Oz Report
topic: Anton Raumauf (13 articles)
The Spring Meeting - Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy
Task 4, the last day, Sunday
Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Christian Ciech|Christian Pollet|competition|Facebook|Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020|Marco Laurenzi|Suan Selenati|Tullio Gervasoni
https://airtribune.com/springmeeting-2020/results
Task 4:
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Time )(h:m:s) |
Distance (km) |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 02:27:10 | 83.09 | 930.6 |
2 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 02:27:45 | 83.09 | 912.6 |
3 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 02:28:23 | 83.09 | 895.9 |
4 | Christian Pollet | Fra | Aeros | 02:34:54 | 83.09 | 868.5 |
5 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 80.44 | 660.7 | |
6 | Eric Mathurin | Fra | Moyes | 54.78 | 526.4 | |
7 | Johann Courtain | Fra | Wills Wing | 54.30 | 520.4 | |
8 | Joerg Bajewski | Ger | Icaro | 54.10 | 518.9 | |
9 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 54.25 | 517.0 | |
10 | Tullio Gervasoni | Ita | Wills Wing | 53.89 | 515.1 |
Final results:
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Christian Ciech | m | Ita | Icaro | 3315 |
2 | Roland Wöhrle | m | Ger | Moyes | 3141 |
3 | Marco Laurenzi | m | Ita | Icaro | 2718 |
4 | Lorenzo De Grandis | m | Ita | Icaro | 2693 |
5 | Joost Eertman | m | Ned | Icaro | 2537 |
6 | Christian Pollet | m | Fra | Aeros | 2470 |
7 | Oliver Salewski | m | Ger | Icaro | 2232 |
8 | Suan Selenati | m | Ita | Wills Wing | 2139 |
9 | Sasha Serebrennikova | F | Rus | Moyes | 1919 |
10 | Marco Gröbner | m | Ger | Moyes | 1823 |
9 topics in this article: Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova, Christian Ciech, Christian Pollet, competition, Facebook, Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020, Marco Laurenzi, Suan Selenati, Tullio Gervasoni
The Spring Meeting - Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy
Task 3
Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Christian Ciech|Christian Pollet|competition|Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020|Marco Laurenzi|Suan Selenati|Tullio Gervasoni
https://airtribune.com/springmeeting-2020/results
Task 3:
Name | Nat | Glider | Time (h:m:s) |
Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 01:54:47 | 1000.1 |
2 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 02:21:43 | 789.0 |
3 | Suan Selenati | Ita | Wills Wing | 02:23:22 | 771.6 |
4 | Christian Pollet | Fra | Aeros | 02:23:47 | 765.5 |
5 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 02:24:41 | 752.7 |
6 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 02:25:25 | 743.6 |
7 | Oliver Salewski | Ger | Icaro | 02:26:07 | 735.0 |
8 | Tullio Gervasoni | Ita | Wills Wing | 02:32:26 | 692.1 |
9 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 02:27:24 | 678.1 |
10 | Marco Gröbner | Ger | Moyes | 02:36:23 | 664.1 |
Cumulative:
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 2385 |
2 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 2245 |
3 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 2057 |
4 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 2020 |
5 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 1780 |
6 | Marco Gröbner | Ger | Moyes | 1753 |
7 | Oliver Salewski | Ger | Icaro | 1720 |
8 | Suan Selenati | Ita | Wills Wing | 1636 |
9 | Christian Pollet | Fra | Aeros | 1602 |
10 | Sasha Serebrennikova | Rus | Moyes | 1414 |
8 topics in this article: Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova, Christian Ciech, Christian Pollet, competition, Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020, Marco Laurenzi, Suan Selenati, Tullio Gervasoni
The Spring Meeting - Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy
Task 2
Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Christian Ciech|Christian Pollet|competition|Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020|Marco Laurenzi|Suan Selenati
https://airtribune.com/springmeeting-2020/results
Sasha at Goal on the second day.
