Saturday, 31 January 2015
The Winners...
Thanks to Rod Stuart.
Glenn Meadows, Bill Degen, Mr Smith & Ian Miller. Well done guys.
Friday, 30 January 2015
John Smith Wins
No task on the final day.
Final Results: Smithy 1st, Bill Degen 2nd, Glenn Meadows 3rd. Ian Miller wins the Sport Class. Congratulations to all, and for all who made the effort to come down to Wanaka.
Follow the results link on the left for details.
Final Results: Smithy 1st, Bill Degen 2nd, Glenn Meadows 3rd. Ian Miller wins the Sport Class. Congratulations to all, and for all who made the effort to come down to Wanaka.
Follow the results link on the left for details.
Day 6 Task 5
Wanaka Day 6 task 5
Top of Grandview 5000ft
Light easterly, great conditions
The task was north to Breast peak and then west to Mt Maude, south west to Mt Iron, back to Grandview, with goal at Pembroke park. 63km.
John was first off followed by Tom Kellner. John got weak lift on the southern ridge while Tom scratched low and made his way out front. John flew north to get out from under the cloud building above take off and when Tom hit the sun out in front of the hill he found a thermal to take him to 8000ft.
The rest of us piled off when the sun came back on the hill. Some pilots got good height while others worked their way along the ridge to Breast Peak.
Those who did not leave Breast Peak with good height had a hard scratch at the base of Mt Maude. Lift was fond before and around Mt Iron. The 15km glide back to Grandview could be topped up with thermals along the way and patience was needed if the cloud above Grandview had shaded the hill.
John was first into goal with Bill, Dave Austin, Andrew McKirdy, Grant, reaching there also along with a few others. Tom Kellner had a two hour flight and flew direct to Pembroke. Kim the novice got to 8000ft and Ian Miller kept his first place position in Sport class getting nearly wpt 4.
Dave Austin won the day
All the novices had great flights and lots of practice thermalling.
Top of Grandview 5000ft
Light easterly, great conditions
The task was north to Breast peak and then west to Mt Maude, south west to Mt Iron, back to Grandview, with goal at Pembroke park. 63km.
John was first off followed by Tom Kellner. John got weak lift on the southern ridge while Tom scratched low and made his way out front. John flew north to get out from under the cloud building above take off and when Tom hit the sun out in front of the hill he found a thermal to take him to 8000ft.
The rest of us piled off when the sun came back on the hill. Some pilots got good height while others worked their way along the ridge to Breast Peak.
Those who did not leave Breast Peak with good height had a hard scratch at the base of Mt Maude. Lift was fond before and around Mt Iron. The 15km glide back to Grandview could be topped up with thermals along the way and patience was needed if the cloud above Grandview had shaded the hill.
John was first into goal with Bill, Dave Austin, Andrew McKirdy, Grant, reaching there also along with a few others. Tom Kellner had a two hour flight and flew direct to Pembroke. Kim the novice got to 8000ft and Ian Miller kept his first place position in Sport class getting nearly wpt 4.
Dave Austin won the day
All the novices had great flights and lots of practice thermalling.
Thursday, 29 January 2015
2015 Gallery & Updated Results
I've created a new page for photos from this year - use the link on the left or this one.
And here are the updated results.
And here are the updated results.
Day 5 Task 4 (Wednesday 28th)
Treble Cone Updated Results
The forecast was for light easterlies and to come on at 13:00 and build to peak around 16:00 with late afternoon showers.
One News turned up at take off in the car park of Treble cone and interviewed a few of the competitors and the novices.
The task was set with a 2km start gate at pub corner with three start gates.
Out to Mt Roy then on to Mt Maude at the south end of Lake Hawea then head up the Isthmus between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka to where it narrows and then back to Pembroke Park in Wanaka.
Hagen was first off followed by John but they had to work hard to stay up and as they slowly wound down it did not look a good time to follow them. The conditions got better and a few pilots took off but most stayed on the hill.
Cloud was building behind us at the top of TC and some paragliders were getting height so the rest followed to find tight broken thermals. It was working to the south of the waterfall and persistence paid off with pilots climbing out above TC to over 8000ft after a hard fight.
Those who did make it above TC had a good glide out to Mt Roy to top out and a buoyant glide to Mt Maude.
You needed to stay high on the range along the Isthmus as it was a long glide out to the road and no good landings on the east side. The day had developed well by this stage and those who had made it this far had a good run back to Wanaka with plenty of height to burn off over Pembroke Park.
John Smith was first into goal followed by Clint and Angus. Four other pilots made it into goal to make it the best day so far.
Watch One News on Thursday or Friday for coverage of the event.
The showers did come around 8:30pm when the midweek BBQ as in full swing.
The forecast was for light easterlies and to come on at 13:00 and build to peak around 16:00 with late afternoon showers.
One News turned up at take off in the car park of Treble cone and interviewed a few of the competitors and the novices.
The task was set with a 2km start gate at pub corner with three start gates.
Out to Mt Roy then on to Mt Maude at the south end of Lake Hawea then head up the Isthmus between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka to where it narrows and then back to Pembroke Park in Wanaka.
