Oz Report

Last task on Saturday, looks like they are not able to fly the task

Canadian Nationals 2022

(Deadman's LP, Savona, BC, Canada)

https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=4456&pwd=3c5bf9662b1b645826f56085fad157

For Kamloops:

https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-45_metric_e.html

Today: Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud this morning. Fog patches dissipating this morning. Wind becoming southeast 20 km/h gusting to 40 this afternoon. High 21°C. UV index 7 or high.

Final Results here:

https://civlcomps.org/event/canadian-hang-gliding-nationals-2022/results

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Fifth day, no task

Canadian Nationals 2022|Willy Dydo

No flying on Thursday.

https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-27_metric_e.html

Fri, 3 Jun: Cloudy. A few showers beginning near noon. Risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Wind becoming east 20 km/h near noon. High 18°C. UV index 5 or moderate.

Sat, 4 Jun: Periods of rain. High 16°C.

For Kamloops:

https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-45_metric_e.html

Fri, 3 Jun: Showers. Risk of a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Local amount 5 to 10 mm. Wind becoming southeast 20 km/h gusting to 40 near noon. High 18°C. UV index 3 or moderate.

Sat, 4 Jun: Showers. High 18°C.

I'd give Willy a 90% chanced of winning the 2022 Canadian Nationals.

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Second task poor conditions, flew from Lumby instead of Kamloops

Canadian Nationals 2022

(Freedom Flight Park, Lumby, BC, Canada)

https://civlcomps.org/event/canadian-hang-gliding-nationals-2022/results

Task 2:

Cumulative:

Weather Forecast for Lumby:

https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-27_metric_e.html

Thu, 2 Jun: Mainly cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. High 24°C. UV index 6 or high.

For Kamloops:

https://www.weather.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-45_metric_e.html

Thu, 2 Jun: Mainly cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Risk of thunderstorms late in the afternoon. Wind becoming east 20 km/h gusting to 40 near noon. High 22°C. UV index 6 or high.

Looks like flying at Lumby tomorrow. No flying on Friday, and maybe Kamloops on Saturday (60% chance of rain). I'd say that Willy has a 50% chance of winning the Canadian Nationals.

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Second task, live now

Canadian Nationals 2022

(Deadman's LP, Savona, BC, Canada)

https://lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=4456&pwd=3c5bf9662b1b645826f56085fad157

No one is getting high.

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Poor weather

Canadian Nationals 2022|weather

(Deadman's LP, Savona, BC, Canada)

Day 3, weather not good for flying. Tomorrow looks sunny.

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Kamloops

Canadian Nationals 2022

(Deadman's LP, Savona, BC, Canada)

Task 1:

https://civlcomps.org/event/canadian-hang-gliding-nationals-2022/results/629566b991a95

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Eleven places open

https://civlcomps.org/event/canadian-hang-gliding-nationals-2022/participants

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Registration page

Canadian Nationals 2022

https://civlcomps.org/event/canadian-hang-gliding-nationals-2022

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May 29^th - June 4^th

Canadian Nationals 2022|Jamie Shelden|Tyler Borradaile

Tyler Borradaile writes:

I am pleased to announce that Jamie Shelden and I will be hosting the Canadian national Hang Gliding championship this year out of Savona BC. May 29^th - June 4^th with May 28 set as a practice day.

Some quick details:

• $175 CDN entry
• Open and sports class
• foot launched
• Live trackers for scoring will be used
• Expecting to cap registration at 45 pilots (a number I think is attainable based on the interest I have received and the demand for us to host this contest)
• Primary launch will be Savona (Deadman’s), there is camping 2 km from the main landing area, plenty of accommodation and dining in Kamloops 22 km east of Savona.

I personally am very excited for this event, 2019 was a fantastic time with word of the good flying in the area spreading. With travel being a thing again, I expect this will be a very well attended contest so please sign up ASAP if you’d like to join us.

More information to come, I will post as soon as registration is set up, please also follow the Oz Report for updates.

I hope to see many of you soon.

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2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 7

Cancelled

The southwest wind was too strong. If the wind direction had been south, southeast, south southeast, west, east, northeast, northwest, or north, the speed would have been fine. The results at the end of day 6 are the final results.

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2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 6

Results

competition|Davis Straub|Filippo Oppici|Konrad Heilmann|Moyes Litespeed RX|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|Phill Bloom|Tyler Borradaile|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo|Zac Majors

https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results

2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 6

Blue Sky|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|PG|Wallaby Ranch

You know, every now and then
I think you might like to hear something from us
Nice and easy but there's just one thing
You see, we never ever do nothing nice and easy
We always do it nice and rough

The forecast:

NWS:

Today

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8am. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Hourly in the afternoon: 6 mph west wind at 1 pm increasing to 8 mph west northwest by 4 PM, cloud cover 64%. Hourly and daily forecast do not agree on high temperature with hourly displaying 78 degrees.

RAP

1 PM:

Southwest surface wind at 1 PM: 6 mph, 2000' 8 mph , 4,000' 14 mph

TOL at 1 PM: 5,100'

Updraft Velocity at 1 pm: 600 fpm

CB at 1 PM: 4,000'

B/S at 1 PM: 8.0

4 PM:

West southwest surface wind at 4 PM: 10 mph, 2,000' 14 mh, 4,000' 14 mph

TOL at 4 PM: 6,100'

Updraft Velocity at 4 PM: 620 fpm

CB at 4 PM: 5,100'

B/S at 4 PM: 7.0

This is what it looks like most of the day:

Every once in a while it will open up and there will be sunshine on the ground., Cu's form under the high level clouds and there are spots of rain here and there.

We've got a hell of a task:

Wilotree Park to Gore and then back to Wallaby Ranch.

There is some reluctance to launch given how dark the sky looks at times. They delay the launch by 40 minutes so it's not until 1:20 that pilots start launching. Kasey pulls me up at 1:40 above everyone else but two pilots at 2,100' (2,000' AGL). I'm right under those two pilots that are off by themselves and under a weak looking cu. Everything looks weak under the high level clouds.

I climb to 2,800' but fifteen minutes after I pinned off I'm back down to where I started. Despite unrelenting circling and joisting with one pilot after another, half an hour after I launched I'm down to 800' AGL at the south end of the field. I climb at 6.6 fpm until I find 160 fpm west of Wilotree Park and climb to 2,200'. I was previously very concerned about how all of us would land at the same time at the park, which it looked like we were going to do. There were many relights.

After a few different thermals and lift at around 130 fpm I'm able to climb to 3,200'. I'm only 2.5 kilometers from Wilotree, but hanging with four or five other pilots downwind to the east.

I follow the pilots I'm near to the southeast to where just outside the 5 km start cylinder they find 144 fpm and I join in. Pilots are landing every where behind us.

It is all dark and shaded to the south along our course line. We get to 2,900' and then the six of us head south into the darkness. For over 6 km we glide and it looks like we are going to land (as two pilots already did) just north of the mines. Down to 900' AGL I spot Zac below us just north of the mines and to our east when he begins to turn. We come over him and start turning in lift that averages 134 fpm. I'm on top of him for at least 5 minutes when I lose my focus for a second and suddenly I'm on the bottom and out of contact. I see the five pilots I was with climb up faster and get away from me.