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Time (h:m:s) |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 02:16:31 | 975.9 |
2 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 02:18:17 | 945.2 |
3 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 02:18:49 | 929.2 |
4 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 02:30:39 | 842.7 |
5 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 02:36:10 | 813.3 |
6 | Oliver Salewski | Ger | Icaro | 02:47:43 | 737.8 |
7 | Christian Pollet | Fra | Aeros | 02:53:24 | 699.8 |
8 | Suan Selenati | Ita | Wills Wing | 02:59:32 | 696.4 |
9 | Marco Gröbner | Ger | Moyes | 03:01:11 | 665.2 |
10 | Sasha Serebrennikova | Rus | Moyes | 03:42:14 | 507.8 |
Cumulative:
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 1456 |
2 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 1384 |
3 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 1379 |
4 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 1276 |
5 | Marco Gröbner | Ger | Moyes | 1089 |
6 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 1028 |
7 | Oliver Salewski | Ger | Icaro | 985 |
8 | Suan Selenati | Ita | Wills Wing | 864 |
9 | Christian Pollet | Fra | Aeros | 836 |
10 | Sasha Serebrennikova | Rus | Moyes | 760 |
7 topics in this article: Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova, Christian Ciech, Christian Pollet, competition, Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020, Marco Laurenzi, Suan Selenati
The Spring Meeting - Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy
Rescheduled
Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova|Christian Ciech|competition|Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020|Marco Laurenzi
https://airtribune.com/springmeeting-2020/results
Task 1:
# | Name | Nat | Glider | Time (h:m:s) |
Distance (km) |
Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Roland Wöhrle | Ger | Moyes | 02:07:10 | 59.69 | 480.5 |
2 | Marco Laurenzi | Ita | Icaro | 02:14:17 | 59.69 | 450.0 |
3 | Christian Ciech | Ita | Icaro | 02:11:15 | 59.19 | 439.2 |
4 | Joost Eertman | Ned | Icaro | 02:20:15 | 59.69 | 433.4 |
5 | Marco Gröbner | Ger | Moyes | 02:24:39 | 59.69 | 424.1 |
6 | Sasha Serebrennikova | Rus | Moyes | 32.58 | 251.9 | |
7 | Oliver Salewski | Ger | Icaro | 33.21 | 247.6 | |
8 | Lorenzo De Grandis | Ita | Icaro | 23.99 | 214.3 | |
9 | Valentino Bau | Ita | Icaro | 25.15 | 211.1 | |
10 | Eric Mathurin | Fra | Moyes | 22.45 | 199.1 |
Discuss "The Spring Meeting - Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy" at the Oz Report forum link»
5 topics in this article: Alexandra "Sasha" Serebrennikova, Christian Ciech, competition, Friuli Venezia Giulia Trophy 2020, Marco Laurenzi
A bunch of records
Hang glider and paraglider
A bunch of records
August 22, 2016, 9:29:59 MST -0600
A.I.R. ATOS VR|Anton Raumauf|PG|record
FAI sends:
FAI has ratified the following Class O (Hang Gliding and Paragliding) World records :
================================================
Sub-class : O-5 / HG with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.
Category : General
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Gain of height
Course/location : Burgsdorf (Namibia) - Helmeringhausen (Namibia)
Performance : 4359 m
Pilot : Anton Raumauf (Austria)
Aircraft : Atos / AIR
Date : 03.01.2016
Previous record : 3 820 m (05.08.1985 - Rainer M. Scholl, Germany)
================================================
and
================================================
Sub-class : O-3 / Paragliders
Category : Female
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Straight distance to a declared goal
Course/location : Deniliquin, NSW (Australia)
Performance : 366.00 km
Pilot : Seiko Fukuoka Naville (France)
Aircraft : Enzo 2 / Ozone
Date : 09.12.2015
Previous record : 301.00 km (02.11.2015 - Keiko Hiraki, Japan)
================================================
and
================================================
Claim number : 17780
Sub-class : O-3 / Paragliders
Category : Female
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Straight distance
Course/location : Deniliquin, NSW (Australia)
Performance : 402.00 km
Pilot : Seiko Fukuoka Naville (France)
Aircraft : Enzo 2 / Ozone
Date : 09.12.2015
Previous record : 395.00 km (03.11.2015 - Nicole Fedele, Italy)
================================================
and
================================================
Claim number : 17782
Sub-class : O-3 / Paragliders
Category : Female
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Free distance using up to 3 turn points
Course/location : Deniliquin, NSW (Australia)
Performance : 378.00 km
Pilot : Seiko Fukuoka Naville (France)
Aircraft : Enzo 2 / Ozone
Date : 14.12.2015
Previous record : 255.7 km (05.11.2010 - Nicole Fedele, Italy)
================================================
and
================================================
Claim number : 17784
Sub-class : O-3 / Paragliders
Category : General
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Free distance using up to 3 turn points
Course/location : Deniliquin, NSW (Australia)
Performance : 476,5 km
Pilot : Charles Cazaux (France)
Aircraft : Enzo 2 / Ozone
Date : 16.12.2015
Previous record : 285.4 km (19.10.2012 )
================================================
and
================================================
Sub-class : O-5 / HG with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.
