Oz Report

2018 Dalby Big Air

Podium

Attila Bertok|Dalby Big Air 2018|David Seib|Vicki Cain

The final results are: http://williamolive.com/dalby/2018/comp results.html

Vicki Cain <<Vicki>> writes:

Dalby 2018 is done and dusted with a clean sweep of the podium. Congratulations to Attila Bertok taking out 1^st place with a 300 point lead over five tasks. Oliver Chitty 2^nd, and Rory Duncan 3^rd. Hugh Glenn for winning the Sport Class event and for winning the David Seib Memorial Trophy. Thank you to Bruce and Annie Crerar and the Dalby Club for hosting another fantastic event.

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Dalby Competition

The podium

(Dalby Airport, Queensland, Australia)

Cameron Tunbridge|David Seib|Rob Hibberd|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Scott Barrett|William "Billo" Olive

Billo sends:

Scott Barrett, Conrad Lotten, and Adam Stevens, in that order. .

Everyone who picked up a trophy at Dalby; from left to right, Shelley Heinrich, Gavin Myers, Adam, Scott, Conrad and Kathryn. Kathyn is holding the "David Seib memorial trophy", a new perpetual trophy from the Dalby club.

Rob Hibberd <<RobH>> sends:

Scott Barrett flying brilliantly won the comp with a good margin on his Airborne Rev 13.5. He was 299 points in front of 2^nd place getter Conrad Lotan on a Moyes Litespeed. Adam Stevens was once again showing good form and came 3^rd overall on a Rev 13.5. Rohan Holtkamp climbed back up to 4^th place after narrowly missing goal on a crucial day. Cameron Tunbridge made it to 13^th place on the 14.5 Rev and Phil Schroeder was 19^th place.

Paul Barry wrote: Great effort from the Airborne pilots. A combination of great pilots and excellent gliders. Only 7 Revs in the comp and they took out 3 of the top 4 spots with the rest doing pretty well too.

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Dave Seib

Things don't appear to be good

David Seib|Facebook|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr

I'm picking up hints on Facebook that Dave Seib has died at the Brazilian Nationals within the last few hours. No word on what happened.

Jonny Durand writes:

It's been a terrible end to the competition here in Brasil with my best mate David Seib crashing on launch today and unfortunately is no longer with us. My thoughts are with his family at this hard time and all of his friends around the world. Dave will be dearly missed by his huge family of friends here in Brasil and all around the world.. The competition has been stopped by the entire field of pilots tonight in respect to Dave and his family. We will miss you.

I am sorry to hear this. I liked Dave and he was gracious to me in my role as meet director for the 2007 Worlds.

Super Race 2012

Brazilian Nationals Series, Carmo do Rio Claro

David Seib|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr|Wills Wing T2C

http://www.superrace2012.blogspot.com/

David Seib writes:

An 84km triangular course was set for the second task of the nationals in Carmo do Rio Claro. 15 people made goal including me. Conditions were fairly light throughout the course and I was lucky to climb out of one area. Base was about 2200m. Goal was right on the edge of one of the lakes. One of my team mates landed 15km short and it took us four hours to get him after getting a flat in a Coffee bean plantation.

The third task for the Brazilian Nationals in Carmo do Rio Claro was a straight 64km run. There was a lot of cloud and was always going to be slow day. Base was 1800m and climbs were okay around the hill but considerably slower away from launch. I landed 33kms from Goal, and there were a lot o people on the ground in this area.

Brasileiro De Asa Delta - Sapiranga

Brazilian competitions

Brazilian Nationals 2012|competition|David "Dave" Seib|site

(Morro Ferrabraz, Sapiranga, RS, Brazil)

Web site translated here.

http://www.asadeltasul.com.br/

Dave Seib writes:

Third and last task of the Sapiranga 2012 competition. We had a 55km task consisting of two triangles. Two people made goal including the legendary Eduardo. Boca landed three kms short and will be the overall winner. I was in seventh overall and decided to go hard today. It worked really well for a while finishing the first lap first, but unfortunately too low and didn't catch the required thermal. The comp has been really good fun and thoroughly enjoyable :).

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Brasileiro de Asa Delta - Sapiranga

David "Dave" Seib

(Morro Alto da Pedra LP, Igrejinha, RS, Brazil) (N LP, Nova Petrópolis, RS, Brazil) (S LP, Nova Petrópolis, RS, Brazil) (Telesul LP, Osório, RS, Brazil) (Morro Grande LP, Rolante, RS, Brazil) (Morro Ferrabraz, Sapiranga, RS, Brazil)

Web site translated here.

http://www.asadeltasul.com.br/

Thanks to Dave Seib

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2011 Canungra Classic

Jon Junior wins the day, still in the lead

(Beechmont, QLD, Australia)

Canungra Classic 2011|David Seib|Facebook|Grant Heaney|John Smith|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Scott Barrett|Steve Blenkinsop|Trent Brown

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2011/index.html

Apparently Jonny is flying with wheels on his Moyes RS 3.5 as he had an operation on his ACL's not too long ago.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=127484130693000

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Brazil

The first third of the Brazilian Nationals

(Governador Valadares)

Brazilian Nationals 2012|David Seib|photo

Octavio Fiães «ofiaes» writes:

First stage of Brazilian Nationals is over and Carlos Niemeyer (Aeros Combat
L) is the winner.  This stage was in Governador Valadares, from the 9^th to the 15^th of April, and the second will be at Andradas, from 17^th to 23^rd September.

Carlos also won the Brazilian Open which this year included only 3 foreign pilots:
Franz Herrmann (Aeros Combat - CH) 5^th, David Seib (Litespeed S - AUS) 23^rd
and Thomas Koller (Aeros Combat L - CH) 29^th.

Final results:

Nationals/ Open

1º Carlos Niemeyer (RJ) Aeros Combat L
2º Guga Saldanha (RJ) Litespeed S
3º Nenê Rotor (SP) Talon T2

Full report with photos at http://valadares2006.blogspot.com/  unfortunately only in Portuguese! You will find daily results at link: "Resultados/Animação"

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Lessons

Stay with the hot hand

altitude|cloud|Dave Seib|Sportavia International Open 2006

On the third task at the Sportavia International Open (https://OzReport.com/10.024#0), I launched early and headed for the start circle getting high under a nice dark bottomed cloud. I was in a position to take the first start time, but I wasn't as close to the edge of the start circle as I would have liked and the first leg was cloudless outside the start circle. I decided to wait and moved further west to get lined up with the clouds six kilometers to the west of the course line.