I head southeast to get under where they have stopped for lift but it takes me nine minutes to get back up to 3,000' and I can no longer see the other pilots.

I'm just east of the mines but in an area where retrieval will not be easy unless I drop straight down. I've got to go south following where they went to get south of highway 474. I head for the best looking patch of cumulus cloud but there is no lift there. I'm down to 1,400' at 474.

South of this east west road there are very limited access possibilities for quite a ways. I feel that I need 3,000' to chance going out south of the highway. I can see to the south that there is blue sky and lots of cumulus clouds that look so much better than anything that we have been flying in., but they are too far away for a pilot who is as low as I am.

I search around near the highway but not finding any lift land in a field just to the north of the road.

The pilots I was with are able to make it to the cu's and then complete the task.

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/16.4.2021/17:40

https://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2763323

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2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 5

Very windy and overcast

Bobby Bailey|competition|Davis Straub|Filippo Oppici|John Simon|Kevin Carter|Konrad Heilmann|Moyes Litespeed RX|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|PG|Raul Guerra|Robin Hamilton|Tyler Borradaile|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

Replay: https://airtribune.com/play/5009/2d

Forecast:

There is a large mass of clouds moving from west to east in the northern Gulf. We saw a bit of this on Wednesday in the morning before the clouds to the north and west disappeared.

NWS:

Thursday

Increasing clouds, with a high near 87. South wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Hourly in the afternoon: 11 mph southwest wind at noon increasing to 15 mph by 5 PM and turning west, cloud cover going from 19% to 50% then 71% at 5 PM

HRRR

1 PM:

Southwest surface wind at 1 PM: 14 mph, 2000' 21 mph, 4000' 22 mph

TOL at 1 PM: 4,800'

Updraft Velocity at 1 pm: 500 fpm

CB at 1 PM: 4600'

B/S at 1 PM: 4.3

4 PM:

West southwest surface wind at 4 PM: 13 mph, 4,000' 21 mph

TOL at 4 PM: 3,900'

Updraft Velocity at 4 PM: 400 fpm

CB at 4 PM: 0'

B/S at 4 PM: 1.4

So we expect a windy and gusty day with the upper level clouds coming completely over us, but letting in filter sunlight. With the southwest direction we first look at a task to the northeast but conclude that with the high winds the safety factor finding landable areas would be very narrow. I propose a cross wind task to the north hoping that we will get lighter winds and it will be soarable.

Results: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results

Task 4: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5009/day/open-class

Cumulative: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5009/comp/open-class

There was no Sport Class task today given the high winds forecasted.

The winds at launch were within our pre assigned parameters (20 mph south and 10 mph west - so 15 mph southwest). The safety and meet director were monitoring the winds at launch and their criteria was 10 - 15 mph with no gusts over 5 mph. That's what they got.

The high level clouds from the north came near us but there were plenty of cu's underneath them. When I got pulled up after not choosing to go in the first round I pinned off in lift at 1,500' behind Bobby Bailey. I quickly climbed to 5,200' at 335 fpm despite all the upper level clouds. I was drifting at 12 mph out of the west southwest. I wanted to get to the west side of the 5 km start cylinder, which was not all that easy to do.

Heading west and then climbing back to 5,000' it was time to go to get the first start clock.

After the task opened we all raced to the northwest and found lift west of Groveland again back to 5,000'. I followed three pilots ahead and over me and found 350 fpm to 4,500' behind them and they had to come back to me.

As we went further north under the upper level clouds, but still toward cumulus clouds, the lift deteriorated. As we came over Grass Root airfield at a little less than 3,000' we spotted Zac Majors circling low on the north side. We climbed at 140 fpm to 3,300'. Zac headed off to the northwest low and we all lost track of him, except maybe Austin.

I'm only able to climb to 2,800' in the next thermal at 124 fpm. Others get higher. We are all being pushed to the east northeast and there is a small gaggle northeast of the Turnpike. I don't find any lift under them at 2,600' and head west toward the open fields on the south side of the Turnpike and near highway33. I note that the wind is 22 mph out of the west.

Making very slow progress against the head wind, down to 1,200', and not being able to make it to my preferred field to the west I turn east to be able to land near highway 27. There is a huge field there and I come in at 500' and stay prone and on the base tube all the way to the ground not wanting to get turned. My ground speed is less than 5 mph when I land in a nice soft field. It is very turbulent.

Kevin Carter measures 30 mph when he is coming in to land, hits 1,500 fpm low, and just keeps heading into the wind and landing. J.D. gets out ahead of everyone and wins the day.

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/15.4.2021/17:34

https://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2762660

2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 4

Task 3, more blue then a few cu's

Attila Plasch|competition|Filippo Oppici|John Simon|Kevin Carter|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|Phill Bloom|Raul Guerra|Robin Hamilton|Tim Delaney|Tyler Borradaile|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo|Zac Majors

The forecast:

NWS:

Wednesday

Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Light southeast wind becoming south southeast 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Hourly in the afternoon: 7 mph south southeast wind , 38% decreasing to 23% cloud cover

RAP

1 PM:

South surface wind at 1 PM: 6 mph, 2000' 7 mph, 4000' south southeast 6 mph

TOL at 1 PM: 4,400'

Updraft Velocity at 1 pm: 580 fpm

CB at 1 PM: none (with south southeast there is almost always cu's)

B/S at 1 PM: 9.7

4 PM:

South surface wind at 4 PM: 6 mph, 6,000' 6 mph

TOL at 4 PM: 7,700'

Updraft Velocity at 4 PM: 720 fpm

CB at 4 PM: 7,500'

B/S at 4 PM: 10.0

The Task:

Quest 3 km
Turn33 3 km (Intersection of the Florida Turnpike and highway 33)
T33D 3 km (Intersection of Dean Still Road and highway 33)
Quest 400 m

Results for Open and Sport classes: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results

Task 3 Open: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5007/day/open-class

Cumulative:

Sport Cumulative:

2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 3

Task 2, in the blue

competition|Filippo Oppici|Gary Anderson|John Simon|Kevin Carter|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|Raul Guerra|Robin Hamilton|Tyler Borradaile|Wills Wing T3|Zac Majors

Live and Replay Open task: https://airtribune.com/play/5004/2d

Results for Open and Sport classes:

https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results

Task 2 Open: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5004/day/open-class

A blue day with a north wind and a mixed forecast that made us unsure if we would have a lot of lift or just a little. Later the day turned out very well with climbs to 6,000' and sustained 500 fpm.

The forecast was an utter failure

competition|Davis Straub|Filippo Oppici|Kevin Carter|Larry Bunner|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|PG|Phill Bloom|Tyler Borradaile|Wills Wing T3|Willy Dydo|Zac Majors

We were confronted with a forecast that said we were going to get to only 3,000' and have really light lift. None of that was true but it made life difficult for the task committee. None the less with Larry Bunner's guidance we called a great task that took advantage of the superb conditions and got most of us back to Wilotree Park.

Now we have to be concerned about why the forecast was so wrong and how to deal with the fact that the forecast for Tuesday is similar. Likely we'll just grab another forecast from our set of models and also go with whatever Skew-T brews up for us.

Given our great uncertainty about the forecast we called for an elapsed task with no leading or arrival points. We were concerned that it would be difficult for pilots to hang around for an hour in poor conditions. As it turned out there was no reason for that.