Category : General
Group : Not applicable
Type of record : Out-and-return distance
Course/location : Burgsdorf (Namibia)
Performance : 408.90 km
Pilot : Carlos Puñet Pellisé (Spain)
Aircraft : Atos VR / AIR
Date : 18.12.2015
Previous record : 372 km (09.01.2012 )
4 topics in this article: A.I.R. ATOS VR, Anton Raumauf, PG, record
Altitude claim
Altitude claim
Tony gets high in Namibia
Anton Raumauf|record
Sub-class : O-5 (HG with a rigid primary structure / movable control surface(s) without pilot surrounding structures and fairings.)
Category : General
Type of record : Gain of height
Course/location : Burgsdorf (Namibia) - Helmeringhausen (Namibia)
Performance : 4359m
Pilot : Anton Raumauf (Austria)
Aircraft : Atos / AIR
Date : 03.01.2016
Current record : 3 820 m (05.08.1985 - Rainer M. Scholl, Fed. Rep. of Germany)
14301.14 feet gain.
Discuss "Altitude claim" at the Oz Report forum link»
2 topics in this article: Anton Raumauf, record
Manfred back as Number 1
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Antoine Boisselier|Anton Raumauf|Bruce Barmakian|Bruno Guillen|Christian Ciech|David Chaumet|Davis Straub|Gerolf Heinrichs|Gordon Rigg|Hansjoerg Truttmann|Heiner Biesel|Johan Anderson|Johann Posch|Manfred Ruhmer|Mario Alonzi|Oleg Bondarchuk|Paula Bowyer|Richard Walbec|Robert Reisinger|Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger
Paula Bowyer <paula@fai.org> writes regarding the flex wing and then rigid wing standings:
Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) regains his number 1 slot, 6 points ahead of Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR), Gerolf Heinrichs (AUT) and Mario Alonzi (FRA) move up a place to 3rd and 4th, Antoine Boisselier (FRA) remains 5th while Gordon Rigg (GBR) drops to 6th after missing some comps. Richard Walbec (FRA) stays 7th, but after their performances in Millau, Robert Reisinger (AUT) rises 5 places to 8th, Tom Weissenberger (AUT) climbs 9 to 9th and Bruno Guillen (FRA) jumps a place to 10th.
Christian Ciech (ITA) ahead of Alessandro Ploner (ITA), David Chaumet (FRA), Johan Posch (AUT), Bruce Barmakian (USA) 5th, Davis Straub (USA) 6th. Toni Raumauf (AUT) swaps places with Heiner Biesel (USA), Hansjoerg Truttmann (SUI) stays 9th and Jim Yocum (USA) 10th.
Discuss the WPRS at OzReport.com/forum/phpBB2
Discuss "Manfred back as Number 1" at the Oz Report forum link»
21 topics in this article: Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, Antoine Boisselier, Anton Raumauf, Bruce Barmakian, Bruno Guillen, Christian Ciech, David Chaumet, Davis Straub, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gordon Rigg, Hansjoerg Truttmann, Heiner Biesel, Johan Anderson, Johann Posch, Manfred Ruhmer, Mario Alonzi, Oleg Bondarchuk, Paula Bowyer, Richard Walbec, Robert Reisinger, Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger
Alpen Open
Anton Raumauf|competition|Florian Gostner|Icaro Laminar MR|Manfred Ruhmer|Manfred Trimmel|Markus Villinger|weather|Wills Wing|Wills Wing Talon|XC
Markus Villinger at Airwave <markus@airwave-gliders.com> writes:
This years (the 15th) ALPEN OPEN which took place June 6th - 9th in Gnadenwald near Innsbruck/Tyrol/Austria. The Alpen Open is one of the most popular XC hang gliding events. For two years it has been combined with a paraglider event.
The whole Austrian hang gliding (and paragliding) team competed as well as a lot of other European hot shot pilots.