I was alone when I headed out at the second start time and glided for 20 kilometers in fifteen minutes to get far away from the guys who would take the third and last start time. This turned out to be a great move as I was out in front and Dave Seib had to come further to the west to come in below me. Two other pilots also joined us a few thousand feet below.

Leaving the thermal when I got near cloud base I headed south at 60 mph over the ground with David just a minute behind. I faded toward some small clouds to the east while David headed straight. When I saw him just ahead I pulled in and went with him. Again, a good move, as he found the next thermal and I climbed up to him so that we could both head out together and side by side.

In the next thermal I found a bit better core and got a little over Dave, a great position to be in, but then I left the thermal when it slowed down a little but before we got to cloud base. I saw that David stayed with it and I should have gone back, which makes for two mistakes when I didn't.

The point was that we were coming up on a turnpoint. I left when I thought I saw a better cloud a few kilometers in front, but the strategy needs to be get high before the turnpoint and I wasn't paying attention (but had plenty of clues).

After the turnpoint I came in over Attila, but as we were climbing up I left with him when we got to 5,200'. Now we had been getting to over 8,000' so there was no good reason to leave just yet. Dave was right above us and he continued to climb. Sure I was with Attila, but felt then that we were leaving too early. He was already going out in front and getting low because if it.

At the next thermal I didn't leave with Attila when we were only 4,200'. Attila would land and I would hang on to find better lift.

The lessons: Concentrate on getting as high as possible before getting to the turnpoint when you go from downwind into a headwind. Stay with the fast guy, there is no need to leave them and you will all do better together. Don't go with the fast guy when you are not comfortable with the altitude.

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Replay

View the pilots as they fly at the Bogong Cup

Andreas Olsson|Ashley Wilmott|Attila Bertok|Cameron McNeill|Chris Jones|Conrad Loten|Corinna Schwiegershausen|David Seib|Davis Straub|Ferenc Gruber|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jack Simmons|Jon Durand snr|Kevin Carter|Mart Bosman|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Paul Allen|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Rolf Schatzmann|Steve Blenkinsop|Trent Brown|Wesley "Wes" Hill

Gerry writes:

You can set how many seconds apart your screen will be refreshed. If it can't keep up it just does it as often as it can. Default=5. You can set how many times real time you want the replay played at with the " speed="parameter. Default=20 but I may up that, it's pretty slow. You can list the names of the pilot(s) you want to display, capitalized like in the list (Andreas Olsson, Andy Schmidt, Ashley Wilmott, Atsushi Hasegawa, Attila Bertok, Balazs Ujhelyi, Birgit Svens, Cameron Mcneill, Cameron Turnbridge, Carole Tobler, Chris Jones, Chris Smith, Conrad Loten, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Craig Dorich, David Seib, Davis Straub, Dick Heffer, Eduardo Oliveira, Ferenc Gruber, Fumihiro Sato, Gabor Sipos, Geoff Ward, Gerolf Heinrichs, Gunther Tschurnig, Guy Hubbard, Imre Balko, Jack Simmons, Jim Prahl, Joerg Bajewski, John Blain, Jon Gjerde, Jon Jnr Durand, Jon Snr Durand, Karl Ruckriegel, Kevin Carter, Len Paton, Lisa Miller, Lukas Bader, Mark Stokoe, Mart Bosman, Michael Friesenbichler, Nic Pallett, nozumu, Oliver Barthelmes, Paul Allen, Peter Aitken, Peter Leach, Phil Pritchard, Phil Schroder, Regan Kowald, Richard Breyley, Richard Olbrich, Rohan Holtkamp, Rolf Schatzmann, Sam Prest, Scott Barret, Shigeto Ishizaka, Siggi Schitzler, Steve Blenkinsop, Steve Moyes, Stuart Coad, Tony Kenney, Trent Brown, Warren Simonsen, Wesley Hill), with"+" signs instead of spaces, separated by commas.

https://OzReport.com/KML_track.php?data=2006+Bogong+Cup+day+1&names=Davis+Straub,Kevin+Carter&refresh=1&speed=80

Leave off the "names=…" and it'll display ALL of the tracks.

You can also start at a particular time (in GMT since that's what the track logs are in). Otherwise the replay starts at the time of the first listed person's track log, probably a while before they even get their butt off the ground.

You can get rid of the displayed names by adding "label=0". Default=displayed.

https://OzReport.com/KML_track.php?data=2006+Bogong+Cup+day+1&refresh=1&speed=50&label=0&time=2006-01-07+02:00:00

It would take too long to refresh the tracks each time, so if you want to see the tracks during the replay just have them loaded & displayed first. Yeah, all the gliders just point north, making them point sort of in the average direction they had been traveling in will happen later. And yeah, they're all the same color.

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Weak day three.

Gulgong

Adam Parer|Attila Bertok|Carol Binder|Conrad Loten|David Seib|Gulgong Classic 2005|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand jnr|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|photo|weather|William "Billo" Olive

Carol Binder «info» writes:

Day 3 Task 3

After very heavy rain and thunderstorm activity overnight the ground was saturated. A short task of 56.5km was called for day three with most pilots away before the 1^st window at 2pm. Bases of 1600m with weak and patchy lift over a undulating landscape saw pilots scattered evenly over the course. It was one of those days that some good pilots didn't make it, and some made goal for the first time.

Click on photos to see bigger versions:

Hosing down the road

Attila with Moyes Tempest

Billo, meet director as rag head.

Around fifteen pilots made goal. The weather looks like it maybe influenced by the trough hanging around with showers and NE/SE winds.

Day 3 Task 3

1. Attila Bertok 804
2. Davis Seib 766
3. Oliver Barthelmes 756
4. Jon Durand Jnr 745
5. Conrad Loten 719

After three days:

1. Attila Bertok 2005
2. Oliver Barthelmes 1973
3. Adam Parer 1971
4. David Seib 1863
5. Lukas Bader 1816

Day 4. Canned due to strong winds and turbulence close to the ground.

