Closest Race Ever Concludes in a Dramatic Finish over the Black Sea

Michael MacKuen made the following announcement just before 1500 EDT today.

Closest Race Ever Concludes in a Dramatic Finish over the Black Sea

(Wednesday, February 19, 2014)

 The 2014 Round the World Race was completed on Monday night with the three teams racing over the Black Sea into Sochi's URSS. After racing for fifty eight continuous hours, the end of the race was the closest ever. Team AVSIM finished at Sochi first but was carrying thirty five minutes' more penalty time as Team FlightSim and Team Sim-Outhouse came barreling in over the sea. Everyone was watching the clock and the visual flight tracker and the clock again – while trying to estimate whether the penalty margin would be enough or not. As fsxar177 and mickj300 screeched to a stop on the floodlit tarmac we all discovered that the difference was three minutes – FlightSim was not quite able to maintain the gap.

 Sim-Outhouse, flying accident-free, slipped in just before Team FlightSim for second "on the ground" though they carried a slightly larger accumulated penalty and finished third overall.

 Mr. Murphy, the carrier of ill-fortune, visited all three teams in about equal measure; but in the end, the maladies were allocated about equally so that the race was pretty much determined in the air. The finale showed just how equal are the teams' flying, planning, and organizing talents.

  The Wilhelm "Wilhe" Bendit Trophy                       

Race Finish Order and Net Race Time

The finishing times, counting the net bonuses and penalties accrued during the race, are:

Team AVSIM                    55:51

Team FlightSim                55:54

Team Sim-Outhouse         57:25

Congratulations to the 44 pilots who participated in this year's dramatic event. Kudos all around.

Additional individual awards for performance will be announced in the coming days.

The Executive Committee offers our thanks to all who participated.