The weather was great with spectacular flights on the "main ridge" of the Alps
Results:
Flex wings:
1st.) Manfred Ruhmer (Icaro Laminar MR 4.2) AUT
2nd.) Waldhart Stefan (Wills Wing Talon 150) AUT
3rd.) Metzler Florian (Icaro Laminar MRX) AUT
Rigid:
1st.) Trimmel Manfred (A.I.R. Atos) AUT
2nd.) Raumauf Toni (A.I.R. Atos) AUT
3rd.) Dunst Wolfram (A.I.R. Atos) AUT
Discuss "Alpen Open" at the Oz Report forum link»
11 topics in this article: Anton Raumauf, competition, Florian Gostner, Icaro Laminar MR, Manfred Ruhmer, Manfred Trimmel, Markus Villinger, weather, Wills Wing, Wills Wing Talon, XC
WPRS ranking
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Andreas Olsson|Antoine Boisselier|Anton Raumauf|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|David Chaumet|Davis Straub|Francois Isoard|Gerolf Heinrichs|Gordon Rigg|Heiner Biesel|Johann Posch|Manfred Ruhmer|Mario Alonzi|Oleg Bondarchuk|Oliver Schmidt|Paris Williams|Paula Bowyer|Richard Walbec|Robin Hamilton|Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger|World Pilot Ranking Scheme
Class 5:
Position | Points | Name | Country |
1 | 78 | Ciech Christian | Italy |
2 | 76 | Posch Johann | Austria |
3 | 71 | Ploner Alessandro | Italy |
4 | 68 | Straub Davis | USA |
5 | 63 | Barmakian Bruce | USA |
5 | 63 | Raumauf Toni | Austria |
7 | 55 | Chaumet David | France |
8 | 50 | Biesel Heiner | USA |
9 | 44 | Hoffmann Guben Marcus | Germany |
10 | 41 | Schmidt Oliver | Germany |
The meets where most of the rigid wing points can be found are the 2002 Worlds in Chelan, the 2002 Wallaby Open, the 2002 Flytec Championship, and the 2001 US Nationals in Hearne, TX.
Class 1:
Position | Points | Name | Country |
1 | 258 | Bondarchuk Oleg | Ukraine |
2 | 250 | Rigg Gordon | UK |
3 | 249 | Heinrichs Gerolf | Austria |
4 | 239 | Boisselier Antoine | France |
5 | 237 | Alonzi Mario | France |
6 | 227 | Ruhmer Manfred | Austria |
7 | 222 | Gerard Jean-Francois | France |
8 | 216 | Weissenberger Tom | Austria |
9 | 215 | Olsson Andreas | Sweden |
10 | 210 | Walbec Richard | France |
Paula Bowyer <paula@fai.org> writes:
The WAG, Dutch Open, French Champ, Nordic Masters, Slovenian Open and the Spanish Open were deleted. Added were the Australian Open, Bogong Cup and Australian Nationals.
Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) leaps 4 places to take number 1 spot. Gordon Rigg (GBR) jumps 2 places to be 2nd while Gerolf Heinrichs (AUT) and Antoine Boisselier (FRA) each drop 1 place to 3rd & 4th. Mario Alonzi (ITA) climbs 3 places to 5th, above Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) who tumbles to 6th. Jean-Francois Gerard (FRA) stays 7th while Tom Weissenberger (AUT) bounds 11 places to 8th, Andreas Olsson (SWE) gains a place to 9th and Richard Walbec (FRA) jumps 2 to be 10th.
These are significant changes, and I decided to look into why some of them took place. A review of Gordon Rigg’s results shows first the importance of doing well at the European Championships and then the importance of doing well at two of the Australian meets.
The European Championships dominate all the other scoring opportunities. If you weren’t at the Europeans and doing well there, you weren’t going to be doing well in the WPRS Class 1 ranking. For example, Paris Williams out flew Gordon in all three meets in Australia in 2003, but is ranked only eleventh because he didn’t go to the European Championships.
The 2002 and 2003 Australian Open, the 2003 Bogong Cup and the 2002 Australian Nationals proved to be the next most important meets, and the only other meets that were useful to Gordon in attaining his number two ranking. Manfred hasn’t been going to Australia lately.
The 2003 Australian Nationals were just not as important to these high ranking pilots because not as many pilots overall show up for that meet (even though in the US NTSS ranking system it is just as highly ranked at the Bogong Cup and higher ranked than the Australian Open). The current WPRS system has no quality factor, which devalues a high quality meet like the 2003 Australian Nationals.
Rigg Gordon | Total Score |
250 | |
European HG Champs 02 | score : 95 |
Australian Open 02 | score : 56 |
Australian HG Open 03 | score : 50 |
Bogong HG Cup 2003 | score : 49 |
Well, as we can see from Manfred’s ranking, he missed out on opportunities to get more points in Australia. If he had gone to Australia he would very likely continue to be ranked first in the World. Of course, this can change from month to month.