I was about the third pilot to get hauled up as a few pilots in front of me backed out and went to the end. Phill Bloom was first off and I was hauled up right under him. We climbed right to cloud base at 4,100' and then sampled nearby clouds wondering who would go first. Raul left early.

Larry and I left a gaggle of about half a dozen of the top pilots to go to the next cloud just outside the start cylinder and got up back to cloud base. When they came to join us in the lift we headed back and got a later start time by about three minutes. We then caught back up with them.

The task was a bit complex:

There were cu's around and we just hopped from cu to cu, which is why we didn't follow straight along the course lines:

There was plenty of lift under most of the cu's and at one point it averaged 500 fpm for 3,500'.

The results can be found here: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5003/day/open-class

Sport Class results here: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/results/task5002/day/sport-class

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/12.4.2021/17:08

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-open/

https://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2761334

https://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/league/world/2021/brand:all,cat:2,class:all,xctype:all,club:all

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20210405&gliderclass=hg1

2021 Paradise Airsports Nationals - day 1

We have crushed the drought

Belinda Boulter|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|video

It's hard to believe that it will only be from one to two inches of rain today (Sunday).

We have not had anything like this in the five months that Belinda and I have been here:

Those folks staying in tents will be most unhappy. Looks like a warm day tomorrow, sunny, with a north wind.

The Sandhill Cranes can eat and drink at the same time:

https://vimeo.com/535653182 by Randee Azzar.

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Pilot Entry Fee Goes Up March 10^th

$100 per competition

Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021

https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/info/details__info

https://airtribune.com/2021-wilotree-park-nationals/info/details__info

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We almost lost it

COVID|Facebook|Oz Report|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|Wilotree Park|Wilotree Park Nationals 2021

You might have noticed that it's been a tough year for most of us. Hang gliding continued without many competitions which would have lead to gatherings which were either frowned upon or completely forbidden by the authorities. Here in Florida we continued life outside where it is is 19 times safer (https://bestlifeonline.com/coronavirus-indoors/). Due to travel restrictions we canceled the Sport Class, Rigid Wing and Women's Worlds as well as all the Nationals competitions. Same for Big Spring.

Now a year later we are planning for the 2021 Paradise Airsports and Wilotree Park Nationals in April to be run under COVID protocols with continued international travel restrictions: https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/info and https://airtribune.com/2021-wilotree-park-nationals/info.

During the year of crises mode we also decided to move to a new web server to reduce our costs. This transition has not been without numerous glitches as the Oz Report is a complex web site. For example, yesterday the host automatically updated PHP which caused all sorts of problems for Scare. Hopefully over time the situation will stabilize.

At one point we considered just going strictly on Facebook which would relieve us of all the web hosting issues (the high cost being the primary concern). We also were getting most of our content via Facebook posts, so it made sense to go to our Facebook version of the Oz Report.

This would mean that we would drop our email push of Oz Report issues. Also, those who find Facebook objectionable would no longer get to see our content. After a few disappointing experiments we decided to leave well enough alone. There is a Facebook version of the Oz Report and a stand-alone version. Sometimes content from the Facebook version comes over to the stand-alone version.

You can just go to the Oz Report on Facebook and ignore your news feed: https://www.facebook.com/ozreport

We don't know where things stand with our readers. We've decided not to publish every weekday unless there is news every weekday. Before it was publish or perish five days a week for 24 years. Now we are taking a bit more relaxed attitude and publishing when something interesting is happening, and hopefully with a new year and good changes to our pandemic situation coming, there will be more interesting things happening.

Thanks to all the Oz Report readers for their support over the years.

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The Florida 2021 Spring Competitions

They are happening

Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021

https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/info/details__info

April 10^th through the 17^th.

Competition flying 11^th through the 17^th.

https://airtribune.com/2021-wilotree-park-nationals/info/details__info

April 18^th through the 25^th.

Competition flying April 19^th through the 25^th.

There will be plenty of social distancing and everything will take place outside.

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The Florida Competitions in 2021

The new meet organizer

Belinda Boulter|Ben Dunn|COVID|Paradise Airsports Nationals 2021|Risk Retention Group|USHPA|Wilotree Park

Stephan Mentler <team> writes:

To my fellow competition pilots, the Florida based hang gliding competitions - in April of next year - are moving forward pending official USHPA re-sanctioning.  This includes the Paradise Airports Nationals, Wilotree Park Nationals, and the 2^nd FAI Sport Class World Championship.  The respective competition dates along with registration process is provided on the Airtribune sites.  

https://airtribune.com/2021-wilotree-park-nationals/info

https://airtribune.com/2021-sport-world-championships/info

https://airtribune.com/2021-paradise-airsports-nationals/info

The competition organization understands that there will remain many unknowns regarding COVID-19, even with the development and distribution of a vaccine.  Pilots who sign-up for a competition and submit payment will be entitled to a full refund of entry fees minus $3.00 (three dollars) or the foreign equivalent if they are unable to attend due to impacts of COVID-19.  This includes government-imposed travel restrictions, government-imposed restrictions on sporting events, surges in cases, pilot illness, pilot family member illness, etc.  The $3.00 (three dollars) is retained to pay for anticipated non-refundable Organizer competition expenses.
 
There are a couple of changes - other than the impacts of COVID-19 – from previous years of Florida hang gliding competitions.  The first and most impactful is the retirement of Davis and Belinda from official Organizing and Meet Directing duties.  As competition pilots, we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude for their personal sacrifice and doing what can be a thankless job.  Without their commitment to organizing the Spring Florida competitions from the Green Swamp Klassic to the Nationals series, I suspect that the Florida and Big Spring competitions would have died-out a long time ago.  Thankfully, they have volunteered to help the new organization team, as needed to get things going for next year.  
 
This gets us to our second change.  In my role as the primary Organizer for next year’s Florida competitions and also considering the long-term prospects for U.S. based race-to-goal competitions – I along with two other competition pilots founded a hang gliding competition specific non-profit organization - the Hang Glider Racing Association Corp (HGRAC), a registered Florida non-profit corporation.  This was done upon the advice of past and potentially future organizers and several attorneys.  
 
A little background - some of the requirements enacted by the Risk Retention Group (RRG), for a competition to be insured, transfers a substantial level of risk to competition organizers.  This includes the potential for the RRG to refuse coverage for incidents that would be beyond the control of the organizer.  Without the creation of a competition specific organization as an additional protection for organizers, it is unlikely that anyone would have stepped in to organize another hang gliding race-to-goal competition in the U.S.  To be fair, the RRG has been made aware of the concerns and their leadership is working to resolve them – but in the interim - the HGRAC will be the entity under which I along with one or two other potential hang gliding competition organizers will organize U.S. based race-to-goal hang gliding competitions.
 
The HGRAC is currently composed of a president and two Directors.  The two Directors are Ben Dunn and Cory Barnwell.  Ben is a former multi-year Open Class U.S. National Team member and Cory is an experienced Open and Sport Class competition pilot.  We will be looking to appoint additional Directors if and as the HGRAC evolves.   

