By Rod Stuart I wrote a log each day and posted on Flying Kiwis Facebook page.
I have combined all my posts and tried to remove most of the spelling and grammar mistakes.
It never managed to get it into Airborne but I hope this serves as a reasonable record.
Without a doubt this has been the best Hang Gliding Nationals ever!
Here is a link to Airtribune where you can see the results for all 8 tasks, the tasks that were set and the and overall scores. https://airtribune.com/43rd-new-zealand-hang-gliding.../info
Click your way into the ‘blog’ to see the results.
Rod's log 28Jan 2021
Arrival day. A cold night at the Riverside Camp in Murchison and many pilots have already arrived and registered.
Practice day tomorrow promises some stunning flying weather with take-off likely around mid-day. A task will be set but scores will not count for the competition.
It looks like we will have just over 40 competitors flying including Open class and Sport class.
This year the Kahu Cup has been introduced. This will be awarded to the winning club based on the best three pilots scores each task.
This looks like being an exciting week of hang gliding from 5000' Mt Murchison.
Rod's Log 29 Jan 2021
Practice day.
What a stunning day hang gliding in the mountains!
A task was set with turn point one 35kms down the Tutaki valley and then back to Murchison township with landing at the local air strip.
40 odd pilots ventured into the air and it was completely awesome!
Climbs to altitudes above 9000' were recorded.
Above 7000' temperatures were refreshingly freezing!
9 pilots made goal: John Smith, Tom Kellner, Matt Barlow, Ian Clark, Eddie Pearson, Ollie Derry, Geoff Christophers, John Urlich (Boot), and Carlos Palmer. Light shifty winds on the ground made for some exciting landings! All pilots did land safely and we are all buzzing after an amazing day in the air.
Our new scorer Gary Turner is inputting track logs and may declare a practice day winner tomorrow.
Organiser Matt has declared an 8:30am briefing for tomorrow ~ task one will be set for what is looking like a big week of hang gliding in New Zealand.
Most pilots are carrying a GPS track logger this year for safety and for those wishing to watch the flying real time.
Tomorrow it gets even more exciting!
May the best pilot win.
Rod's Log 30th Jan 2021
Task 1
And what a beauty she was!
The same 60km task as practice day was set. Down the Tutaki Valley to Flat Top and back to town. The weather was completely awesome for our second day of flying with stunning thermals everywhere. My vario recorded a 2400fpm climb!
The sky and landing paddocks down the Tutaki Valley were soon littered with hang gliders.
This time 17 pilots made goal with Matt Barlow arriving first at Murchison town strip ~ John Smith landed just after him. John told me his time was 1 hour 47 minutes.
With 4 start gates we will need scoring to be completed to see the results for the day. It is Gary's first time scoring so be patient. Andrew and Tom are helping him get up to speed.
Our ranks have grown to 45 competitors including Open and Sports class!
Unfortunately, one pilot broke his shoulder on landing requiring emergency services. Otherwise, the westerly winds made for much easier landings than practice day.
The Riverside camp was buzzing last night with happy pilots.
A 9:30am briefing has been called with another great day expected.
The task committee are thinking about setting a 100km task towards Nelson Lakes.
Rod's Log 31st Jan 2021
Task 2
A stunning 77km task taking pilots past lakes Rotoroa and Rotoiti on route to the magnificent St Arnaud Range and into the Rainbow Valley. Three turn points with goal at the Nelson Lakes air strip.
Three pilots made goal: Matt Barlow, John Smith and Ian Clark.
Ollie Derry, John Urlich and Tom Kellner landed in the Rainbow.
I spoke with Ian tonight and he described the flight. Getting away from Mt Murchison was a struggle with many in the air and only the odd good cycle going through. Many headed off low and found themselves struggling in lee side thermals. Ian John and Matt flew together most of the way. He described the St Arnaud Range as an amazing place to be but scary with strong winds and turbulence. At one point all three were struggling for lift and John got low on the east side of Rotoiti. Eventually they made goal and landed with the gliders at the Nelson Lakes Strip.
Many pilots landed on route to turn point one. The bomb out paddock and surrounds claimed a few and some chose not to fly.
An exciting day and a very successful task. Two good tasks in the first two days. It doesn't get better than that.
Tomorrow looks flyable. A 10am briefing has been called. This is turning into a superb week of hang gliding.