Day 5. Friday 25 November Over night once again thunder and lightning surrounded us. Even Conrad Loten crawled into our cabin out of fear. The ground is very wet. Not hopeful for a flyable day but lets see.

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Fri, Sep 30 2005, 2:00:00 pm EDT

After seven days.

Attila Bertok|Cameron McNeill|Cameron Tunbridge|Chris Jones|David Seib|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Scott Barrett

Michael Zupanc «mike» sends:

http://www.hgfa.asn.au/Competition/results/2005/results.htm

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2005/index.html

Seventh day:

Totals:

Let me say how great it is working with Zupy to make sure that I get results that I can publish. He reformatted the fields output from Race and published the results in HTML, an internet standard. He plays well with others, in other words. Thank you so much.

He also chased down the miscreant pilots who just didn't seem to think it was important that they correctly identified their gliders. The two glider manufacturers who sponsor this competition, Moyes and Airborne, I'm sure very much appreciate his efforts and success.

I have published the results of the Canungra Classic, because Zupy, as the scorekeeper, was more than willing to work with me to make sure that his output was publishable. Other scorekeepers have not been nearly so forthcoming, and in those cases I have not been able to publish their results. I believe it is their loss.

Wed, Sep 28 2005, 4:00:00 pm EDT

After five days.

Attila Bertok|Chris Jones|David Seib|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Scott Barrett|weather

Michael Zupanc «mike» sends:

http://www.hgfa.asn.au/Competition/results/2005/results.htm

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2005/index.html

Fifth day:

Bad weather.

Overall:

Tue, Sep 27 2005, 3:00:00 pm EDT

After four days.

Attila Bertok|Chris Jones|David Seib|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Scott Barrett

Michael Zupanc «mike» sends:

http://www.hgfa.asn.au/Competition/results/2005/results.htm

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2005/index.html

Fourth day:

Overall:

Mon, Sep 26 2005, 2:00:00 pm EDT

After three days.

Adam Parer|Attila Bertok|Chris Jones|David Seib|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor

Michael Zupanc «mike» sends:

http://www.hgfa.asn.au/Competition/results/2005/results.htm

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2005/index.html

Fri, Sep 23 2005, 5:00:00 pm EDT

The Durand's backyard

Adam Parer|Attila Bertok|Chris Jones|David Seib|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Phil Schroder|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor

Michael Zupanc «mike» sends:

http://www.hgfa.asn.au/Competition/results/2005/results.htm

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/classic2005/index.html

Mon, Aug 29 2005, 12:00:00 pm EDT

Winning in Brazil

Brett Hazlett|Corinna Schwiegershausen|David Seib|Gerolf Heinrichs|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Martin Harri|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Vicki Cain

Vicki Cain «vicki» writes:

We’ve had some great results from the Northern summer competition season this year. Here’s a list of achievements from around the globe for the past few months.

Congratulations to all the Moyes Boys and Girls!

Special thanks to Jonny. After winning the US Open we sent him to Brasilia glider less, as his glider was snapped up after the comp in Texas. We sent a replacement sail from Australia that he fitted to a spare frame of Nixon’s just in time for the start of the comp! Special congratulations to Guga for his consistent effort over the 7 day meet to snatch the win on the last day, and for being the latest addition to our list!

Guga

June 2005:

1^st Seppi Salvenmoser – Litespeed S 3.5 - Bavarian Open
1^st Martin Harri – Litespeed S 4 - Swiss Open
1^st Brett Hazlett – Litespeed S 4 - Canadian Nationals
1^st Gerolf Heinrichs – Litespeed S 4 - Pre-Europeans

July 2005

1^st Olli Barthelmes – Litespeed S 4 - German Open
1^st Corinna Schwiegershausen – Litespeed S 3.5 - German Open – Women’s
1^st Gerolf Heinrichs – Litespeed S 4 - Nordic Open
1^st Nils Henden – Litespeed S 4 - Norwegian National Champion
1^st David Seib – Litespeed S 5 - Spanish Open

August 2005

1^st Jon Durand Jnr. - Litespeed S 4 - US Open-Big Springs, Texas
1^st Seppi Salvenmoser – Litespeed S 3.5 - Austrian Open/National Championships
1^st Guga Saldanha – Litespeed S 3.5 - Brazilian Nationals - Brasilia

Fri, Jul 29 2005, 11:00:05 am EDT

One Ozzie tackles eighty Spaniards

Dave Seib|Spanish Nationals 2005

Behind 130 points on the last day, Dave Seib beat the leader by fifty minutes to win by twenty points.

Discuss Spanish Nationals at the Oz Report forum

Thu, Apr 28 2005, 3:00:01 pm EDT

OD.

David Seib|Phil Schroder

David Seib «david» writes:

Task four of the Dalby Big Air Carnival set us on a 121km task basically straight downwind. The day overdeveloped early, the lift was light and navigating around the localised downpours made the task very exciting. I spent the first fifty odd kilometres below 650m agl and had some great flying with Rod Flockhart.

Phil Schroder won the day after bombing out the previous day.

For full result details go to http://www.hgfa.asn.au/~dhgc/.

Cumulative:

Discuss Dalby at the Oz Report forum

Wed, Apr 27 2005, 5:00:01 pm EDT

Big kilometers

Adam Parer|David Seib|Moyes Litespeed

Adam Parer|David Seib|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Moyes Litespeed

Adam Parer|David Seib|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Moyes Litespeed

David Seib «david» sent this originally, but I didn;t get it for some reason:

We’re currently in Dalby Queensland for the Dalby Big Air Carnival 2005. Dalby is located 200kms northwest of Brisbane and is part of the route that Jonny takes when he does his big flights from Beechmont.

The competition is currently living up to its name with some fantastic flying conditions, especially for this late in the season. The competition started on Sunday and there were a few pilots who flew the two days before the comp. On the Friday, a couple of guys flew 160kms to Dulacca, and on the Saturday Peter Aitken and myself also flew the 160km straight line to Dulacca. The cloud base turned raised from 2000m at the start of the day, to 2700m at the end of the day. We had a 20km easterly tailwind at the start of the day, with a more southerly influence towards the end.