The comp organization email address is <team>.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

First 100 kilometer cross country flight

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|PG|record|USHPA

https://issuu.com/us_hang_gliding_paragliding/docs/ushpapilot1904_issu_68d23770c1b65a/52

On March 24, 2019 I flew my first 100-kilometer XC flight. It was a big day for me as a developing pilot, with personal records set and many lessons learned. Fortunately, none of the lessons were the kind that lead to unwanted landings in strange fields or send you to Urgent Care. It was a very good day.

I began entering competitions in 2018, starting In March with the Green Swamp Sport Klassic. The Green Swamp is a sport-class competition that matches intermediate pilots with mentors who coach them through a week of cross-country flying in a competition environment. As an Oregon Hang-3 pilot flying some fairly tricky local sites, I was at the frustrating cusp where I didn’t have the thermaling skills to get high enough and far enough to find more thermals and improve my thermaling and XC skills. The Green Swamp looked like the perfect crucible to move my game up a notch.

Green Swamp 2018 was great. I had my first out-landings (disregarding landing on the wrong beach in 2006). I flew 40 km on my best day. I never made goal. With the encouragement of other pilots and bolstered by great experiences, I proceeded to compete in sport-class competitions in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. “Compete” is a strong word, as I never made goal and always finished in the bottom 25%. With my intermediate XC skills, I thought of myself as more of a “participant.”

March of 2019 found me back in Florida for my second Green Swamp. Not wanting to ship my glider across the country again, I purchased a new Moyes Gecko to fly and store in Florida. Saturday I took two short test flights on my new glider, which went very smoothly.

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At the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Jim Prahl|tow

Jim Prahl «Jim Prahl

Total income. $7,677.00

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

People told us that they had a great time

Belinda Boulter|Bob "Skydog" Grant|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019

There were 29 pilots including eleven mentors, and 29 volunteers, tug pilots, and others that contributed to the meet.

Our co-organizer and safety director for the GSSK:

Thanks to Bob Grant.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Task 5

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|PG|weather|Wilotree Park

With this forecast we called a straight task to the Leeward Airfield to the north northwest:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the morning.
Surface winds, 7 mph, southeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 735 fpm
TOL: 6,300’
Wind TOUL: 1 mph, south
Surface winds: 7 mph, southeast
B/S: 10
Cloudbase 6,300’, 43 degrees

The winds at 2,000' and 4,000' looked to be 9 to 10 mph out of the southeast. The TOL winds forecast appeared to be an anomaly.

The winds were 8 to 9 mph out of the southeast as we launched.

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2233298

My mentees were Richard Westmoreland and Stephan Mentler and we along with Mitch Shipley's crew climbed up at over 300 fpm to over 6,000' under a dark cu that had just formed over Wilotree Park. I pinned off early as I couldn't see the point of towing out of the lift, so I would have to climb up below my mentees who got to 6,400'.

The sky was once again full of cu's and we were once again quite high so it was time to head to the northwest following the cloud street a little west of the course line. We told pilots at the pilot meeting to go up to 9 km west of the course line for the best route (generally), but, of course, follow the clouds.

It was a 9 km glide to the nursery west northwest of Mascotte, where we climbed at 270 fpm on average together to 5,600'. I headed out in front to find the next lift and lost 2,000' in 9 km at the southeast end of the forested area south of the prisons. I was working 50 fpm when I spotted Richard twirling upwind of me coming my way. I joined him lift we averaged 600 fpm to 6,400'. Stephan came in under us but didn't find that strong core.

I headed out again toward the prisons under the cloud street. I had advised pilots to stay east of the prison and not over the forested area. We flew to the west side of the prisons and right over the forested area because that's where the clouds were. 9 km later I was back down to 3,700' on the south side of the prisons. Richard would come along three minutes later only 300' lower.

We spent over 20 minutes working cruddy lift to 5,200' for Richard and 6,100' for me. We hooked up with Mitch and Jon Irlbeck who we had passed early in the light after they launched right in front of us. Everyone was just climbing way too slowly for my comfort. Stephan came in under us but did not spend 20 minutes climbing in the cruddy lift.

I headed out with Richard behind to the north northwest toward the nearest next cloud. I found the tiniest amount of lift. Richard turned to the north northeast just before I got to the cloud. He was at 3,200'. I was at 4,600'. I headed north as he headed across the Turnpike toward the town of Wildwood to my east about a kilometer.

A three kilometer glide and I found 160 fpm at 4,000' (losing only 600') as I kept my eye on my mentee. I was soon to hear that Stephan had landed south of the Turnpike after losing patience with the awful lift.

Richard went right over the packed residential area of Wildwood at 2,500'. Over down town at 1,500' (no nearby landing areas). He was just west of the railroad tracks at 1,000'. I could see his dark shadow below him.

It looked to me viewing from the west a kilometer and climbing above 4,000' that he would land on a clearing at the edge of the railroad track. Nope, he was 400' AGL.

He went over a small field surrounded by trees and two buildings and averaged zero climb for a few turns and then dropping out of the lift, went north to a good field and landed. I frankly could not believe it. There is no way I would have gone in that direction over the town at that altitude. If he had just gone north with me he would have found wide open fields and the opportunity to climb back up again.

I spotted Mitch and Jon upwind of me and went back to help Jon. But he was climbing so slowly that I figured that Mitch could continue with him and I went off looking for other mentees as mine had both landed. I just had not been enough help for them.

I found another mentee just to the north and he was doing okay. I showed him where the good lift was but he insisted on flying upwind while the thermal drifted to the north. Okay, I see that I can't help you even though you can see me turning.

I found 300 fpm a little further north climbed up and zoomed into goal.

A whole bunch of pilots made goal, although Jon was not quite there.

We decided to score the ATOS gliders separately without a handicap. Oded and Jim Kolynich kindly agreed to that. We would have done this initially but Jim flew his Sport 3 on the first days before switching.

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

Task 5:

Final:

A one point difference between first and second place.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Follow the tracks from task 4 and 5

https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/GSSK2019/task4/

https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/GSSK2019/task5/

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Going west

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|PG

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2231658

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190330&gliderclass=hg1

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/29.3.2019/18:18

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Task 4, Lake effect

April Mackin|competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden|Mark Dowsett|Wilotree Park

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

Thank goodness we are being towed to 4,000'. I hadn't taken advantage of this, but today I did because I needed the altitude to get me and Jon Irlbeck, my mentee, out and away from Wilotree Park. In a hurry.

At the Green Swamp we launch as teams. Our team, Ken Millard, Mark Dowsett, mentor, Jon Irlbeck, and me, additional floating mentor, were second to last to launch an hour after the launch window opened. For the first time in the first hours three pilots suddenly landed back at Wilotree Park just as we were getting up to the launch box. Jim Kolynich on an ATOS got really low but recovered.

There were plenty of cu's before, but now it was blue to the east. I said to those around me, "Lake Effect." This means that the big lakes to the east are cutting off the lift. The wind was out of the east at about 9 mph.

Ken and Mark were launched then after a little wait, Jon and I. April Mackin towed me up brilliantly right behind Jon and when we got near 4,000' she put me next to Jon. I pinned of at 3,900' just below Jon and upwind a bit, but before I did I told him on the radio to turn and go west, immediately, as fast as he could.

As we were towing up we passed through Mark and Ken over Wilotree Park at 2,000'. They would soon land.