Rod's Log 1 Feb 2021
Task 3
Wow! How lucky are the pilots flying in this competition?! Another super task and another great day in the air. Task 3 took us down the beautiful Tutaki Valley with three turn points and back to goal at the Tutaki Air Strip. A flight of 69kms.
Sports class flew a 26km task.
About 10 pilots made goal with Ian Clark first in. Matt Barlow and John Smith were right there with him. These three have all reached goal 3 out of 3 tasks and their scores are very close. Exciting! And with more good weather and more tasks coming the pressure is on!
Most left Mt Murchison at over 6000' and crossed onto the lower ranges down the left-hand side of the valley. Many pilots struggled here and 15 landed at the Tutaki Airstrip making for a very social time. Other pilots made some of the turn points and landed down the far end of the Tutaki.
The Riverside camp was buzzing tonight. The weather is warmer so many took a dip in the river after flying today.
Some are saying if the weather holds, we may get an 8 task Nationals. Bring it on!
Happy
Rod's log 2 Feb 2021
Task 4
An epic task and Ian Clark is now in the overall lead with Matt Barlow a very close second and John Smith slipping to third place. Henning Kruger is leading the Sport class with Aaron Darby second and David Maule third.
Ian and Matt are now clearly out front with only 18 points separating them! John is 500 points back in third place with Hagen Brueggemann and Geoff Christophers hot on his heals. What an exciting competition this has become!
Task masters John, Ollie, Hagen and Aaron set two cool tasks down the Tutaki with open class crossing over bush to Nelson lakes air strip. John made the quote of the day... "You will need to get plenty of height here because we would all look silly sitting in trees!" The weather again turned out better than expected. Mt Murchison turned it on for the early starters and John lead out from over 7000' choosing the RHS of the Tutaki. A small gaggle including Ian and Matt set off down the LHS taking the second 20 minute start gate.
Then our beautiful mountain switched off and life got tough for pilots. I discovered that 'right was wrong' and soon joined a group of 10 in the bomb out paddock. Those that went left ended up being flushed into the Tutaki Valley well below take off height. Some had short flights and tricky landings. Others found lift and were soon flying high on course to the first turn point.
14 made goal in the open class with Henning Kruger making a very popular goal in sport class.
Some very happy pilots arrived back in camp tonight.
We are yet to get the Kahu Cup scores for the best club based on the top 3 scores for each club in each task. Canterbury had 5 pilots in goal today and Aorangi had 3. Southern Club are doing well with Ian, John and Pete all scoring well. No doubt we will soon have scores for this interesting new inter club competition. Excitement!
A 9:30 briefing has been called for tomorrow. The weather forecast is for stronger winds but still flyable.
Stay tuned for more exciting hang gliding nationals news.
Rod's Log 3rd Feb 2021
Task 5
NZ is in the middle of a high pressure making for stable flying conditions. But this is the NZ nationals and our task committee set a beauty.
Open class flew down the Tutaki to a turn point at Flat Top and back to the Tutaki Airfield.
Sports class flew directly to the Tutaki Airfield.
The two open class leaders both made goal with Ian maintaining his position in first place and Matt holding a close second. John landed on course and his score will have slipped a little.
Three in goal in Sports class is fantastic! Congratulations to Aaron, Andre and Henning. Henning has likely maintained his overall lead.
It was a tough task at the beginning with only light ridge lift on Mt Murch. Many simply took off turned left, pulled on full VG and headed on course. The first ridge down the valley was only just working with light ridge assisted thermals. It was a grovel and many pilots found themselves on the ground quite quickly.
For those that got up lift got better further down the course. 9 made goal in Open Class and 3 made goal in Sports Class.
I managed 10th place in Pepsi landing a painful 3.7 kms from goal! It was going off at Flat Top and I found myself in mountains at over 7000'. It is completely spell binding scenery at the far end of the Tutaki Valley and very humbling. What a privilege!
Last night Marney and her team of helpers organised a superb BBQ with plenty of yummy food. Camp HQ was buzzing with flying stories. The weather looks like holding up for another 3 days and pilots are preparing for an amazing 8 task Nationals.
Our wonderful Meet Director Kevin McManus had called a 9:30 briefing today. He hands out day prizes for each class, best driver award and the much coveted 'Turkey Award'.