On Sunday, the first day of competition, we set an open distance task with one turnpoint 77kms to the west to keep everyone on the same track. The 23 pilots started launching at about 12.00pm for the first and only start gate at 12.30pm. We once again had a 20km easterly tailwind which turned into a 90 degree crosswind about 120kms out.

I won the day flying to Roma (257kms), Adam Parer (242kms), and Al Daniels (203kms). Everyone was happy with the day. A total of seven pilots achieved personal bests from the 23 pilots - a very pleasing result.

Task one:

Task three:

A 99km triangle was set for the third task at Dalby. The first leg was a downwind 45km leg and provided awesome race conditions. The second and third legs had a difficult headwind component which was exacerbated by large dark clouds covering the surface with shadow. Timing was everything, having to find lift and get high in the right spots to make the 10-15 headwind glides over the shadow. The majority of the field landed on the second leg with the early starters having an advantage.

Adam Parer is flying really well given his break from the sport and Daron “Boof” Hodder was very happy with making goal, despite an unfortunately heavy landing which will remove him from the rest of the comp. Boof also uses an E-trex which starts wrapping after four hours, therefore his elapsed time is inflated due to a unknown start time.

Cumulative:

Discuss Dalby at the Oz Report forum

Tue, Apr 26 2005, 5:00:00 pm EDT

They are still flying in Australia.

David Seib

David Seib «david» writes:

The big air conditions continued here again in Dalby, Queensland for the second task. We picked a 180km task predominately westerly downwind with a slight northerly diversion. The wind was quite variable during the course of the day, with a 20km easterly tailwind at the start, turning southerly and reducing as the day progressed. We were enjoying climbs of about 3-5 metres up to 2700m ASL.

Discuss Dalby at the Oz Report forum

Aeros|Aeros Combat|aerotow|Airborne Climax|Dave Seib|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Jon Durand snr|Kevin Carter|Kraig Coomber|Moyes Litespeed|Moyes Litespeed S|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Pre-Worlds 2004|Rohan Holtkamp|safety|Steve Moyes|Tove Heaney|tow|weaklink

Results (thanks to Dave Seib) at:

http://www.moyes.com.au/preworlds2004/

Like I reported yesterday the day was forecast to be windy and with thunderstorms, and it is blowing 40 kph when we get to the paddock. But, unlike yesterday, the safety committee now is committed to waiting to see if it calms down, even if we have to wait until 3 PM. The lift is predicted to stop at 4,000'.

There are some cu's forming in the distant east which look like the precursors of a little over development. It doesn't look nearly as bad as it did the day that we canceled the task in mid flight, but it could be a bother.

The task committee has set a task 137 kilometers to the east down the Sturt highway. We will stick to that task the whole day in spite of arguments for the different directions (not possible given the 40 kph winds), the coming change (slowly coming), and the line of towering cu's (fly under them) in our way.

The safety committee is unfortunately split between two car towing guys and Martin at the aerotowing place. This is a bad idea. In the Hay Open we had all the safety committee at the car towing end, so that they don't get scared by the wind noise in the trees at the aerotowing spot. Also you need to have the safety committee all in one place to make a decision. The task committee doesn't even hear from the two other safety committee members until way late.

No one is setting up their gliders as we wait out the strong surface winds with the thought that it looks like they should calm down. Attila gives us the same report on the upper winds as the day before, with 35-40 kph strengths and bumpy.

Finally, at 2 PM the surface winds die down to reasonable strengths. I don't know if the safety committee at the car towing area is set up all ready or not, but the aerotow folks get their gliders off the cars and begin to setup. We call a three o'clock launch window and a four o'clock start clock.

The launch gets delayed at 3 PM when the surface winds come up again for a few minutes. The clouds are building quite nicely to the east and that is freaking out some people. Paul, Martin, Jonny and I are flaying about trying to get the task going, when I finally realize that we haven't heard from the other two safety committee guys. Paul calls them up and sure enough they are keen to go (Dave Seib, one safety committee member, relies on the other, Phil Schroeder, to make the call). Well, that's a majority, so I say, let's go, it's decided.

The launch reopens at 3:30 and the start time starts at 4 PM. I insist on starting a half hour after the launch window opens because: Everyone was ready for 3 PM, there is no need to wait and we want to encourage pilots to start launching right away and not wait because they thin that they will be blown out of the 20 km start circle before the first start time, in fact, there is no way anyone is going to get to the start circle circumference by 4 PM because it is 20 km away, so I want the start time opened so that pilots can start whenever they get to the edge of the start circle, and finally we set 10 minute start intervals given all the winds.

Bo is off first in our line and I'm right behind him. Unfortunately at 600' the tow rope breaks (I've got a stronger weaklink) under only minimal pressure. This puts me to the back of the line. Not good.

No gaggles form over the paddock as most pilots are blown down wind in light lift. Bo gets to 7,000' over the tow paddock and Jon Durand, Sr. gets to over 7,500'. They are the exceptions.

I don't launch until 4:30 and there are still five or six guys yet to tow. I drift out of the paddock at 2,500' with the wind west at 40 kph.

I'm down to 900' AGL before I find some good lift that gets me to 5,000' at the edge of the start circle at 5 PM. This is a late day, and for the most part the lift is quite weak although on the first two thermals both inside the start circle it averages 300 fpm. It will average 150 fpm after that.

Even with the strong winds and gentle lift I'm really liking flying the Moyes Litespeed S 4.5. It seems very responsive in this air and I'm pushed out circling up in the lift when I find it. I'm relaxed, the glider feels stable, and I'm zooming fast over the ground. My average L/D will be 25:1, so you know the wind is blowing.

About forty kilometers out from the tow paddock I'll come in under three pilots including Steve Moyes. Tove will come and join me low and we'll work from 1,200' to 3,000' AGL in 200 fpm. The guys above us will just continue to stick in the thermal even when it gets very very light.

We'll go on glide from low without the other higher pilots and look for lift along the Sturt highway trying to stay away from the large rice operations with their wet fields. I zig zag about and finally find lift at 900' AGL again while Tove misses it to the right and lands. Steve Moyes is right near me and watches as I dig out from this hole. He and I are going up.

