WP3R PUTS ANOTHER WIN STREAK ON THE LINE IN 2007 SWEEPSTAKES SSB

By Jamie Dupree NS3T, radio-sport.net 

After seeing his eight year winning streak in the ARRL November Sweepstakes CW contest possibly broken, Rich Boyd KE3Q heads back to Puerto Rico with a goal of winning his tenth consecutive SS SSB single operator high power title.

"It does take some of the pressure off me," said Boyd, who will again operate as WP3R.

Boyd will face a different lineup of challengers in the SSB contest, led by George Fremin K5TR, who has finished second to Boyd the last two years.

"K5TR is an interesting one," said Boyd. "I expect (he) is really taking a deep breath and tightening his belt now."

"The pressure is on him, now that N2IC has nipped me on CW, for him to do the same on phone to complete the (my) debacle, hi hi," said Boyd.

Fremin though downplays his chances to overtake Boyd and end WP3R's nine year win streak.

"If you look at the results over the years for both SSB and CW you will see that the winning margin on CW is much lower than SSB," said Fremin.

Boyd's margin over K5TR has been a comfortable one the past two years, as WP3R won by 47,000 points in 2005 and 50,000 in 2006.

"The main advantage that WP3R has is that he is often on a band that is too long for the US to work each other well on," said Fremin. "His signal will be quite strong to almost all of the USA - and often be the only signal on the band."

Fremin says his off time schedule is "fairly fluid" for SS.

"Typically I operate the first 7 to 9 hours of the contest before taking an offtime - and that first offtime will usually only be thirty minutes."

"Then I get back on and if the rate is good enough I stay," said Fremin, who usually saves two hours of break time for Sunday.

The last two years, Fremin's big bands have been 20 and 40 meters.

"This does change as the solar cycle changes," said Fremin. "You can really see these trends if you look at my scores over the years."

While WP3R tries to defend the high power crown, 2006 low power champ K1BX will have some new challengers, as second place finisher Bill Brown K0UK will miss this year's event.

"The XYL has me going to Denver to see the grandkids that weekend," said Brown, who offered up some tips for those looking at an all out Sweepstakes bid.

"Run on the money bands and S&P on the others," said Brown. "Don't limit your S&P to just one band. Look at all of them with the second radio. Won't take but a few seconds and you know what's going on."

"Think LOUD. If you act like a QRP you will sound like it."

Brown also says make sure you are careful while logging during the contest. "Check your entry so the UBN doesn't kill you. That's why I came in second last year."

The scores from 2006 unfortunately bear out Brown's story. His claimed score was almost 8,000 points ahead of K1BX, but in the end, it was K1BX winning by 2,000 points, as Brown lost 101 contacts in log checks.

Meanwhile, in the Unlimited category, defending champ Mitch Mason K7RL will be back to defend his 2006 title.

"I like the Unlimited class because a K7 still has a chance to win," said Mason. "WP3 and K5 have a lock on the Bravo class, and until we get more sunspots, I don't think anything is going to change it."

As for strategy, "A major flare aside, I won't take any off time on Saturday; the rate is too good," says Mason.

"Last year I stayed too long on the low bands and it cost me. This year it's all about 20 meters," adds Mason.

Mason has jumped back and forth between the Unlimited and High Power categories in recent years. Asked by radio-sport.net about WP3R's chances for another SSB win, Mason said he feels Boyd is still the favorite.

"Steve N2IC is a world class contender and a master SO2R/CW op. I'm not surprised he beat WP3R in raw score" in the SS CW contest, said Mason.

"That said, I think SSB is a different ballgame. With a larger pool of operators, including all those newly minted ham licensees, my bet is still on WP3R. Although, if anyone can end the nine year streak, it will probably be someone from K5."

Someone like K5TR maybe? Ralph Bowen N5RZ, who operated SS CW from K5TR's station agrees with K7RL, defeating WP3R in SS SSB may be too much to ask right now.

"I would be very surprised. The advantage from KP4 is much better on SSB since there are an 'infinite' number of SSB stations available vs available CW stations," said Bowen.

"However, if the conditions allow, George (K5TR) would be the one to make it happen."