"Ground hog day" has become a comment each day as we arrive on take off at Mt Murchison.
What a competition!
Rod's Log 4th Feb 2021
Task 6
107kms of pure Bliss. It was a big day in the saddle today. 5 made goal, some bombed but those that got on course enjoyed some big air.
Many had over 3 hours in the skies.
Winning the title of NZ Hang Gliding Champion requires making no mistakes. Today Matt Barlow landed after 15kms in a 107km task which has given Ian Clark a clear lead with only two rounds to go. Matt has maintained second place with John Smith in third.
In Sports Class Aaron Darby has secured first place with Henning Kruger second and Stephen Ferguson third.
And we have the first Kahu Cup club results out. Southern Club are currently in first place closely followed by Aorangi in second and Canterbury in third. South Island clubs are ruling the skies competing for this brand new trophy.
6 days and 6 tasks has left pilots pleasantly knackered! This week has been huge. All are keen to fly the next two days.
Will Ian falter and can John or Matt catch him?
Will Aaron maintain first place in sports class?
Watch this space!
Rod's Log 5th Feb 2021
Task 7
Another truly awesome day in the mountains with plenty of exciting flying. 8 days of flying in a row has lifted the calibre of flying and we all have superb flying fitness now.
Open Class were sent deep up the Owen Valley for two turn points and then a big glide all the way to the St Arnaud Range with a turn point in the Rainbow Valley and goal at Nelson Lakes Airfield. An 88km task.
Sport class were sent directly to the Nelson Lakes Airfield via one turn point.
Mount Murchison was offering shabby lift when the launch window opened. Wind dummy Cris Lawry only just stayed up. Matt Barlow went way down and had the grovel of his life for 1.5 hours. With the window closing at 2:30 pilots launched in quick succession. Most simply lunged around the side of Mt Murch and flew across to the Owen Valley where the foot hills were working.
Many got to turn point one and up to cloud base at 7,200'. Turn point two was way up there. It was like flying in a Lord of the Rings set. The long glide to St Arnauds claimed a few on route with many landing just past the town. Some landed in the Rainbow Valley. John U Boot landed on the wrong side of the river requiring a rather wet recovery! Amazingly Matt did eventually get up and went on course to reach the first two turn points. A huge effort!
4 made goal. John Smith, Ian Clark, James McKirdy and Tom Kellner.
In sport class Steve Ferguson flew 11.2kms to win the day.
Ian has maintained a clear first place with John second and Matt now in third.
Aaron has held onto first place in sport class with Henning Second and Steve third.
Pete Helliwell has made a very cool YouTube video of each task. Here is a link to his channel so you can check them out:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCkUblLU5BUSir57LtY7ZzdQ
Last night the Murchison Mashup International Poker Game was held. Fat Stack Stuart was stripped of his chips early on. Coined up Cronin and Dealing Derry shared the $200 pot at midnight. Don shared the raffle bourbon during the game and we all had a lot of fun.
7 tasks from 7 days and I have just found out the last task has been set down the Tutaki with goal in Murchison. It looks like we will get 8 tasks in!
Prise giving at the Hampden Hotel in Murchison tonight will bring a perfect week of flying to an end.
Keep an eye out for my last post where the winners will be announced.
Rod's Log 6th Feb 2021
Task 8
We did it! 8 tasks from a possible 8 days! This will go down in history as the best Nationals ever!
The day started cloudy on the hills with forecast high cloud moving in. For open class a task was set down to the end of the Tutaki Valley with two turn points and goal at the Murchison air strip.
Sports class were given one turn point with goal at the Tutaki air strip.
Once again conditions proved to be better than forecast and all pilots were soon on course in light but very usable thermals.
6 made goal in open class; Ian, John, Matt, Neil, Ollie and Steve.
Henning nearly made goal in the sports class and earned enough points to overtake Aaron for first place
So our new NZ Champion in open class is Ian Clark with John Smith second and Matt Barlow third.
In sports class Henning Kruger was the overall winner with Aaron Darby second and Stephen Ferguson third.
The Southern club won the Kahu Cup with Aorangi Club second, an agonising 4 points ahead of Canterbury in third place!
The prize giving was held at the Hampden Hotel, Murchison and the atmosphere was incredibly happy.