Unlike most mentees, Jon immediately followed my admonition and we were soon rewarded with light lift. It wasn't great but at least we were going up and not landing back at Wilotree Park. This was the key that set the day up for Jon.

I found -15 fpm, then 65 fpm, and finally 150 fpm on my way to the first turnpoint at the intersection of highway 50 and 469, 12 km from the start point. I circled into the turnpoint at 3,800'.

Heading downwind down the course line I could see that the lumber yard, the second turnpoint, was in the middle of a large area of shade. There was a huge dark cloud centered right over it. To the north there were other cu's and lots of sunlight on the ground. I could see a very small fire with much more smoke than fire and near by a nice looking, very dark, but smallish cu. I don't have a lot of luck finding lift over fires, especially very small one, but as it was closer than the cu, I headed for it first.

Down to 2,600' I found 300 fpm over it and drifted downwind with the thermal. Drifting a little further downwind I ran into 800 fpm on my 20 second averager under the dark cu. It looked like Jim Kolynich saw that I was climbing and came in way low below me. It looked like I was getting to help two mentors. Jon could hear me on the radio calling out lift and position.

I was going to blow off the second turnpoint at the lumber yard as I had already drifted downwind and being a mentor I was not being scored, but with this big climb I saw no reason not to go back upwind and from 3 km passed the turnpoint cylinder tag it before heading for the next one. Besides, I might run into Jon or another menteee that I could help.

It cost me only 1,400'.  I came back downwind to get under Jim who had climbed up in the meantime. Kolynich flew off, but I was soon back to 5,500'.

Heading toward the third turnpoint at the Gross airfield I could see that there was a lot of blue on the way. There were cu's to the south of the course line, but with the 13 mph wind they were moving away from me quickly. I had to turn a bit to the north to be sure to tag the turnpoint before I blew past it (like the last one), but that sent me into the blue. I was looking to the west at the river surrounded by trees up ahead.

There was a nice looking black cu downwind of the turnpoint and a few fields that I go use for landing just before the river. Down to 1,800' I came in under the upwind side of the good looking cu and bam there was 600 fpm. The rough thermal averaged 500 fpm and I took it to 4,500', which was more than enough to get over all the trees to the west and into goal.

Oded was there when I got there, but I wasn't pleased with the field that he landed in so landed further west in a field with some random small trees that didn't provide too many obstacles. It was great to see that Jon Irlbeck made it later, for his first goal finish. Looks like a number of Mentees made it in.

Task 4:

Cumulative:

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Again strong winds

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

Forecast in the morning:

https://ozreport.com/seweather.php

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Northeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Surface winds 17 mph gusting to 24 mph northeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 775 fpm
TOL: 6,600’
Wind TOUL: 24 mph, northeast
Surface winds: 14 mph, northeast
B/S: 5.8

Cloudbase 6,000’, 40 degrees

The winds at the Leesburg airfield during the day:

We decided to wait until Friday and Saturday to continue the competition. The forecast on Thursday night:

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 81. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Surface winds 8 - 9 mph east northeast

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 755 fpm
TOL: 7,000’
Wind TOUL: 10 mph, east northeast
Surface winds: 9 mph, east northeast
B/S: 10
Cloudbase 6,600’

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the morning.

Surface winds 6 mph east southeast decreasing to 3 mph

NAM 12, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 675 fpm
TOL: 6,000’
Wind TOUL: 3 mph, south southwest
Surface winds: 2 mph, southeast
B/S: 10
Cloudbase, 5,300’

Still a possible around the Green Swamp day.

We look forward to the forecasted great conditions.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Practice day video

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|video

https://youtu.be/2D-qk22oKgE

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Follow the tracks from day 3

Main Page: https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/

https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/GSSK2019/task3/

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Rain and high winds

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

The day is canceled early due to rain and forecast for high winds. The high winds and gusts are already being reported just to our north at the Leesburg airport.

The pilots flying down to Wallaby Ranch on Tuesday.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Day three results

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|USHPA|Wilotree Park

First of all thanks so much to our sponsors who are providing the day prizes for the sport pilots: Flytec, Moyes, Wills Wing, the USHPA, Stephan Mentler, and the Flying Gypsies. Also thanks to all our volunteers, as many as their are pilots (not including the mentors) and thanks to all our volunteer mentors, who are doing the work of getting their pilots to goal.

Here was "my" forecast for the day:

Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Surface winds 10 mph at 2 pm, west northwest from noon until 7 PM

HRRR 3, 2 PM:

Updraft velocity: 800 fpm
TOL: 7,300’
Wind TOUL: 20 mph, west
Surface winds: 11 mph, west northwest
B/S: 7.6

Skew-T: Cloudbase: 5,500’, 49 degrees

With strong west winds it can be turbulent getting out of the field heading west from the east launch. Fortunately the winds were more in the range of 6 mph on the ground. Some pilots had turbulent tows, others, like me, had very smooth tows.

Tim took me right up a line of lift, registering 900 fpm on a tug that can only climb at 400 fpm. I pinned off a little above two thousand feet less than a kilometer on the upwind side of Wilotree Park and starting circling in about 200 fpm lift while drifting quickly to the southeast.  Other pilots, who were being towed to four thousand feet, were being towed far to the west past Osborn field to get them upwind.

The cu's were lined up and there was lots of vertical development which leads to black cloud bottoms. We haven't seen such development so far this year.

My radio battery was on the fritz, so I couldn't track my mentees.  I watched the pilots out to the west struggle as I climbed to 3,300' near cloudbase.

The wind was about 8 mph out of the west northwest. I pushed upwind to work weak lift, less than or about 100 fpm, staying above 3,000' and working my way up a few hundred feet in each thermal before proceeding again south and west to the next good looking cu.

I spotted Mitch Shipley with a mentee or maybe two (one was very low) a little further to the southwest. This was my chance to get into the game of helping a mentee or two. I found lift before I got to them and climbed to 3,900' with them just below me.

I headed up under a dark cloud street to get upwind as far as possible and to stay high as I watched them climb downwind of me. I waited until they got high and both came toward me.

I flew back to them but only spotted the mentee. I headed out and he followed. It was a mistake to not find Mitch, but perhaps he went back to his mentee who was low, but soon landed.

The mentee followed me to his doom. I headed for the next dark cloud but unlike in the first part of the flight it was too far away. He pealed off as I got down to 1,500' on the east side of the Green Swamp under broken clouds with the dark cloud more upwind.

As I watched him land I headed back down wind and not finding anything landed near highway 33 in a huge field with no noticeable wind at all (and none during the whole time I took to break down).

Mitch stayed up and was able to make it to goal at Wallaby (there was a 5 km turnpoint cylinder around the intersection of highways 474 and 33). A couple of the mentees also made it to goal, with Richard Milla winning the day and Oded Kalir in second.

We were originally quite concerned that the west winds would lead to too much turbulence coming out of the field, but that was not the case in general. The strong lift did cause turbulence on tow to a few pilots.

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

Task 3:

Cumulative:

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The tracks reviewed

Task 1 and 2 maps have been posted:

Main Page: https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/

Task 1: https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/GSSK2019/task1/

Task 2: https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/GSSK2019/task2/

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Day two

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden|Larry Bunner

Bobby Bailey|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden|Larry Bunner

We had a forecast of southwest winds turning west as the day wore on. Less than 10 mph on the ground, but up to almost 20 mph west up above near cloudbase. The forecast also called for good lift and cu's and cloudbase around 5,000', so a good day. But we were perplexed as to where to launch from.

