This article by Lorelle Chapman was first published in the Australian Gliding magazine, July 1985.
Once again, Horsham Week in February was a well-organised success. The weather wasn't as kind as it could have been, with two no-contest days. In all, between 35 and 40 sailplanes competed during the week.
There were a couple of really good days, with 505 km being set one day for Open Class and 413 km for Standard.
On day 4, the entire Sports Class field outlanded, and in 15 metre Class only one pilot completed the task. That was Ron Sanders, who had an average speed of 73.5 km/h. The remaining 15 metre pilots went flat-chat and drove each other into the ground.
On day 6, Mike Giles was the only 15 metre pilot to return to Horsham, at 93.7 km/h.
Ken Parker was here, putting his DG400 through its paces. On day 6 he needed a little engine power to reach home after spending eight hours soaring.
Much sympathy must go to Benalla's one-man crew, Paul. He had five pilots to chase about the Wimmera and was among the last to dine each night. At least he was spared the necessity of a midnight snack because that became his normal dinner time.
Young Rolf Hedt achieved his Gold distance and Diamond goal with a 300 km journey in the Astir. The Sports Class were grateful to him for marking the thermals for them.
The Saturday night wind-up presentation dinner was attended by 90 people.
Overall winners were:
- Open - Tony Tabart, who flew 4 days and whose aggregate score was 1000 points.
- 15 metre - Ron Sanders. He flew 5 days and scored 981 points.
- Standard - Col Crittenden. He flew 3 days and scored 996 points.
- Sports - Nigel Hammond, who flew 6 days and scored 994 points.
Many thanks from the organisers of Horsham Week for the assistance they received from non-members of the Wimmera Soaring Club.