This picture of the TC crew (minus Dave Clark and all the
others) is symbolic
of the 2002 Nationals. On Thursday, August 15th, 8-10 inches
of rain dumped right on top of all of us. Competitors, officials,
vendors.
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Bright and early Saturday morning (8/10), I’m planning to
arrive in Sante Fe, TX 3 days early. |
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The ‘official’ technical control team. Left to Right, Rich Borga,
me, Carl Truesdale, Merle Vasbinder and Dave Clark.
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The image to the right is the site plan of Lago Santa Fe,
with a lot of the technical equipment requirements overlaid on top.
Click on image for full size version. The matrix on the bottom right
shows the necessary equipment for each ‘element’, and the totals are shown
on the bottom left. 8175 feet of coax, 14 surveillance cameras,
etc. |
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Here is a view looking east at the vendor tents. Note the
pristine grass. |
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| The video jump trailer and more pristine grass |
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All of the slalom judges will be watching the view of the
gates on TV, so only 2 shore judges are needed. Here is a picture of
the team assembling a slalom gate camera which will be raised up the 20
foot tower. You can’t see them, but this place is swarming with fire
ants. |
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The boat ramp and jump starting dock. Not only will
this area be totally packed in 2 days, it will be totally trashed from the
rain and mud and vehicles in 7 days. |
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This little gadget, which I call “Mr. Mirror”, invented by Dave Clark is not quite
ready for prime time – but close. It will allow a trick video camera mounted
on the windshield to also see the area well outside of the wakes where a
skier might do a trick or two following a flip. See next picture. |
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As an example of why this gizmo is needed, when Cory Pickos (from video taken during
the US Open) lands this flip, there is a chance we would
need to review video from the shore if he does tricks outside of the field
of view. Mr. Mirror above would solve this problem by
showing the area far to the right of the wake on the top portion of the
screen. The area directly behind the boat would be in the center of
the screen. |
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More camera setup. This is Merle, Rich and Carl taking
care of the lake 2 end course camera. |
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It’s starting to rain. Quick make sure everything is
water tight. Note the Tupperware camera holders. Close
observation reveals they are really Rubbermaid. There is a single hole on
the front for the lens to see out of, and 2 holes on the bottom for
cabling. |
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A little rain never hurt anyone, just add woodchips and
everything will be ok. |
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The drainage here at Lago is working well, but there sure is
a lot to drain. |
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Short rain delay. Rusty Rothenberg and Norm Wenzel
share some laughs on the jump starting dock. |
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The water is still collecting, and the lakes are starting to
rise. Jim Thompson and Steve Tyler led the charge to keep all 110+
buoys on all 4 lakes at the right level. This will turn out to be
the most difficult, ongoing task all week. |
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At least there are a lot of boats handy if we get flooded
out. |
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Makeshift bridges were being built at break neck speed.
Five minutes ago this bridge was the right length. |
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Now they are bringing in hay bales to make walking
trails. 6″ of rain at the time of this picture. This place is a mess! |
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| The grass is not so pristine anymore. |
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This is a self portrait of my
feet. The floor of the trick trailer is trashed! I can’t wait
until the maids show up for the daily room service. |
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From a technical perspective, Smilin’ Phil is not
smiling. Concerned, but the tournament can continue. There sure is a
lot of water collecting everywhere, including some of our telephoto lenses
for end course video. |
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The rain stopped. Quick let’s get some skiing started
again. |
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| Nevermind. Here it comes again. |
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Lake 3 is as high as it’s been yet. This is the
hardest it has rained yet. “We need to have a
meeting,” I proclaim. |
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“Meeting? Are you crazy Phil? We want some coffee
and blankets “ |
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“Hmmm. Coffee….”, ponders the newest
member of the AWSA Board of Directors, Merle Vasbinder.
“I know just
the person that will take care of our every wish.” |
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“Is there anything else I can get for you, Merle?”
AWSA President Jim Grew shows some compassion and downright
hospitality by providing the TCs with hot coffee. No blankets,
though. |
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This is the trick judging area for the US Open. We are
doing a video feed from the boat with 3 judges watching in the Fogle’s
garage. This is quite a garage, especially for this task. |
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