The Florida meets were just not as well attended (there are also issues of the limits on the number of pilots that can be handled easily at the flight parks) as the Australian meets so they weren’t worth quite as much. Again these were high quality meets (in terms of the ranking of the pilots who attended them) so in a fair system they provide pilots with more ranking points than they do.
Ruhmer Manfred | Total Score |
227 | |
European HG Champs 02 | score : 100 |
Brasilia HG 02 | score : 52 |
Wallaby HG Open | score : 47 |
Wildkogelpokal 02 | score : 28 |
Antoine didn’t do that well at the 2003 Australian meets so he had to rely on the 2002 meets there for his points.
Boisselier Antoine | Total Score |
239 | |
European HG Champs 02 | score : 98 |
Australian Open 02 | score : 49 |
Australian Nationals 02 | score : 47 |
Brasilia HG 02 | score : 45 |
Gerolf only needed a couple of points to stay in second place and he could have achieved them by attending and doing well at the 2003 Australian Open. I’d think that his fourth place in the 2003 Australian Nationals would have given him enough points if more pilots had attended the meet.
It looks like the Brasilia pre-Worlds meet just didn’t have enough attendance to match up to the Australian meets.
Heinrichs Gerolf | Total Score |
249 | |
European HG Champs 02 | score : 97 |
Bogong HG Cup 2003 | score : 54 |
Australian Nationals 02 | score : 52 |
Brasilia HG 02 | score : 46 |
Jean-Francios stayed where he was by not doing well enough in the 2003 Australian meets.
Gerard Jean-Francois | Total Score |
222 | |
European HG Champs 02 | score : 94 |
Australian Open 02 | score : 46 |
Slov HG Open 01 | score : 42 |
Bogong HG Cup 2003 | score : 40 |
Finally, the emerging class 2:
Class 2 ranking:
Points | Name | Country | |
1 | 12 | Ruhmer Manfred | Austria |
2 | 11 | Hamilton Robin | UK |
3 | 10 | Porter Brian | USA |
4 | 7 | Metz Bruno | France |
5 | 6 | Partridge-Hicks Stephen | UK |
Well, I guess Manfred can at least be happy with his number one ranking in Class 2.
Discuss "WPRS ranking" at the Oz Report forum link»
24 topics in this article: Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, Andreas Olsson, Antoine Boisselier, Anton Raumauf, Brian Porter, Bruce Barmakian, Christian Ciech, David Chaumet, Davis Straub, Francois Isoard, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gordon Rigg, Heiner Biesel, Johann Posch, Manfred Ruhmer, Mario Alonzi, Oleg Bondarchuk, Oliver Schmidt, Paris Williams, Paula Bowyer, Richard Walbec, Robin Hamilton, Thomas "Tom/Tomas" Weissenberger, World Pilot Ranking Scheme
The Oz Open – impatient with catch up
Anton Raumauf|Grant Heaney|Paris Williams|Tove Heaney
It is not at all clear to me that it is possible to change the mis-programming that is clearly there in one’s mind (certainly in mine) by reflecting upon one’s errors in judgment. Hang gliding is a real time activity that requires decision making in difficult and uncertain circumstances. There is a significant element of chance in each outcome, so drawing conclusions from limited experience is not without pitfalls. None the less.
At the Australian Open in Deniliquin I was inclined to call difficult tasks with upwind legs. This did not make me a hero to my fellow pilots, and they showed this by voting my out of the task committee at the Bogong Cup. I was forced back down their throats by the meet organizers at the Australia Nationals, where I generally deferred to Attila, who was really Mr. Long, but Not-So-Hard, as downwind was his only direction. Even cross wind was an anathema to him.
My goal as a task committee member is to set a three hour task (for the open class) assuming at average of 40 km/h without figuring for a wind component. It’s easy just to add in the average wind to get the task distance. Other task committee members seemed to have a more intuitive feel for what sounded like a good task.
On the first day at the Open, we called a task with a cross wind leg in the middle and downwind legs at the beginning and end. This was not a good idea. I was trying to use the turnpoints provided by Tove, the meet organizer, in order to make it easier for pilots to input the task into their GPSes while out in the tow paddock. A nice thought, but also not a good idea, as we really needed to just use the weather information to call the task and forget about what we’d find when we got to goal.
