is the reason I got out of competition ballooning - Idiots! If you can't handle the - "Pressure to Fly" - perhaps you ought to hang it up! 30) Are you still mad because I beat you by 2500 points for the real rookie of the year in 2001? (Was that before or after you knocked yourself unconscious landing?) 31) Are you upset that I am respected and trusted? - & you will never be! 32) Or is it - because while you were crashing into an apartment complex - because you did not have ANY strikers on board your aircraft as required by law, That I won the National Championship and then retired to do bigger better things? 33) Oh wait as usual - that was all someone else fault! - I forgot ! 34) Seems to me the only constant thing in your life - with all of your issues and problems - the common denominator - It Is YOU Nick! Someday you need to look in the mirror! 35) A personal attack on the Balloon Event Director is grounds for you getting thrown right the hell out of my event! You are messing with my family/livelihood/reputation without any ammo. 36) You showed up at this event looking for trouble - well you found it! You can "Win" all of the titles in the world Nick - but, if nobody cares about or likes you - then they mean nothing - then you are truly the - "Loser" Why don't you grow some & post this on your precious little website - (That I have never & will never visit!) You have 24 hours to apologize publically and write a retraction or new article or you will be expelled and not invited to any event(s) I am ever involved with! (Scores are Now Final!) I Am All for constructive critism that acheives postitive results & improves things - I am a Man - I can take it! However, I don't need - nor will I tolarate a negative attack campaign against me or my family. You should know me better than that by now - No one else has stated any issues with anything that I did as Balloon event director of the event in Monroe? Just you Nick!? Any further comment? Maury's response to the Complaint.Maury Petrehn 2:01 AM
to me SCORES HAVE BEEN POSTED AS FINAL - NO COMPLAINT OR PROTESTS ARE ACCEPTED! On Sun, Jun 17, 2012 at 12:33 AM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: Attached is my complaint to the changing of my result on Task 7. Nick Donner -- Maury Petrehn |
Nick's response to Complaint denial
[email protected] 2:14 AM
to (All Competitors) and Maury
Thank you for your consideration of my complaint to the scores. This being a mistake you are saying you became aware of just today (within the last 12 hours) I would have guessed that once the scores were recalculated there would be a time period available for complaints and protests especially since you were the person who originally scored my baggie at this target. I do believe that this would have been worthy of my peers hearing both of us out and taking a vote as your rules allowed.
I would also like to say that I tried to give you an entry fee but you refused to accept because I was going to get that money back even if I finished last place.
Regarding me not paying an entry fee for the BalloonPong banner here is the unsolicited email from you saying I could fly the BalloonPong banner for free. I had no intention of flying the banner until you brought it up and I very much appreciate the offer.
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Maury Petrehn May 22
to me
Nick,
You can also fly the BalloonPong banner for free in Monroe too - Now you have to come!
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Maury Petrehn
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[email protected] May 22
to Maury
Thanks Maury. I will do my best but still won't know until Wednesday at the earliest. If it matters I am not off for Battle Creek even at this point for next month. The schedules sucked for June.
Nick
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By Monday I will have your email and the unanswered complaint posted on the website.
I would like to congratulate Scott, Rhett and Kinnie on a great race flown!
Respectfully -
Nick Donner
Monday flights cancelled
All of Monday's flying activities were cancelled. First on Monday morning the flight as cancelled due to a line of rain and thunderstorms moving into the area and then the evening flight was scrapped because of high winds again.
The picture to the left is the strip of land/walkway in the middle of a lake/pond on the west side of the competition map. The task, had the winds slowed down, was going to be to put a baggie anywhere on that strip of land. This was very ambitious because of the high winds, but would have been a fun challenge at any rate. I am sure that Maury would have received a few lost baggie tips from this task.
Tuesday morning marks the last flight attempt and currently there looks to be a slight chance that a flight will be called. The winds again need to be less than 10 kts and a short flight will be advised because of the impending winds speeds that are expected in the forecast as early as 8am.
The picture to the left is the strip of land/walkway in the middle of a lake/pond on the west side of the competition map. The task, had the winds slowed down, was going to be to put a baggie anywhere on that strip of land. This was very ambitious because of the high winds, but would have been a fun challenge at any rate. I am sure that Maury would have received a few lost baggie tips from this task.