Bobby Bailey said launch from the northeast corner as the wind kept coming much more from the south than the southwest or west and that is what we did. We got off all the competitors before the wind went strong from the west and launched everyone else from the east end of the east/west runway.

It's still taking a long time to launch everyone and drag them to 4,000'. Most of the mentors get off early and climb up. I took two flights as after climbing up to 2,400' on the first flight. I then went up wind and didn't find anything.

A good number of pilots got up and out. A number landed back at Wilotree. The lift was broken and often not that strong in the wind. I only experienced at 9 mph out of the west in the air.

The task was to go north to a turnpoint at the Turnpike and highway 33 and Larry Bunner mentioned that as he headed north he had a tail wind, which then became a quartering tail wind from the south west and then was a cross wind from the west as the day proceeded. The second leg was to the south east to Gator field. A short task but we can hardly go east at all given the Orlando airspace.

None of the mentees made it to goal although Mitch and Fabiano did. Larry who almost made goal said that he saw Mick over goal but he hadn't made the turnpoint yet. The wind was much more west later in the day and Mick launched almost last.

John Alden won the day with Mitch hanging with him most of the way.

The lift was pretty broken up and weak, both times I flew. Mitch had to dig himself back out from not finding lift after getting over 5,000' over Wilotree Park and then heading upwind into nothing (which is what I did also, but from a lot lower). Larry Bunner reported 700 fpm early in his flight. The changing wind direction no doubt was a factor in the changing climb rates.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Results from the first two days

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

Task 2:

Cumulative:

Yes, John Alden was second on the first day.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Just before the start

Belinda Boulter|Bob "Skydog" Grant|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019

The bonfire, goes every night, thanks to Flying Gypies:

Photo by Belinda Boulter, the Safety Director for the Green Swamp Sport Klassic.

The practice day, photo by Bob Grant.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

First day preliminary results

competition|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|John Alden

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/results

John Alden hasn't sent in his track log yet and was probably second or third.

The first task for the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

John Alden|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019

http://www.paraglidingforum.com/leonardo/flight/2226062

http://wxc.fai.org/module.php?id=22&date=20190325&gliderclass=hg1

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail:davisstraub/24.3.2019/18:11

https://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-national:US

We got one sport class pilot to goal, Ken Millard on a Gecko, a number of others close.

I joined the team with Mitch Shipley as the mentor, John Alden and Rick Maddy.

I was off at the front of the team. I should have launched after the others because although I got off way early at 1,300', I circled up to over 5,000' at cloud base and drifted far to the northwest. Mitch made it up with me and then went back to join the mentees over Wilotree Park. They were let off of tow at 4,000'. I drifted out ahead and reported back the lift values and top of lift. The wind was 10 to 13 mph out of the southeast.

Pilots were scattered due to the amount of time taken to get each team up to 4,000'. The sky was full of good looking cu's and it was easy to connect up with the lift. as I headed northwest over open lands toward the prisons. After climbing up at the Okahumpka service plaza on the Florida Turnpike I headed west northwest to get under darker looking clouds by Coleman. There are fewer landing areas there but the clouds looked good.

The lift was less than 50 fpm. I was down to 3,200' and headed north after some fruitless turning. The mentees were just south of the prisons. It looked like I could make a landing field just east of the intersection of interstate 75 and the Turnpike. When I got there there was a little lift which quickly disappeared.

Down to 1,400' and dropping at over 400 fpm I headed toward more open fields that promised easy landing. At 600' with a 12 mph southeast wind I noticed a bit of lift over two sets of high tension power lines. I turned. For the first minute there was no gain in altitude, but I had quit falling at 400 fpm. Slowly I began to climb and drift toward additional open fields.

Behind me Rick was going down near the prisons. Mitch was climbing out from less than 1000' after going out in front of the mentees to find lift.

The lift slowly improved and I was able to climb to 3,500' before shifting over to the west a bit and then climbing to 5,400'. I was south of Marion Oaks and Mitch was just 5 kilometers behind with John Alden.

Down to 3,100' within the south side of Marion Oaks with possible landing fields far away I found more lift and soon was flying between 5,200' and 6,200' as cloud base was rising. It was easy to get over the trees and housing developments to get the turnpoint 7 kilometers around Dunellon. John Alden would land near the optimized waypoint around Dunellon not much later.

The sea breeze was beginning to influence the air and the cu's. I was right on the edge of it so the air turned a little bit turbulent. Soon after the turnpoint I climbed to 5,800' and went on glide to goal. Mitch wasn't too far behind. A bunch of mentors made it to goal and one mentee, Ken Millard on his new Moyes Gecko.

We rushed out of the goal field to go get John Alden. Unfortunately, he had landed two miles behind a locked gate. We walked quickly west into the sunset with my kayak carrier wheels and Mitch and I ran back with the glider and harness. John, with his bad knees, took longer to get through the four gates, and it was pitch black before we were on the road again. We picked up Stephane Mentler after he waited 4 hours a little closer to Wilotree Park. Got home at 10:30 PM.

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Checking out the tracks from 2018

Eduardo Fonseca|Airtribune|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|IGC

Fonseca, Eduardo «eduardo.fonseca-1

In prep for the GSSK comp I built this map views with the IGC tracks for the top 5 pilots from the 2018 GSSK edition. Airtribune tracking/map features just doesn’t work for me at all, so I built my own (more portable than Google Earth and mobile-friendly). Hopefully Live Tracking some day.

https://f0n.github.io/GSSK/

We'll have an approximation of live tracking for the GSSK.

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

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Come fly in Sport Class

Quest Air|USHPA|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019

The Sport Class is getting very popular. Pilots love flying the king posted gliders with their easy handling and landing characteristics. Many pilots are turning to these gliders to make flying more fun.

If you are a Gecko or Sport 3 pilot (or you fly any other king posted glider) you might think about flying in Sport Class Competitions. There are plenty of them, not just here in the US, but world wide. Sport Class competition builds camaraderie and all the pilots appear to love doing it.

Check out the Green Swamp Sport Klassic: https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info as well as the other comps linked to here: https://OzReport.com/Ourcompetitions.php. There will also be sport class competitions in the US here: https://airtribune.com/east-coast-championship-2019/info/details__info and https://airtribune.com/santa-cruz-flats-race-mark-knight-memorial-2019/info/details__info.

Sport Class rules for our competitions:

Pilot qualification: Pilots must meet the requirements of minimum hang 3 rating; as well as aerotow (AT), turbulence (TURB) and cross country (XC) sign offs. Aerotow rating or evidence of extensive aerotowing experience. USHPA membership will be required (temporary 30-day memberships will be available at minimal cost on site).

Pilots must not have been listed in the top twenty US pilots since January 2008 for entry into sport class. Pilots must not have finished in the top ⅔rd's of a non-Sport Class Category 1 competition held since January 2014, for entry into sport class.

The Sport Class competitions at the Quest Air Nationals are the pre-Worlds for the 2020 Sport Class Worlds.