The cu nimbs have formed in a line off to our northeast. It looks like it is possible to make it to goal without getting in under the over development. I can see lightening under the area where it is raining, and a wall of dust stretching about 30 kilometers. The wind has switched with west northwest to southwest as we approach the storm. It feels like the cloud of dust is far enough away and stationary so that it won't bother us. The wind is so strong out here away from the storm that it is hard to imagine the storm doing anything but calming the winds.

I'll circle while drifting almost twelve kilometers getting to 3,400' AGL. Then it is an eighteen kilometer glide toward the wall of dust without a low save at the end, even though I find zero sink at 800' for about five kilometers.

I'll end up 48 kilometers out at sixteenth for the day. Steve Moyes who was just above me will get to within 41 kilometers. Kevin Carter will make goal (among the few) and Bo will go down 89 kilometers out from goal. Bo doesn't find any lift after getting high at the tow paddock. The same will happen to Diego Bussinger.

Some of the pilots who make goal well get nearer the storm cell and ride the air above the wall of dust. The winds die down in this area, but the air gets bumpy. Rohan Holtkamp will fly until 7:45 and get to within 25 kilometers of goal. Kraig Coomber will land 53 kilometers out.

Results from task four:

Overall Results:

Oliver Barthelmes «oliverbarthelmes» sends this picture of Belinda and I (that I think Carol took) in from of the Airborne Climax:

aerotow|battens|Brett Hazlett|competition|Dave Seib|Dragonfly|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Ken Brown|Moyes Litespeed|Moyes Litespeed S|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|photo|Pre-Worlds 2004|record|safety|tail|tow|variable geometry|weather

Results (thanks to Dave Seib) at:

http://www.moyes.com.au/preworlds2004/

Five days ago the forecast was for 30-35 kph northwest winds on this day, and slightly lighter winds tomorrow with the possibility of showers. I've been impressed with the weather modeling services provided to Len Baron who is handling the weather here, much as I do at the US meets.

I'm also impressed with Len's improved ability to forecast the weather. Having the fast internet connection and the fact that we get a local temperature trace and wind speed and direction at altitude when they send a Dragonfly up at 8 AM definitely helps. Len also has a whirling psychromiter to give us the wet and dry bulb temperatures in the tow paddock.

Today Len's thermometer recorded thirty six degrees dry bulb and nineteen wet bulb. The clouds to the east likewise told the news that cloudbase was 11,000'.

The winds were indeed quite strong, 20 to 30 kph out of the northwest in the tow paddock and, given the instability, dust devils would come through every so often and really stir everything up. My Moyes Litespeed S 4.5 was tied to a tree, tensioned and the wings horizontal, so it was easy to set up while the winds blew hard. There were plenty of lulls that provided for very launchable conditions.

Kraig and Jonny worked on my Litespeed S 4.5 last night and got the pulley back in shape. I also got Kraig to show we how to roll up the sail. I just need to start near the front and not at the tip, and that worked great.

A pilot writes:

Re your VG line jumping off the pulley. It has happened to me twice. First time your shaking method allowed marginal movement. Then I set it back on the pulley for next flight. Last summer though, it got totally squeezed inside of one of the pulleys that are deep in the upright.

Ken Brown sent me diagrams of the mechanism right away. I had to take the whole assembly out of the upright but freed it up. Now, when loosening VG I always remember to let it out slowly not with a mindless snap.

The pulley that got out of whack for me was the one on top of the keel by the pilot's hang point. I was conveniently located to allow Kraig to smash it back together. Everything seems to be working fine now.

Very few pilots were setting up and this is always a bad sign. Dave Seib was on the safety committee and all setup and ready to fly. But the other two safety committee members were not set up.

The task committee looked at the strong tail winds and decided to call a 301 kilometer task, to try to break the record set the day before of 242 kilometers (150 miles) as the longest task set and made in a major hang gliding competition. We could fly to Brown Bothers Winery, or to the Mt. Beauty airport, but to get 301 kilometers we needed to throw in a turnpoint and go to Holbrook, the town with the submarine.

The task was called, but the safety committee voted to call the day given the statement from Attila in the Dragonfly that the winds were 35 to 40 kph and the gusts up above were very strong. Attila and Dave will be among a number of pilots who later take off and try to fly 300 kilometers from Hay. I remember when Conrad flew from Hay to the Mt. Beauty airport (225 miles). He was up in the mountains but didn't feel good about flying over them.

Paul Rundell, the meet director, feels that the day was wasted by a bad call by the safety committee to not fly. He says, "This isn't Disneyland." I think he means Disneyworld, in Florida.

You'll notice that Brett Hazlett is in the lead with Oleg, now that he is feeling better, just behind him. On Tuesday, Brett was following Oleg as closely as he could to make sure that Oleg didn't gain more than a second on him. You've got to be good to follow Oleg, and Brett was being smart to follow the guy who has best chance of beating you.

Wednesday is the last day. The forecast is for thunderstorms.

The people and businesses in Hay have been great to us this year with many vouchers for dinners and other services. We are taking the car in for new shocks and an oil change thanks to the local Toyota dealer.

Oliver Barthelmes «oliverbarthelmes» sends this photo of the setup area in Hay for the aerotow guys. Notice that many pilots have staked their gliders into the ground and set them up into the wind. This works very well with gliders that can be tensioned and then the battens inserted:

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Pre-Worlds 2004

Results (thanks to Dave Seib) at:

http://www.moyes.com.au/preworlds2004/

Attila says forget about getting dinner if he is on the task committee. With the winds 10-15 kph out of the north-northeast, we call a 150 mile (242 kilometer) task south-southwest to Victoria and the Bendigo gliding club. Everyone seems up for a long straight out task, so why not.

The last time we had a task like this and we made it to goal was at the previous preworlds when Mad Dog was the meet director and he wanted to average 100 mile tasks. The lift got me to 11,000' on that day under a beautiful cloud street, but today we are forecast to get to 7,000' and it will be blue.

Being on the task committee interferes with getting into the launch line but I weasel my way in and am off third. I'm thinking that maybe the earlier start clock is the go at 1:30 (first start clock) or 1:45. I'm rushing everything to get ready and actually input the task coordinates while I'm on the cart.

Grant pulls me into 900 fpm, but the other pilots around me in the start circle seem to have poor lift and nothing is really gelling yet. I launched at 1:15 and see a couple of pilots out by the start circle circumference at 1:30, but that seems like a thin crew to go with. With poor lift in the start circle after my first climb the pilots are bobbling up and down waiting for the next start time. A few more take the 1:45.