Tuesday morning marks the last flight attempt and currently there looks to be a slight chance that a flight will be called. The winds again need to be less than 10 kts and a short flight will be advised because of the impending winds speeds that are expected in the forecast as early as 8am.
Sunday Morning Flight
Update to follow early this afternoon. Three tasks from a common launch area and fairly windy on landing. All tasks were Judge Declared Goals and there were definitely good scores at every target.
UPDATE:
Sunday morning competitors were greeted at the Blawkhawk Techical College with a 12 part task sheet and ten baggies. This took several people by surprise considering the winds at the time of briefing were over the waiver limited 10 kts for takeoff. However the tasks were called and pilots had to prepare for the flight and hope that the winds calmed down so they could actually get to fly the tasks or at least have a good dry run in the process. Event Director Maury Petrehn went through the tasks and a couple of questions were asked but an additional briefing was called where the first target was set to be placed about ten miles south of town in Illinois.
When competitors arrived to target 270 where the first fly-in target was to be placed it was still breezy but the airport winds were reports right at 10 kts. Rather than go with the original plan of 12 tasks Maury wisely decided that a competitive flight with the winds that were dealt would be better suited for three tasks and taking off at the field we were all standing in already. Task 2 was kept as task 1 and from there two additional Judge Declared Goals (JDG) were called. Task 2 was now at the soccer field/baseball field on the south side of town and Task 3 was a cul de sac surrounded by a cultivated field.
The inflation was quite windy but doable as all but three pilots flew. The first target was just 2.7 kilometers down and was an east/west road that you had to put the baggie on the road or in the 'short' grass for it to count. This meant you were going to have to throw from low altitude to get a score with the baggies. GPS scores would also be taken but a GPS score could not be achieved that beat any score of a baggie on the ground.
The next target was the soccer field. Winds were upwards of 56 kilometers an hour at 1200 feet and with competitors having to go up some to get the right turn this target also came up fast. The large field allowed for throws higher up and for competitors to not have to worry about being low for their drops. A good way to fly this was to fly at the target around 100 feet directly to the center and then account for the drift and put your baggie within the legs of the X.
The cul de sac target presented the biggest challenge of the morning as it took less than three minutes to get from the previous target to this one and you had to climb above 1000 feet to get the right turn and get in line for this X. One of the challenges this morning was coming down quick enough and soon enough to not get knocked off to the east on approach. The winds to the north on the surface were generally still there but you had to get settled in to them for your balloon to really get the left turn.
The last challenge of the morning was finding a suitable landing spot. The winds on the surface at landing time were in excess of 15 kilometers an hour and higher with the gusts. The nice thing about Wisconsin is that there are LOTS of places to land.....you just have to fly longer than you would plan to sometimes to find these landing spots. Plowed hay fields were the main pick for landing spots.
Scores are up here. The main difference from normal scoring that you see at other events is that the lowest score is best. The scores are broken down in the rule book within the same website where the event scores are posted.
UPDATE:
Sunday morning competitors were greeted at the Blawkhawk Techical College with a 12 part task sheet and ten baggies. This took several people by surprise considering the winds at the time of briefing were over the waiver limited 10 kts for takeoff. However the tasks were called and pilots had to prepare for the flight and hope that the winds calmed down so they could actually get to fly the tasks or at least have a good dry run in the process. Event Director Maury Petrehn went through the tasks and a couple of questions were asked but an additional briefing was called where the first target was set to be placed about ten miles south of town in Illinois.
When competitors arrived to target 270 where the first fly-in target was to be placed it was still breezy but the airport winds were reports right at 10 kts. Rather than go with the original plan of 12 tasks Maury wisely decided that a competitive flight with the winds that were dealt would be better suited for three tasks and taking off at the field we were all standing in already. Task 2 was kept as task 1 and from there two additional Judge Declared Goals (JDG) were called. Task 2 was now at the soccer field/baseball field on the south side of town and Task 3 was a cul de sac surrounded by a cultivated field.
The inflation was quite windy but doable as all but three pilots flew. The first target was just 2.7 kilometers down and was an east/west road that you had to put the baggie on the road or in the 'short' grass for it to count. This meant you were going to have to throw from low altitude to get a score with the baggies. GPS scores would also be taken but a GPS score could not be achieved that beat any score of a baggie on the ground.