On this day I launched first but chose to get off low and early in strong winds in order to help out the pilots in line behind me. I was being far too nice. There is a very big risk getting off at 600’ in the strong wind. This put me to the end of the tow line and behind most of the pilots as well as the curve. It also put me in a bad mental state, the behind and trying to catch up state. This is personally my weakest decision making state.
At least this is a lesson I can learn (and have learned repeatedly before). Launch early and pin off in good lift at a reasonable altitude. Much easier to learn a lesson that you can apply before you start flying.
On this first task I landed on the second leg because I was impatient and unwilling to work weak lift that maybe would get me high enough to find the better lift. I was impatient both because I saw myself as behind, but also because I was drifting so far off course in the cross wind. I also wasn’t aggressive enough flying upwind between thermals when I started the leg when I had plenty of height.
The initial strong lift in the start circle lured me into thinking that there was plenty of lift out on the course, when in fact we were at the edge of the good air mass, and we were flying into an air mass with much weaker lift. There were plenty of signs of this, if I had only paid attention. I could have stopped on the first leg and climbed in reasonable lift, but my first thermal got me in a greedy mood and as I was trying to catch up I passed up good lift. I wanted to race to catch up with the guys who went earlier.
On the second task at the Open, we again called a cross wind second leg, but this time we made it a lot shorter than the other two down wind legs. A lot more pilots were able to make it through this difficult leg, even though most flew in shaded conditions for the first two thirds of the flight.
Going early was the go for me, hooking up with Grant Heaney to team fly the first leg of the flight and then finding other pilots to help out on the other two legs. Being in front helped me out psychologically and flying with others working together helped tactically. I flew with Paris on the last leg, and he not only flies fast and aggressively, but he is more than willing to team fly. This really builds one’s confidence in the decisions that you are making. Paris and I were first and second for the day.
On the third task, we’ve got first a downwind leg and then a second leg with a bit of a cross wind, or quarter tail wind leg to goal. Pilots are able to gaggle up in the start circle and we have plenty of helpers out on the course. The lift is regular and reasonably strong. There are no hard or slow parts until the last leg. All the front running pilots are together on the last leg.
The order of finish is determined by who finds the best lift in the weak area going to goal. We went on a long glide after the turnpoint before I was first to find the lift, but it was weak. If I had been willing to go a few kilometers further on that glide I would have found much better lift and made it to goal first, but I was already down to less than 2,500’ AGL. Being out in front I was unwilling to take the extra risk.
All the top pilots finished close to each other, so the point differences were small. I was moving up on Ron, who was the top scoring rigid at that point, but I wasn’t making much headway against the flex wing pilots who did well on the first day when I fell down.
Oleg started ten minutes after the main gaggle on this day, but was able to catch up with us. From then on we call for fifteen minute intervals to keep top fast pilots from catching early strong gaggles.
On the fourth day we get the weather completely wrong, not that we’ve been doing so great so far. We call a 100 km triangle and then find that the wind is 20 mph out of the west. With strong lift we are able to do well on the first downwind and cross wind legs with pilots staying near one another and flying fast. When we get to the upwind leg we are all there together.
This is where small differences make a big difference and it is hard to recover for little errors. Anton Raumauf and Oleg get just a little above me on one climb to goal about half way back and I’m not able to stay up with them. They go ahead and now I’m back in my worse position, trying to catch up and going upwind. I’m impatient for better lift.
I head upwind still plenty high and Ron’s gets low taking a bad line to my north away from the clouds. Johann, who was quite a bit in front, but out on his own (dangerous for Johann), also gets low, lower even than Ron. I’m staying high and watching the other pilots near me pushing hard against a strong headwind on a long glide. This is a particularly tricky part of the flight as the uncertainties are weighing heavily on me and I’m quite unsure about what will work.
Ron has to drift back downwind in order to try and stay up. I can see Johann struggling low and these are clear messages to be careful and not to waste altitude. Ron lands and I now know that I can go into first place in the rigids, and up into at least third overall, if I just take care to make goal, a mere twenty kilometers ahead of me.
In most cases twenty kilometers to goal is a final glide, in fact way into the final glide, but this is not true today with the strong head wind. I’ve got to get this final glide thought out of my head. I find strong lift and get to 7000’ seventeen kilometers out with three other flex wing pilots. Lift doesn’t look good ahead, I wonder if I can make it. It’s right on the edge.