A group of pilots heads for the edge of the circle just before the 2 PM start time and they find a thermal that drift us outside the start circle, but not far enough that we can't get back and take the 2 PM start time. Another group of pilots including the fast guys will wait and go back for the 2:15.

I'm a bit low at the start, and with a radio that will not allow me to transmit, so I head south-southeast to get near the highway to Denniliquin, which parallels the course line. There are ten or fifteen pilots in our group so it looks like I might have company. Jonny Durand has gone off my himself further upwind to the east of the highway.

With pilots out in front from the earlier start times and those who were higher at the start gate there are good markers heading down the highway. We're getting to 5,500' AGL and moving along at a good clip leaving the lift whenever it gets a bit weaker.

I'm noticing that I can't easily adjust the Litespeed VG. It has been hard before, but now I have to shake the glider to get the VG off. I also have to pull the cord across my body with my left arm to get the VG to go to a little past half way. I'm wondering what the problem is as I decide to keep the VG on at about half way and try not to mess with it.

At 80 km from the start the highway does a bit of a jog to the south east and I head out on my own over the dirt roads to the southwest paralleling the course. Yesterday I left my buddies to my great regret. On that day I already had 15 minutes on them, and if I had just stayed with Lenny I would have either won the day or come in second. The difference is that on that day I was acting on pride thinking that these guys were too slow for the likes of me. Today, it just seems like the lift is good and I'm moving in the right direction.

I'm crossing the creek six kilometers west of Waganella, and just getting light lift as I glide south-southwest. It's not enough to turn in, but it's great just to be in lift while gliding. Makes me feel good about my decision to go off on my own. Jonny Durand is to my east also on his own. No fast guys to go with him.

As I glide in the lift I hit a strong core and climb to 7,000' in the best thermal of the day so far. After that invigorating climb I'll go on a 20 kilometer glide and start searching seriously for lift at 3,000' AGL. The Edwards River is up ahead and that means trees along the river. I know that I have to find lift before I cross the trees not because I won't be able to make it over the trees, but because I won't be able to concentrate on finding lift if I also have to think about crossing the trees low.

I am searching and searching finding small bits at 1,500' and heading toward some paddocks that extend further south before the tree line hoping to extend my search before coming to the trees. I circle low in broken loft always searching when I'm finally in the last paddock before the trees and I find lift at 700'. Without a working radio, I've got to make it to goal.

I saw some pilots behind me when I first climbed out to 7,000'. Now after my low save I see three of them to my west more on the course line. I come in under them and the lift is decent to almost 7,000'. I've been on the course for over two hours now and am averaging about 55 kph.

Up ahead I can see the trees that mark the Murray River and that is the line that we cross to get from New South Wales into Victoria. The trees are to our right, west, and in some place they must be 5 kilometers across or more. Further south they appear to be thinner, and that's where I'm heading.

I can hear Bo Hagewood and Kevin Carter on the radio 15 to 20 kilometers behind me. Kevin also started at 2, but Bo took the 2:15. Bo is near the fast guys who took the 2:15 clock. It looks like in spite of my low save I'm progressing along well enough.

As I approach the trees from the east, I can see a few other pilots who are also heading south near the tree line heading for the thin spot to get over them. I come in over a red plowed field and climb out to 7,000' again. Nick, from Switzerland, and another pilot will come in a few thousand feet under me and I get high a few kilometers before the trees.

There is a small gaggle a few thousand feet below me as I head out over the trees. It looks like the fast guys are about 10 kilometers behind and I'm high and on my own. I find a good thermal in the brown fields just on the other side of the river so at 75 kilometers out from goal at 5:15 and right on the course line it looks good for getting there.

A couple of pilots come in under me but too far below me as I climb in this thermal to 6,000', so I'm on my own again going to goal. It will remain that way.

I head off to the west a bit to get over some red plowed fields as I get low and have to search again at 1,500'. I see a few little wisps of dust devils over the field, which is a good reason to go to such a field that can display the lift, drive upwind to them and climb out.

I'll have to repeat that little maneuver one more time to stay up. Meanwhile to my east the fast guys will be finding better lift and catching me as I grovel low in search more over the red fields. Bo and Kevin will be flying together and with the fast guys.

It's a slow climb out 24 kilometers from goal to 5,000', but then it looks like I can go on final glide. It's after six o'clock and I'm looking at a 15 kph tail wind, with buoyant late day air over open fields. There is some sink heading for goal, but at 15:1 L/D required to make it, I can float along until I get close and then dive in.

The last two slow climbs cost me the chance to get in early. Jonny Durand flew the whole flight on his own and won the day. Gerolf landed early.

My average L/D over the flight was 17:1, so you know that the tail wind was a big help.

On landing at goal, I had Jonny look at the glider to see what was wrong with the VG. There was a rope that had jumped out of the pulley and was jammed between the pulley and the clamp holding the pulley.

When I was setting up net to Jonny in the morning at the tow paddock. I had mentioned to him how the Climax VG was much more user friendly, easier to pull, less rope. He stated that that was fine, but he had heard that Rohan had had a problem with the rope jumping from the pulley, so there were problems with the Climax VG, implying that there weren't with the Litespeed VG.

I guess God heard him and punished me by having my rope jump off the VG and then having Jonny find it. I spoke with Rohan at goal and he said that it did happen to him once on the Climax in Brazil and that it was on a prototype setup. Kraig and Jonny were very helpful and took that glider to be fixed. Again, I found something that no one had found before. I'm wonder now if this has been my problem with the VG being hard to pull (part of it being user unfriendly) all along.

Task 3:

Totals after three days:

Oliver Barthelmes «oliverbarthelmes» sends in this shot of a tow in the dust at Hay:

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Aeros Combat|Airborne Climax|Dave Seib|gaggle|Len Paton|Moyes Litespeed|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|Pre-Worlds 2004|tow|Worlds 2023

Results (thanks to Dave Seib) at:

http://www.moyes.com.au/preworlds2004/

The winds die down to 20 kph out of the south with gusts to 30 kph. The winds higher up are lighter so there is a chance that the winds will die down further. We call a 182 kilometer task to the north to the airport an Ivanhoe, a favorite spot with a turnpoint at Booligal.