The next target was the soccer field. Winds were upwards of 56 kilometers an hour at 1200 feet and with competitors having to go up some to get the right turn this target also came up fast. The large field allowed for throws higher up and for competitors to not have to worry about being low for their drops. A good way to fly this was to fly at the target around 100 feet directly to the center and then account for the drift and put your baggie within the legs of the X.
The cul de sac target presented the biggest challenge of the morning as it took less than three minutes to get from the previous target to this one and you had to climb above 1000 feet to get the right turn and get in line for this X. One of the challenges this morning was coming down quick enough and soon enough to not get knocked off to the east on approach. The winds to the north on the surface were generally still there but you had to get settled in to them for your balloon to really get the left turn.
The last challenge of the morning was finding a suitable landing spot. The winds on the surface at landing time were in excess of 15 kilometers an hour and higher with the gusts. The nice thing about Wisconsin is that there are LOTS of places to land.....you just have to fly longer than you would plan to sometimes to find these landing spots. Plowed hay fields were the main pick for landing spots.
Scores are up here. The main difference from normal scoring that you see at other events is that the lowest score is best. The scores are broken down in the rule book within the same website where the event scores are posted.
Saturday Evening Flight and Glow
Saturday brought 10+ knot winds across the Monroe area during the afternoon that continued through the evening and prevented most of the pilots from glowing. About 10 balloons did put up though to bring awareness to the event. Tomorrow morning is shaping up to be the first competition flight of the event if the weather can hold out. Winds are currently 8 knots and forecasted to stay below that until after 8am. Then later in the day winds will be upwards of 20 knots with the gusts.
Event Director Maury Petrehn is planning a big first flight and with with the unique scoring system that has the guy in first with the fewest points pilots will try to finish up with less than 10 points to really think they have had a good morning especially with all the wind. We will try to break down the scoring system and talk about the tasks as time permits.
Return to Monroe
This weekend will mark the return of competition ballooning in Monroe, WI. Starting with an evening flight on Saturday June 9 and concluding with a morning flight on Tuesday June 12 competitors will fly as many as 11 tasks in a flight. Competition Director Maury Petrehn has his own set of rules that is published on his website www.open-championships.com.
Many competitors are looking forward to flying in arguably one of the pretties areas in the country with Wisconsin's rolling his and predictable steerage. On Saturday evening the event has glow preparations set up all around town in different locations. The wind seems to be the biggest factor in limiting the flying during the four days of the championship. Morning flights will have the best chance of getting in the air before the heat of the day kicks in.
The competitors list includes the highest amount of pilots from Team USA flying, six in total. John Petrehn will be the early favorite this weekend coming off a strong finish in South Carolina a couple weeks ago and winning the only event of this kind last year. Bill Baker having also flown in Maury's event last year and leading until the last flight will try to better his third place. Joe and Rhett Heartsill along with anyone with a TX driver's license will be a contender at some point and Nick Donner will try his best to win also.
These six pilot's from Team USA will also be flying for the rights to win the traveling Championship Belt that Joe Heartsill currently has for being the highest placing pilot amongst the team at an event that has two or more of them attending.
Look for videos and scoring updates son after flights and LOTS of tasks once the balloons take to the skies!
Many competitors are looking forward to flying in arguably one of the pretties areas in the country with Wisconsin's rolling his and predictable steerage. On Saturday evening the event has glow preparations set up all around town in different locations. The wind seems to be the biggest factor in limiting the flying during the four days of the championship. Morning flights will have the best chance of getting in the air before the heat of the day kicks in.
The competitors list includes the highest amount of pilots from Team USA flying, six in total. John Petrehn will be the early favorite this weekend coming off a strong finish in South Carolina a couple weeks ago and winning the only event of this kind last year. Bill Baker having also flown in Maury's event last year and leading until the last flight will try to better his third place. Joe and Rhett Heartsill along with anyone with a TX driver's license will be a contender at some point and Nick Donner will try his best to win also.
These six pilot's from Team USA will also be flying for the rights to win the traveling Championship Belt that Joe Heartsill currently has for being the highest placing pilot amongst the team at an event that has two or more of them attending.
Look for videos and scoring updates son after flights and LOTS of tasks once the balloons take to the skies!
