Balloon Life,October2000

12

The 2000 CanadianHot Air BalloonChampionships were held
in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu during the mornings of August 14-18 in
conjunction withthe week-long festival there.
The organizersofthe St-Jean-sur-RichelieuFestivalhave
devised a unique arrangement with the Canadian Balloon Asso-
ciation(CBA)toassistinsendingachampiontotheWorld
Championships on France in 2002.
Aportionoftheentryfeesare
matched by the festival to create a
fundthatwillbeusedtofinan-
cially assist sending both the 2000
and2001 Canadian Championto
theWorlds.Itishopedthatthis
assistancewillhelpdefraythe
costs that one would incur to ship
equipment andcrew to Europe. It
isalsoanticipatedthatthisar-
rangementwillensureCanadian
participationinFrance!
ElevenCanadianpilots from
acrossthecountryregisteredto
compete for the Trumpeter Swan
Trophy,theawardpresentedto
theCanadianChampionbythe
CBA.
ThefirsttaskonMonday
morning that was presented to the
competitorswasabasicFlyIn
Task. This was a great way for the
competitors to get warmed up for
therestoftheweek.Thetarget
wasontheairportgroundsthat
wasthe base for the festival. The
minimumdistance for launching
was5 kmwiththe maximum be-
ing 15 km. While most pilots used
three or four adjoiningproperties
fortheir launchsite,otherstried
very unique approaches with very
little success.
The early leader, with a result of 2.70 meters (about 8 ft) was
Bill Whelan from Ontario. Whelan had landed and returned to the
site tosee the finaltwocompetitorsdroptheir markers.Serge
Bourassa from Quebecscored amagnificent 0.77meters(2ft)
and another Ontarian, Ken Rolland achieved 10.30 meters (30 ft).

Thus the standings were Serge Bourassa,Bill WhelanandKen
Rollandafter the first task.
Tuesday, the second day, presented tasks two, three and four
to the Canadian competitors. Some of the pilots added additional
fuel tanks as they were uncertain as to whether or not they would
be able to complete all three tasks with the windconditionsthat
were present.
The first of these tasks was a
Pilot DeclaredGoal witha mini-
mum distance of 2 km and a maxi-
mumof10kmfromthelaunch
site. They were then issued a very
difficultJudgeDeclaredGoal,
consideringthewinddirection.
Thefinal task forthe day was a Fly
OnTaskthatresultedinthebest
score of 67.30 meters and the sec-
ond bestbeing 488.33 meters!
On this day, Denis Unsworth
fromSt. Jean, Quebecscoredan
incredible 2,659out of a possible
3,000points.Theseresultscata-
pulted Unsworth into the lead by
over250pointsoverhisnearest
competitor.
Bot hW edn es dayand
Thursday’s flights were canceled
due to poor weather andthe fore-
cast did not look promising forthe
lastdayofcompetition,Friday.
Even if it was not possible to com-
pleteanymoreflights,aCham-
pioncouldbe determineddueto
the fact more thanfour tasks had
beencompleted successfully.
The last dayof the Canadian
Champ ionsh ipsbrou ghtabou t
fairlygoodweatherwithexcel-
lentopportu nitiesforsteerage.
This final day of competition increased the difficulty factor with
a demandingfour task flight!
The fifthtask,a Pilot DeclaredGoalbetween2and7km
away from the launch site was veryclose as the top three scores
were 15.95 meters (about 50 ft), 17.35 meters and 29.91 meters.
The sixth task of the competition was a Maximum Distance

2000 Canadian Hot Air
Balloon Championships

by John Larsen

Ken Rolland competing in Task #1 of the Canadian Cham-
pionship.

Balloon Life,October2000

14

Double Drop. The pilots were requiredto drop twomarkers, in
the correct order, as far apart as possible within the scoring area.
The top three scores for this task was 4,475 meters, 4199 meters
and3,545meters.
The goal for the next task, a Fly On Task, had to be declared
on the secondmarker that wasthrown inthe previous task. The
best score was 126.92 meters(about 500ft), withthe next best
scoreat988meters.Again2kmand7kmweresetasthe
minimum andmaximum distances.
The final task of the day, and the Canadian Championships,
was an Elbow whereby the 2nd drop from the Maximum Double
Drop Distance (task #6), the Fly OnTask (task#7) drop and the
pilot’s landing coordinates were all used to determine an angle of
change in direction. This complex task was surprisingly close in
scoringasthe bestthree scoreswere 142.9, 144.63and145.63
degrees!
The three pilots that scored the best on this, the final day of

2000Canadian Hot Air Balloon
Championship Results

Denis Unsworth 6,717
Stan Wereschuk 6,146
Bill Whelan 5,550
Mary Anne Stevens 5,261
Serge Bourassa 4,930
Ken Rolland 4,318
Sandra Shannon 4,093
Jacques Brouard 4,035
Ron Martin 3,502
Mario Bilodeau 2,845
Doug Shippee 1,491

competition,wereStanWereschukwith3,819points,Denis
Unsworth with 3,603 and the President of the Canadian Balloon
Association, MaryAnne Stevenswith3,364.
Althoughthescores werepostedbrieflyfor the pilotsand
crews to see the scoring of the final tasks, the Canadian Balloon
Association withheld the results until the awards presentation at
the Sundaymorning brunch.
The highest-placedRookieatthe2000CanadianHotAir
BalloonChampionships wasSerge Bourassa from Quebec.
The2000CanadianChampionisDenisUnsworthfrom
Quebec followed by Stan Wereschuk from Alberta and third was
KenWhelanfromOntario.Itisnot bychance thatthesethree
experienced pilots now hold five CanadianChampionshipsbe-
tweenthem.
NextyearSt-Jean-sur-Richeiieuwillonceagainhostthe
Canadian Hot Air Balloon Championship as the event organizers
and the Canadian Balloon Association prepare to send two pilots
tothe WorldChampionships inFrance in2002.

(Left to right) Stan Wereschuk, Denis Unsworth, Lucien Desbiens
(Event Director) and Bill Whelan

Denis Unsworth flying in competition.