The lift is forecast to be good, but stop at 6,000' for a blue day. Given the long task, I'm up for leaving at the third clock at 2 PM hoping to get to Ivanhoe at 5 PM (assuming a 60 kph average). I'm able to get in line a little early and get pulled up third. Bo is at the back of the line, and Kevin gets up at the same time I do in the Moyes line. The fast guys are waiting for a later start.

There is good lift in the tow paddock, but the launches are slow and with the wind there are few gaggles. The early guys gaggle up and head for the the start circle circumference 15 k away. Some of us head back to wait out the fast guys on the ground.

Not much is happening over the tow paddock and I begin to wonder if the fast guys are ever going to tow or gaggle up. I drift out to the start circle and get the 2 PM clock following the early guys by fifteen minutes hoping to use them as markers.

It's a slow go at first in the no man's territory going to Booligal, the first turnpoint. Everyone is happy to be together to get up to 4,000'. I'm thinking that we've got to get going as fast as possible. The fast guys have got to be up over the tow paddock by now.

Ten kilometers out from Booligal I catch Len Paton and Ilan Sallm and the lift is improving as we head into the turnpoint. Now I've got a bad attitude. I just want to fly as fast as possible and I'm thinking that these guys are going to slow me down.

I just can't see them as my friends and after taking the turnpoint I head out on my own in front away from the road and toward the goal. I've been right here before and I'm happy to go over this territory to hook up with the road later.

As I climb up Lenny comes in under me but when we again get back up to 4,000' AGL, he heads back a bit to get over some of the other pilots climbing up below us and I head on toward goal.

It's 120 kilometers from Booligal to Ivanhoe, and we are moving along at 100 kph when we are on glide. It's dangerous out here alone in front, but I'm feeling that the lift has turned on.

I'm down to 1,800' 90 kilometers from goal and climbing good when Len and Ilan come in over me and I climb up to them at over 5,000' AGL.

We head out with Len in the lead. We've left all the other early pilots behind, and it's a question of just how fast we can go. We keep hitting lift and staying high spread out and searching.

Len stops for 200 fpm, but I press on in front for better and fly all the way to the ground. Len and Ilan stay up and soon pass over my head 60 kilometers out.

Ilan will land 3 kilometers from goal and Len will find just enough to make it in. A pilot that we left behind will find better lift and get into goal first.

The fast guys will come in over my head in one gaggle of twelve pilots about a half hour after I land. They'll make goal as will a good bunch of folks.

Results:

Task two:

Oliver Barthelmes «oliverbarthelmes» sends this collage of shots from Hay:

Dave Seib|Dragonfly|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Oliver "Olli" Barthelmes|photo|Pre-Worlds 2004

Results (thanks to Dave Seib) at:

http://www.moyes.com.au/preworlds2004/

Too windy today. 30 kph gusting to 40 kph. The Dragonfly pilots wouldn't take their tugs out of the hangars. Today also looks windy, although not quite as windy. It has been blowing out of the south every day since we got here except two days ago when we were right in the trough.

Oliver Barthelmes «oliverbarthelmes» sends this photo of Jonny upside down:

the Oz Comps

Angelo Crapanzano|CIVL|David "Dave" Seib|Kevin Carter|Oleg Bondarchuk|Rohan Taylor

Bo and Kevin Carter are here. Angelo Crapanzano is here. Jim Zeiset is here (as the CIVL steward). Fifteen Japanese pilots including Takashi are here. Johnny Durand (who flew 399.0 km the other day) is here. David Seib is here. Rohan and Paul are here. And Oleg. Many pilots are here and ready to fly. Tuesday is practice day.

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David "Dave" Seib|Jon "Jonny" Durand jnr|Len Paton|Cindi Thornton|Jason Turner|Scott Collyer

http://www.triptera.com.au/canungra/manillahg2003/index.htm

Cindi Thornton <jan_cindi@yahoo.com> writes:

The day started with no rain and the weather forecast by Len Paton was to get up the hill quickly. By midday the sky was full of Cu's with only isolated rain showers, and none near the hill.

Mt Borah had high cloud and stable conditions. A 68 km task was set with a turnpoint at Boggabri and goal at Baan Baa. The stable conditions prevented rain from developing, but made getting away from the hill difficult. More than half the field bombed out on their first attempt at launching.

Competition leaders Jon Durand Jnr and David Seib left in the first gaggle at 5000 feet asl. Many pilots landed on the way to Boggabri gap, 23 km along the course line. Jon and David were the most successful in the first gaggle and landed 28km along the course line after ridge soaring the gap for half an hour.

Jason Turner flying in the next gaggle overflew Jon and David. Len Paton and Scott Collyer bombed out and reflew. They had slightly better air later in the day. Scott Collyer landed 8 km short of Boggabri. Len Paton was at 3500 feet agl at 8 km short of turnpoint. He glided in bouyant air around the turnpoint and 11 km along the final leg, landing 2 km short of goal.

The rain started again at around 7:00pm and continued all night, getting heavier as time went on.

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Airborne Gulgong XC Classic 2002|Airborne Climax|David "Dave" Seib|Moyes Litespeed|Rick "Ricky" Duncan|Rohan Holtkamp

Partial overall results:

1 Ricky Duncan Airborne Climax C2 14
2 Rohan Holtkamp Airborne Climax C2 14
3 Dave Seib Moyes Litespeed

Sorry that I didn’t get further results, but these were the guys on the podium.

The cirrus moved in over night and when they took a trike up in the morning it looked like 25 km/h out of the north-northwest. At first it appeared as though the day wouldn’t be that flash.

Then cu’s started appearing under the cirrus at around 11 o’clock that their bases appeared to be over 10,000’ MSL. Perhaps it would be a lot better day than it first seemed.

Rohan and the task committee called dog leg to the south to Mudgee and then south east to Ryleston, the airport – 76 km. A short task given the upper winds, but still based on the prospect of weak lift under the thick cirrus.

Ricky Duncan thought that going early was the go, so I got out in line at 1 PM. With four ahead of me and two in the air it was unclear what our prospects were. The ground was dark from the cirrus and the thick cu’s were to the south of the airport.