I go on a long glide without finding lift and get down to 600’ AGL four kilometers from goal before I turn in a small one. Going this far without really upping my chances by searching harder for lift is my biggest error. It was more hope than thought that kept me pushing when I needed to stop and work something light higher up than 600’. But the mistakes don’t stop there.
I climb to 2,400’ AGL in this thermal, but I’m drifting back up the course quickly. Johann is nearby having recovered with a low save and climbing, but I don’t hear from him. I leave too low, when I really needed the patience to hang on a little bit more and improve my chances. I don’t get any closer to goal than when I started.
Johann will get another 1000’ near me and just make goal. I won’t be able to get into first place in the rigids although I will move up on Ron. Getting to first place would have made my last day a lot easier. Impatience and being behind Tony kept running through my mind keeping me from relaxing and enjoying the final struggle into goal.
On the last day of the Open, we call a task with downwind, then cross wind, and finally a short (fifteen km) upwind leg. It is the upwind leg that will be my nemesis once again. Johann, Ron and I are team flying, but all Ron has to do is stick with me to win the rigid class and place high overall (fourth). The top two flex wing guys (Oleg and Paris) are a good ways ahead of us in this meet.
The gaggle forms up at the start circle and as there aren’t any clouds, we’ll be gaggle flying the whole task. This is especially true on the second cross wind leg as we need each others’ help in the difficult parts. We aren’t getting at high as the day before so help is appreciated.
At the last turnpoint before our upwind leg to goal, I find the strong lift first and get the highest which puts me in front and vulnerable. If I had been at goal on the previous day I could be shadowing Ron for the win, but he is shadowing me, and I need to have him fall down while I make goal.
Getting to goal is a frightful struggle against a strong head wind into the blue, and in spite of the fact that I’m in front and not trying to catch up, I’ve still got a tough task in front of me. With Ron and Johann just behind me we find Toni still on the downwind leg turning in something that turns out to be disappointing.
I’m trying to get away from Ron, but this is not helping as all four rigids turn in less than 100 fpm out in front of everyone else. After a short climb I elect to push on and this puts me on the ground instead of at goal. Ron will wait a little longer and then make goal with Johann behind him.
Three days out of five I continue to make similar errors without seeming to learn from my mistakes. You’ve got to wonder if there is a learning machine inside that thick skull, or just a set of faulty habits that die hard.
Conclusions:
Launch first (second when necessary) in your tow line and after a couple of others have launched in theirs, near the start of the launch window. Use the time before the start window opens to get yourself higher than other pilots and near the fastest, most aggressive pilots.
Leave with the first gaggle of top aggressive pilots, but take the second gaggle if conditions indicate that you can catch the first gaggle.
If below a fast gaggle in weak conditions or in cross wind or upwind conditions slow way down, ignore your position with respect to other pilots and concentrate on getting high. Don’t follow a fast gaggle from below in uncertain conditions. Realize that there will be another day or maybe a chance later in the day to overtake them.
Upwind is five to one over the ground not fifteen to one.
Don’t lead alone on an upwind leg, but stay even or just behind the leaders so that you can team fly and all help each other.
Well, time to take the show on the road, and we are off to Mt. Beauty and the Bogong Cup (or the Buckland Ridge Flats as it will turn out).
Discuss "The Oz Open – impatient with catch up" at the Oz Report forum link»
4 topics in this article: Anton Raumauf, Grant Heaney, Paris Williams, Tove Heaney
Doesn’t somebody already use this caricature?
Thu, Dec 19 2002, 12:00:04 am EST
Anton Raumauf
Anton Raumauf «skyhigh» writes:
Hab ja noch 10 Tage in der Kälte, bin mendal jedoch schon in OZ.
I like the tail.
