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Tim

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia - Task 6

Today must have been some serious racing.  Speeds today were over 30KPH and there were 87 in goal.  Marcus Malmqvist was first on the UP Edge XR, followed by Yassen Savov (Boom 8) and Andreas Malecki (Mantra R10.2) and Josh Cohn (Niviuk Proto) and Charles Cazaux (Mantra R10.2).

Overall leader Michael Sigel placed 21st today, scoring 891 points and holding on to his cumulative lead.


No tasks will be dropped during this PWC so what you see is what you get.


Cumulative results are In this .PDF file

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia - Task 5

Today's task was 123Km and conditions were finally suitable for some racing.  The top pilots had average speeds of  28KPH. Today's Top-10 were:

1  0051 Russell OGDEN GBR
2  0147 Xevi BONET DALMAU ESP
4  0017 Andre RAINSFORD ZAF
5  0039 Primoz SUSA SVN
6  0053 Russell ACHTERBERG ZAF
6  0020 Michael SIGEL CHE
8  0101 Lucas BERNARDIN FRA
9  1717 Primoz PODOBNIK SVN
10 0009 Raul PENSO VEN
10 0319 Yassen SAVOV BGR



Nick Greece is the top US pilot at 9th, and Josh Cohn is at 13th in the cumulative ranking.
With two tasks remaining, this is proving to be a great opening competition for the 2011 season.  The top-10 pilots are on Gin Boom 8's and Ozone R10.2s.  Niviuk is represented by Josh in 13th and Stefan Wyss in 14th.  This year is looking like a very competitive year for the manufacturers who are striving to push the performance limits.



Cumulative Results are  in this .PDF file

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia - Task 4

Another tough day in Colombia.  113Km. task with no one in goal..  Michael Sigel was the only pilot to make 100K, which will cinch first position for him.  Since today's results aren't out yet, this is speculation, but some quick computation yields this unofficial ranking overall:

1. Michael SIGEL
2. Russell OGDEN
3. Peter NEUENSCHWANDER
4. ?????


I'm not sure of the ranking below third place, since so many were around the 86Km point. It looks like Nick Greece and Josh Cohn are hanging in there, and both may be in the top-10 when Cumulative Scores are up.




Cumulative scores are in this .PDF file


Tim

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia - Task 3

The third task was considerably shorter than previous tasks at 60 Km.  This allowed all but 13 pilots to make goal.  The top-15 all had average speeds of around 20KPH so it looks like it was a slow day.

Yasson Savov and Russ Ogden are emerging as the most consistent leaders.  They were third and fourth in the cumulative rankings and placed first and third today, so it looks like they will be at the top of the leaderboard.

Jack Brown was second today, and the only US pilot in the top 20.  Nick Greece was in 25th.

For results you can go to http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/htmlrequest/results/t/1/3/1 .  Cumulative scores seem to be a secret.  There may be cumulative scores in the comments on THIS PAGE.

Tim

Flying Bookshelf - Flying Rags to Glory

Mads Syndergaard is an experienced, and quite accomplished XC competition pilot.  He also doesn't mind passing his voluminous store of information to those with XC dreams.

I received my copy of Flying Rags for Glory. . .  last month and found it to be well written and comprehensively informative. The book is written primarily for paraglider pilots contemplating entry into the comp scene. You'll find that this book contains much of the same kind of information, directed at new pilots, as my article "Flying in Paraglider Competitions" but this book also has considerable information that is of value to advanced pilots with goals of flying the best equipment and flying to their max potential.

One of Mads' strengths as a pilot, and as an author, is his interest in the psychology of winning.  He emphasizes and reinforces, with examples, that those who assume they will win, have an edge that is tangible. He also references studies of the sub-conscious and its role in high level activities.  I found this section of the book to be very interesting and informative.

Mads has been flying for most of the years that our young sport has been evolving. He does an excellent job of relating his experiences competing on wings of dubious flying characteristics and modest performance. Many photos are used to illustrate the wings and characters of the early years.