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2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

The tee-shirt

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Listed

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pan-Americans 2020|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Wilotree Park XC 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

On Airtribune (where you register):

2019 Wilotree Park Cross Country

2019 Cross Country 101 Clinic details

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds) details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) details

2019 Big Spring Nationals (Pre-Pan-Americans) details

2020 World Championships details

1^st Pan-American Championships and 2020 Pan-Americans details

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ozreport/events/

Listed in every issue

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pan-Americans 2020|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Wilotree Park XC 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

2019 Wilotree Park Cross Country

2019 Cross Country 101 Clinic details

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassicdetails

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds) details

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2) details

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans) details

2020 World Championships details

1^st Pan-American Championships and 2020 Pan-Americans details

Oz Report events on Facebook

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Mentored competition, 23 - 30 Mar, 2019

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather|Wilotree Park

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

The weather turns soarable in February/March in Florida and Wilotree Park is a great place for cross country flying.

This is a Sport Class only event. There will be advanced pilot mentors to help with small groups of pilots.

Hang 3 rating (or hang 2 with instructor recommendation) with aerotow sign off is a requirement . Aerotow practice and sign off is available before the competition. Tows outside the competition days are paid for separately.

Live tracking with Flymaster trackers provided.

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Get ready to go cross country

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather|Wilotree Park|XC 101 Clinic 2019

https://airtribune.com/2019-cross-country-101-clinic/info

https://www.facebook.com/events/1388675041268923

The weather turns soarable in February/March in Florida and Wilotree Park is a great place for cross country flying. This is a perfect opportunity to learn cross country skills and stretch your cross country experience. It is a great warm up to the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic, happening the week after this clinic.

There will be advanced pilot mentors to help with each small groups of pilots. Evening get togethers to go over the day's experience and lessons in using flight instruments and forecasting the weather.

Hang 2 rating with aerotow sign off. Aerotow practice and sign off is available before and during the event.

As listed on Facebook

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pre-Pan-Americans 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|Worlds 2020|XC 101 Clinic 2019

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ozreport/events/

Lots of pilots have signed up

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 1) (pre-Worlds)

79 registered, 13 confirmed

2019 Quest Air Nationals (week 2)

52 registered, 9 confirmed

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans)

28 registered, 3 confirmed

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

10 registered, 2 confirmed

We did not expect this so early.

CIVL|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Pre-Worlds 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|XC 101 Clinic 2019

We opened registration for all our competitions in the first week of November (along with a few glitches). Well, you have responded, and your response is much more than we anticipated. We're able to handle it all, and it is very gratifying to see that so many pilots want to come to our competitions.

Quest Air Nationals and pre-Worlds (week 1): https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-1/info/details__info

67 pilots registered (14 from Brazil, 7 from Canada, 5 from Great Britain, 35 overall from outside the US)

Quest Air Nationals (week 2): https://airtribune.com/2019-quest-air-nationals-week-2/info/details__info

44 pilots registered (15 from Brazil, 3 from Canada, 2 from Great Britain, 24 overall from outside the US)

This really confirms our strategy of holding two one week competitions back to back to encourage non-US-based pilots to come the competitions.

The Cross Country 101 Clinic https://airtribune.com/2019-cross-country-101-clinic/info/details__info

4 pilots registered so far. We have always felt that it would take a while to get this filled out.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

10 pilots registered. Last year we had over 50 pilots and 14 mentors. We expect to see similar numbers in 2019

2019 Big Spring Nationals (pre-Pan-Americans) https://airtribune.com/2019-big-spring-nationals/info/details__info

24 pilots registered (10 non-US-based pilots). This competition isn't happening for 9 months so there is the least pressure on pilots to sign up so early. We had 70 pilots in 2018 and we expect even more in 2019 as the pre-Pan-Americans.

We will know in December what our tug resources are and so will keep everyone updated on the total number of places available in all the competitions. If there are limits on the total number of pilots which requires opening a waiting list, we will choose pilots allowed into the competition by the date that they are confirmed.

We have already met all the CIVL requirements for allowing non-US pilots into the competitions thanks to the strong turnout of pilots from Brazil and other countries. Thanks to you.

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic

Registration is open

Facebook|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|weather|Wilotree Park

https://airtribune.com/2019-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

The weather turns soarable in February/March in Florida and Wilotree Park is a great place for cross country flying.

This is a Sport Class only event. There will be advanced pilot mentors to help with small groups of pilots.

Hang 3 rating (or hang 2 with instructor recommendation) with aerotow sign off is a requirement. Aerotow practice and sign off is available before the competition. Tows outside the competition days are paid for separately.

Live tracking with Flymaster trackers provided.

Helpful instructions: http://ozreport.com/2019GreenSwamphelpful.php

Pay Entry Fee Here: $250 (includes $100 Wilotree Park Fee) http://ozreport.com/2019GreenSwamppay.php

Fill out Waivers: http://ozreport.com/onlinewaivers.php or http://ozreport.com/waivers.php

Aeortow fee: $375 (due on check-in at Wilotree Park)

• Daily Prizes
• Event Tee-shirt
• Medical Emergency Service
• Food and drink for Competition Opening/Ceremony
• Weaklinks
• Flymaster Tracker
• Live Tracking
• On-line Turnpoint Coordinates
• On-line airspace file
• On-line task maps
• Free Wi-Fi
• Evening Parties and Entertainment
• Weather Briefing on Pilots’ Phones
• Task Sent to Pilots’ Phones
• Access to Professional Retrieval Coordinators (Retrieval Goddess’s Retrieval Service)
• Wilotree Park (includes access to clubhouse and amenities - e.g. swimming pool, kitchen, pool table, etc.)
• Camping available
• Help with finding accommodations

Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/331285567419327/

Discuss "2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Approved by the BOD

Applegate Open 2019|Belinda Boulter|East Coast Championships 2019|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Jamie Shelden|Quest Air Nationals 2019|Santa Cruz Flats Race 2019|USHPA|US Nationals 2019|US Open of PG 2019

https://www.ushpa.org/page/competition-calendar

2019 Approved Sanctioned Competitions
	2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida Event Dates:March 23 - 30, 2019 Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - March 23, 2019 Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»
	2019 Quest Air Nationals (PRE-WORLDS) - Week I A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida Event Dates:April 13 - 19, 2019 Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - April 13, 2019 Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»
	2019 Quest Air Nationals - Week Ii A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location:Quest Air, Sheets Field, Groveland, Florida Event Dates:April 20 - 27, 2019 Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - April 20, 2019 Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»
	2019 East Coast Hang Gliding Championship A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location: Ridgley, Maryland Event Dates:June 8 - 15, 2019 Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - May 15, 2019 Organizer:Dan Lukaszewicz | «Lucky_chevy»
	2019 Us Open Of Paragliding Chelan A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Pg Race To Goal Location:Chelan Butte, Chelan, Washington Event Dates:July 6 - 13, 2019 Register Dates:March 1, 2019 - July 6, 2019 Organizer:Matty Senior | «Mattysenior»
	2019 Big Spring Nationals (PRE-PAN-AMERICANS) A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location:Mcmahon Wrinkle Airport, Big Spring, Texas Event Dates:August 10 - 17, 2019 Register Dates:November 1, 2018 - August 10, 2019 Organizer:Belinda Boulder | «Belinda»
	2019 Santa Cruz Flats Race - Mark Knight Memorial A Ushpa National Championship Series Event* Ushpa Sanctioned Hg Race To Goal - At Location:Francisco Grande Golf Resort, Casa Grande, Az Event Dates:September 15 - 21, 2019 Register Dates:December 15, 2018 - August 15, 2019 Organizer:Jamie Shelden | «Naughtylawyer»

* Pilots attending a race to goal USHPA National Championship Series event are encouraged to get an FAI Sporting License at least 14 days prior to the event, available through NAA.