Hagen was first off followed by John but they had to work hard to stay up and as they slowly wound down it did not look a good time to follow them. The conditions got better and a few pilots took off but most stayed on the hill.
Cloud was building behind us at the top of TC and some paragliders were getting height so the rest followed to find tight broken thermals. It was working to the south of the waterfall and persistence paid off with pilots climbing out above TC to over 8000ft after a hard fight.
Those who did make it above TC had a good glide out to Mt Roy to top out and a buoyant glide to Mt Maude.
You needed to stay high on the range along the Isthmus as it was a long glide out to the road and no good landings on the east side. The day had developed well by this stage and those who had made it this far had a good run back to Wanaka with plenty of height to burn off over Pembroke Park.
John Smith was first into goal followed by Clint and Angus. Four other pilots made it into goal to make it the best day so far.
Watch One News on Thursday or Friday for coverage of the event.
The showers did come around 8:30pm when the midweek BBQ as in full swing.
Day 4 Task 3 (Tuesday 27th)
Long Gully
High cloud with patches of lower cloud and light SSE winds.
After tracking down the owner we got up the hill and set up on all three sides of the ridge. Clint got away off the hill first under overcast skies and found a nice thermal to take him drifting down the ridge towards the first turn point at Mt Maude.
Others soon followed but we could see that they were not getting the luck that Clint had. The sun was on the ground over towards Wanaka and slowly moving our way, so when it hit the hill Grant got off and climbed out on the lee side getting good height. Others followed as the shut off time of 5pm was not far off.
Tight lee side thermals made it hard to get enough height, but some persisted and they were paid off and made their way down the Hawea range.
John and Bill got to goal at Pembroke park in Wanaka to show that it could be done.
Adriel Kind in sport class made it out to the D.O.C camp ground and showed the more skilled pilots how it was done.
All the novices got off the hill and picked up the thermals on the lee side of the hill to land out on the flats bellow the range.
High cloud with patches of lower cloud and light SSE winds.
After tracking down the owner we got up the hill and set up on all three sides of the ridge. Clint got away off the hill first under overcast skies and found a nice thermal to take him drifting down the ridge towards the first turn point at Mt Maude.
Others soon followed but we could see that they were not getting the luck that Clint had. The sun was on the ground over towards Wanaka and slowly moving our way, so when it hit the hill Grant got off and climbed out on the lee side getting good height. Others followed as the shut off time of 5pm was not far off.
Tight lee side thermals made it hard to get enough height, but some persisted and they were paid off and made their way down the Hawea range.
John and Bill got to goal at Pembroke park in Wanaka to show that it could be done.
Adriel Kind in sport class made it out to the D.O.C camp ground and showed the more skilled pilots how it was done.
All the novices got off the hill and picked up the thermals on the lee side of the hill to land out on the flats bellow the range.
Weds 28th
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Wednesday 28th
Treble Cone again. I'll update as soon as someone there provides me with some copy...
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Day 2
Treble Cone.
Wind light northerly and cycling up the bowl in front of the car park at the top of the road.
The Novices were keen to get off before the task started and we could see that there were light thermals down at Pub Corner.
The course was up around the corner to Crash Peak and then out to Cromwell
John Smith, Hagen and Shane Mackay took off to find it was very light and scratchy. Other pilots followed and those on the hill could see that it was hard work to get up.
After a while pilots could be seen getting high further down the ridge so the rest of us piled off and found lift to the south of the water fall at the Pyramid. Those who got high headed up to wpt 1 but did not find any lift to get us above the wpt and reach the turnpoint. Lots of gliders in the bomb out but to our surprise we found out that John Smith and Bill Degen were on their way to goal.
John made goal and Bill goal but due to no other pilots getting to wpt 1 it was a low scoring day
One of the free flyers, Niall Mueller texted in to tell us he had made it down 60km past Alexander and had flown 130km, a personal best. It goes to show that an average day on the hill can lead on to a great cross country.
Monday, 26 January 2015
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Thursday, 1 January 2015
Registration in Wanaka
As seems the norm for NZ HG Competitions, a number of pilots are holding off registering until they actually turn up in Wanaka.
Registration will be held at the Kai Whakapai Café in Wanaka (cnr Helwick & Ardmore Streets) at:
Otherwise it would greatly help in planning for numbers if you would pre-register by contacting markalton@yahoo.com. Details are on the Registration Page .
Registration will be held at the Kai Whakapai Café in Wanaka (cnr Helwick & Ardmore Streets) at:
- Fri Jan 23rd @ 7pm
- Sat Jan 24th @ 8am
Otherwise it would greatly help in planning for numbers if you would pre-register by contacting markalton
Treble Cone
Use of Treble Cone for a launch at the Nats hadn't been guaranteed - until now. We've negotiated a landing field adjacent to the normal bombout at the airfield as that has been cropped - so Treble Cone is now available s a launch. There will be a portaloo available at take-off as part of the conditions of use, and it's a 2-wheel drive road (unless it snows :) )
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