1 topic in this article: Anton Raumauf
WPRS »
Sarah Bowyer|Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Andreas Olsson|Antoine Boisselier|Anton Raumauf|Attila Bertok|Betinho Schmitz|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|David Chaumet|Davis Straub|Francois Isoard|Gerolf Heinrichs|Gordon Rigg|Guido Gehrmann|Johann Posch|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr|Manfred Ruhmer|Mario Alonzi|Michael Huppert|Naoki Itagaki|Oleg Bondarchuk|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Paris Williams|Richard Walbec|Robert Reisinger|Rohan Holtkamp|Steve Elkins|World Pilot Ranking Scheme
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class1/
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class5/
Sarah Bowyer at CIVL got right on the case and got the new world rankings out right after the Worlds:
Class 1:
Position | Name |
1 | Ruhmer Manfred |
2 | Heinrichs Gerolf |
3 | Boisselier Antoine |
4 | Rigg Gordon |
5 | Bondarchuk Oleg |
6 | Gerard Jean-Francois |
7 | Alonzi Mario |
8 | Reisinger Robert |
9 | Gehrmann Guido |
9 | Olsson Andreas |
11 | Williams Paris |
12 | Holtkamp Rohan |
13 | Walbec Richard |
14 | Richardson Ron |
15 | Palmarini Jean-Francois |
16 | Schmitz Betinho (Carlos) |
17 | Durand Jon Jnr |
18 | Zweckmayr Josef |
19 | Baier Bob |
20 | Barthelmes Oliver |
20 | Bertok Attila |
The 2001 Australian Meets were dropped, so the Australian pilots suffered a bit.
Class 5:
Position | Name | Country |
1 | Ciech Christian | Italy |
2 | Ploner Alessandro | Italy |
3 | Posch Johann | Austria |
4 | Straub Davis | USA |
5 | Raumauf Toni | Austria |
6 | Chaumet David | France |
6 | Huppert Michael | Switzerland |
8 | Barmakian Bruce | USA |
9 | Elkins Steve | UK |
10 | Itagaki Naoki | Japan |
The Worlds, the Europeans, the Floridameets, and the Australian meets count big time for WPRS points. The top rigid pilots didn’t fly in the Europeans, and too few flew in the Australian meets, but they did fly in Floridaand at the Worlds in Chelan and Spain. It is clear that the Floridameets and the Australian meets should be as valued by CIVL as the Europeans. They are international meets.
The pre-Worlds in Brazilshould be well attended and that will affect the Class 1 ranking. Again the Brazilian pre-Worlds should be considered as valuable as the Europeans.
Discuss "WPRS" at the Oz Report forum link»
30 topics in this article: Sarah Bowyer, Alessandro "Alex" Ploner, Andreas Olsson, Antoine Boisselier, Anton Raumauf, Attila Bertok, Betinho Schmitz, Bruce Barmakian, Christian Ciech, David Chaumet, Davis Straub, Francois Isoard, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gordon Rigg, Guido Gehrmann, Johann Posch, Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr, Josef "Zwecki" Zweckmayr, Manfred Ruhmer, Mario Alonzi, Michael Huppert, Naoki Itagaki, Oleg Bondarchuk, Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes, Paris Williams, Richard Walbec, Robert Reisinger, Rohan Holtkamp, Steve Elkins, World Pilot Ranking Scheme
New Swift and ATOS pilot WPRS ranking on CIVL web site
Alessandro "Alex" Ploner|Anton Raumauf|Brian Porter|Bruce Barmakian|Christian Ciech|Davis Straub|Heiner Biesel|Johann Posch|Manfred Ruhmer|Manfred Trimmel|Michael Huppert|Paula Bowyer|Robin Hamilton|Steve Elkins|World Pilot Ranking Scheme
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding
CIVL (and Paula Bowyer at CIVL) has come through like a champ with the new rigid wing hang glider and swift rankings which take into account both of the recent Floridameets. Thanks so much to Paula for all her hard work:
Rigid wing hang gliders:
1 | 65 | Posch Johann | Austria |
2 | 58 | Ciech Christian | Italy |
2 | 58 | Ploner Alessandro | Italy |
4 | 52 | Straub Davis | USA |
5 | 41 | Barmakian Bruce | USA |
5 | 41 | Elkins Steve | UK |
5 | 41 | Huppert Michael | Switzerland |
8 | 31 | Bussinger Diego | Switzerland |
8 | 31 | Raumauf Toni | Austria |
10 | 30 | Biesel Heiner | USA |
10 | 30 | Trimmel Manfred | Austria |
My best guess is that other than Christian, who now flies a Stratos, all these pilots fly ATOSes, although Diego flew a Ghostbuster last spring in Florida, and Heiner has at times flown an ESC.
Swifts (and Millenniums):
1 | 7 | Porter Brian | USA |
2 | 2 | Hamilton Robin | UK |
2 | 2 | Mulholland Mark | USA |
2 | 2 | Partridge-Hicks Stephen | UK |
2 | 2 | Ruhmer Manfred | Austria |
Discuss "New Swift and ATOS pilot WPRS ranking on CIVL web site" at the Oz Report forum link»