Discuss "USHPA Competition Calendar for 2019" at the Oz Report forum   link»

In Florida and Texas

calendar|Quest Air|Test Championships 2019|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Worlds 2019|Pre-Pan-American Championships 2019

There are two possible test events in 2019 for the 2^nd FAI Sport Class, and 14^th FAI Women's, and 9^th FAI Class 5 World Hang Gliding Championships. The first is the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Saturday, March 23^rd, 2019 through Saturday, March 30^th, 2019 and the second: 2019 Quest Air Nationals, Saturday April 13^th through Sunday, April 27^th, 2019.

The 2019 Pre-Pan-American and Big Spring Nationals, Saturday, August 10^th through 17^th, 2019.

This allows for two weeks between the 2019 Worlds in Italy and the 2019 Pre-Pan-American Championships.

https://OzReport.com/calendar.php

Discuss "2019 Test Championships" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Looking ahead to 2020

CIVL|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Jamie Shelden|Mitchell "Mitch" Shipley|Quest Air Nationals 2019|US Nationals 2019|World Championships 2020

You might have noted this article https://OzReport.com/22.145#1 which was a call from CIVL to prospective meet organizers about international category 1 competitions in 2020 and 2021. Which means test event next year and in 2020. And CIVL wants to see the bids for those 2020 events within a little over five weeks. For the 2021 events by the end of the year. And preparing a bid is no simple matter.

Doesn't give one much time to plan and think about what pilots might want and that's the first thing a prospective meet organizer needs to look at. Now holding a Category 1 competition in European is a no brainer. The place is stuffed with multiple countries and multiple pilots and they can all get together for a competition. Last week we had the Class 1 European and Class 5 World Championships and next week it is the pre-Worlds. You could easily trip and fall down hurting yourself trying to get around these competitions. This doesn't include the ongoing European Paragliding Championships right now.

But, try to put together a World Championship in the US or other North or South American country and things are a lot tougher. We last held a class 1 Worlds in the US in 2007 in Big Spring, Texas. It was very successful as we have great flying conditions there.

We are right now in the process of creating bids to CIVL for a number of category 1 competitions:

2^nd FAI Sport Class, and 14^th FAI Women's, and 8^th FAI Class 5 World Hang Gliding Championships
Sunday, April 19^th, 2020 to Friday May 1^st, 2020
Wilotree Park, 6548 Groveland Airport Road Groveland, Florida, USA

and:

1^st Class 1, Sport Class, Women's, Class 5 and Class 2 Pan-American Hang Gliding Championships
Sunday, August 2^nd, 2020 to Friday, August 14^th, 2020
Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, 3200 Rickabaugh Drive, W. Big Spring, Texas

These are combined events.

As you can see we are being very ambitious. In addition, we would have to put on test events:

There are two possible test events in 2019 for the first competition. The first is the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Saturday, March 23^rd, 2019 through Saturday, March 30^th, 2019 and the second: 2019 Quest Air Nationals, Saturday April 13^th through Sunday, April 27^th, 2019. Next year

For the Pan-American: 2019 Big Spring Nationals,
Saturday, August 3^rd through Saturday, August, 10^th, 2019.

As you can see from the numbering scheme this would be the first time ever that anyone has run a Pan-American Hang Gliding Competition. There have been three Pan-American Paragliding competitions.

But some Europeans are very skeptical about whether anyone (they mean other Europeans) would be willing to go to any of these competitions (travel expenses and all).

So we have to ask, are you interested in any of these competitions? We have to tell the CIVL Bureau in advance that there is in fact interest in these competitions, before they will consider letting us put them on. So, you need to send Davis an email to davis and he's at davisstraub.com and tell him that you are interested in coming to one or more of these competitions. Also send your email to Jamie Shelden «naughtylawyerelektratow

We realize that this is almost an impossible ask on our part. Who knows what they want to do in two years? But please if you have any desire to come to these competitions please email to davis. Also please spread the word around. Without your interest they are not going to happen.

Trying to get on the cusp of the Florida weather

CIVL|USHPA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019

https://OzReport.com/calendar.php

Our current plan is first to have a mentored cross country classic Sunday, March 17^th through Saturday, March 23^rd. This is not a competition, but a mentored cross country clinic with daily tasks called. This is for sport class pilots and all pilots wanting to improve their cross country skills. It’s a prep for the Klassic.

Next up, The Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Sunday, March 24^th through Saturday, March 30^th. A mentored competition. Just like this one in 2018: https://airtribune.com/2018-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

Then the 2019 Quest Air Nationals. This will be a two week competition, with each week scored separately and each week submitted to the USHPA for two sets of NTSS points and to CIVL for two sets of WPRS points. You can attend either week or both.

Dates: Sunday, April 14^th through April 27^th. There will be a rest day Saturday, April 20^th if we have had six tasks flown during the first week, otherwise it's a flying day for the first week. So week one is Sunday, April 14^th through Friday, April 19^th (or Saturday, April 20^th). Week two is Sunday, April 21^st through Saturday, April 27^th.

This is the Quest Air Nationals for this year: https://airtribune.com/2018-quest-air-national-series/info/details__info

Discuss "Still Tentative Dates for 2019 Florida Competitions" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

Please comment if you have any thoughts about these dates

CIVL|USHPA|World Pilot Ranking Scheme|Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019

Our current plan is first to have a mentored cross country classic Sunday, Match 17^th through Saturday, March 23^rd. This is not a competition, but a mentored cross country clinic with daily tasks called. This is for sport class pilots and all pilots wanting to improve their cross country skills. It’s a prep for the Klassic.

Next up, The Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Sunday, March 24^th through Saturday, March 30^th. A mentored competition. Just like this one in 2018: https://airtribune.com/2018-green-swamp-sport-klassic/info/details__info

Then the 2019 Quest Air Nationals. This will be a two week competition, with each week scored separately and each week submitted to the USHPA for two sets of NTSS points and to CIVL for two sets of WPRS points. You can attend either week or both.

Dates: Sunday, April 21^st through May 4^th. Sunday, April 21^st is Easter Sunday. There will be a rest day Saturday, April 27^th if we have had six tasks flown during the first week, otherwise it's a flying day for the first week.

This is the Quest Air Nationals for this year: https://airtribune.com/2018-quest-air-national-series/info/details__info

That’s the plan at the moment. If you’d like to tell us what you want, just comment to «davis

https://OzReport.com/calendar.php

Discuss "Revised tentative dates for 2019 Florida meets" at the Oz Report forum   link»  

March and April

Green Swamp Sport Klassic 2019|Quest Air Nationals 2019

2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic: March 17^th - 23^rd

2019 Quest Air National Series, week 1: April 14^th - 20^th, week 2: April 22 - 28^th. (one competition, two scoring weeks)

Discuss "Tentative Dates for 2019 Florida competitions" at the Oz Report forum   link»