I had my best tow yet with the C2 behind a trike. I kept my knees bent and had the bar stuffed to my crotch the whole time. I hit the first tiny bit of lift at about 1,000’ and pinned off.

The lift was really light and I just let the bar out and started feeling around for little bits as I assumed that there would only be light lift. The wind was strong out of the west, northwest, and I drifted down the air strip and into better lift south and east of the strip.

This slowly turned on to average 500 to 600 fpm to, well very high, quite a bit higher than I’ve ever been in Australia. It took a while as I had to climb so high and I was drifting out of the start circle to the east and not to the south, where the first turnpoint was.

Finally I had to fly back to the start circle south of the air strip and still I was able to get back up to real high (again the legal limit in Australia is 10,000’). I saw two other pilots to my west a kilometer or two and they were another 1,000’ over me still below the cloud. So there were at least three pilots quite high just as the clock came around to 1:50 PM and the 10 minute start interval turned over.

I had been watching the air strip and seeing how pilots were doing. There were no clouds over the strip, only a few a few kilometers to the south and it didn’t look like many of the pilots were getting up. It would turn out that many pilots did not get up at all even after 3 tows, even when towed to 3,000’. I was darn lucky to get out of there early, leave the field to get up, and find lift from 1,000’.

I watched the two pilots in front and high above me as we all headed out at 1:50 toward Mudgee. There were plenty of clouds along the way and I stopped for 3,000’ of climb in 600 fpm half way there. The two pilots ahead of me were still going so I didn’t see them until I got to the turnpoint. They wouldn’t take a thermal until after the first turnpoint.

Things looked a little iffy after the turnpoint. Two pilots who had left earlier and the two who went with me (Rohan and Ricky) were turning in a thermal to the east of the turnpoint, but when I went to join them, I didn’t find anything. I continued on racing for the clouds to the east.

Again the ground was quite dark from the high clouds, and the cu’s below were looking pretty ragged. I searched around quite a bit, but came up empty and had to land 14 kilometers past Mudgee.

It turns out that the thermal that I didn’t find after the turnpoint was the thermal that got all those four pilots to goal. They just climbed up at 300 fpm, and when they got almost to the top, they turned and glided to goal.

The average speed over the course was almost 70 km/h.

This has been a great meet and the pilots really had a good time. The facilities here at the glider port are perfect for an outback experience with a barbie and a hangar thrown in. This is apparently the first time a hang gliding meet has been held at a glider port in Australia.

Turns out it was because the glider and hang glider magazines were combined that Ricky Duncan saw the photo of the Gulgong air strip in the magazine and thought that given its close location the New Castle that it would be the perfect spot for a little meet.

The port is privately owned, has a club house, a repair hangar, a regular hangar, 8,000’ of runway, toilets, some water, although not much at the moment, camping facilities, a barbie, solar power, caravans, a winch for sailplanes, etc. Ricky thinks that it could handle 70 pilots easy for an aerotow meet.

I’ve been advocating for an aerotow meet at the glider port in Australia for three years now. Ricky was the guy to find the perfect spot. Then the weather really cooperated. It is going to be hard to beat this weather in any meet.

All it took was one thermal on course to make goal today. Oli made goal and then flew back against the head wind.

Oli coming off the cart

The town of Gulgong is quite small but very friendly and quite adequate for a mob of hang glider pilots and friends. Maybe a pool (when it rains again) to keep the wife and kids cool at the air strip would be good.

The town is laid out where the tents were staked during the gold rush. There is still gold here. With parking there is only one lane open in the main road through town. The caravan park is quite nice. Lots of pubs and a motel or two.

And only four hours from Sydney and New Castle.

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Airborne Climax|David "Dave" Seib|Moyes Litespeed|Rohan Holtkamp|Airborne Gulgong XC Classic 2002

Partials results from the second day:

1 Rohan Holtkamp Airborne Climax C2 14
2 Ricky Duncan Airborne Climax C2 14
3 Dave Seib Moyes Litespeed
4 Steve Moyes Moyes Lightspeed
5 Davis Straub Airborne Climax C2 14
23 others.

Total results after two tasks:

1 Ricky Duncan Airborne Climax C2 14
2 Steve Moyes Moyes Lightspeed
3 Rohan Holtkamp Airborne Climax C2 14
4 Davis Straub Airborne Climax C2 14
5 Dave Seib Moyes Litespeed
23 others

There is a trough right over us and that has brought about outstanding conditions. Light winds and very high cloud bases. I hear that cloud base today was over 14,000’. The legal limit for hang gliding in Australia is 10,000’. I sure didn’t get that high today.

A complex butterfly shaped task was called today with a total length of 138 kilometers. The idea was that if you got tired you could land back at goal on the second, third, or fourth leg.

I stuffed up today (started late and landed way short), so my report will basically be what I heard about the flights from others.

Pilots got high and got to goal (they weren’t too talkative). I can’t really go into details about how high they were getting as it is very unusual to have such a high cloud base and such strong thermals – but so fat at the same time here in Australia. One pilot came across the goal line at 5,500’ AGL. It was hard to get down.

We heard that some pilots were super high at the third turn point and from there it would have been a glide to goal. In fact they were in a convergence zone going to the third and fourth turnpoints and then going to goal. One pilot never turned after heading toward the third turnpoint.

Spoke with Oli. He said that he started as high as possible at the start window at 2:10 PM (he was half an hour before the main gaggle). Out on his own he took a safety thermal half way to the first turnpoint.

Oli lost one glove and it got down to 2° centigrade up high. He didn’t think that he could finish the flight.

He got a couple of thermals before the second turnpoint averaging 900 fpm. Attila who is here just to try for some triangles mentioned seeing 1,500 fpm average at times.

Going to the third turnpoint Oli got under a high cloud and got up real high again and then it was a glide to the third turnpoint. The convergence line was too east for him to get into it. It moved later to the west in perfect position for the pilots behind him. So Oli was stuck for a while climbing slowly.

He mistakenly stayed out of the convergence, the cloud street, thinking that he could make the fourth turnpoint and goal, but there was too much sink to the west of the convergence zone. The pilots behind him stayed under the cloud street and where able to stay high and beat him to goal.

Oli launching on Monday.

Sorry, no results yet from day 3.

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