I found this book to be a good read and a valuable addition to my bookshelf. If you'd like to read some excerpts, here are a few:

Excerpt#1 from Flying Rags For Glory - Your First Task Briefing

Excerpt#2 from Flying Rags For Glory - Flattening the Sinus Wave

Excerpt#3 from Flying Rags For Glory - Non Conscious Learning

Flying Rags for Glory is available exclusively in the XCSHOP. If you decide to purchase this book, please click the graphic at left or this text to visit the website. I will get credit for the referral. This is the only revenue generation I use on this site.

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia - Task 2

Another tough day, from the sound of it.  123K task and it looks like everyone has landed short of goal.  Looking at the 'Live Leader Board' Eric Reed placed second a few km. short of goal. Nick Greece, Josh Cohn, and Jack Brown landed around the 116k point.

No official cumulative results are out as of 2100 pst.  But here are some links for your useage:

The retrieve map and general task map are at  www.fastretrieve.com/mapping

The Live Leader Board can be found at Live Leader Board

Results are in the window below and available at http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/htmlrequest/results/1/2/1.

Paragliding World Cup 2011 Roldanillo, Colombia

The first task of the Colombia PWC was a 94 kilometer zig-zag that had as many pilots landing near the 1/2 way point as it had in goal. With the pilot caliber that these events attract, it must have been a tough day.

The Top-10 for the day were:

Rank ID Name        Nation    Glider            Score
1 0020 Michael SIGEL CHE   Gin Boomerang 7       997
2 0051 Russell OGDEN GBR Ozone Ozone prototype   987
3 0077 Jean Baptiste BERLIOUX FRA  Boomerang 7   976
4 0305 Peter NEUENSCHWANDER CHE Swing prototype  973
4 0319 Yassen SAVOV BGR        Gin Boomerang 7   973
6 0059 Nicholas GREECE USA        R10.2?         968
7 0002 Jurij VIDIC SVN      Ozone Mantra R10.2   965
8 0015 Jacques FOURNIER FRA   Ozone R10.2        964
8 0147 Xevi BONET DALMAU ESP   Gin Boomerang 7   964
10 0107 Adrian HACHEN CHE ? ?                    962

Jack Brown and Josh Cohn are in 15th and 16th respectively, and Brad Gunnuscio, Eric Reed, and Brett Zaenglein, all scored around 350 points, landing mid-task.

Results can be viewed in this .PDF file.

Volando en Roldanillo - USA is 1, 2 !

Well it's over in Columbia and Eric Reed was consistent enough to win the Gold. Brad Gunnuscio finished strong to move up to 2nd, and Nick Greece finished at 15th after a great effort in the last two tasks. Jack Brown was 28th and Max Marion did a respectable 50th in one of his first international events.

This is certainly a great showing in this comp, and bodes well for the US guys during the Columbian PWC event next week.

The links in my previous posts appear to be broken due to bandwidth exceedence, but final results are visible in this .PDF file
Tim

Volando en Roldanillo - One more day

Eric Reed is still at the top of the leader board after 5 tough tasks.  He is showing his tenacity and skills among a very talented field.  In addition, Brad Gunnuscio has climbed into 3rd place and Nick Greece is in 18th.  I'm sure Jack Brown is a bit frustrated in 30th, but it is tough to come back from 2 bad days at the start of a competition. Good luck to the guys!

Tomorrow's task will be the 'decider' so check back for the final results.
The overall results can be viewed in this .PDF file.


Tim

Volando en Roldanillo

The competition is on in Columbia at the Volando en Roldanillo.  After three tasks Eric Reed is leading the pack with his signature consistent 'badger' style flying.  He won the first day's task, placed 6th in task two, and second in the third.  Brad Gunnuscio is 4th overall and Nick Greece is 24th.  Jack Brown tied for first in task 3 after a couple tough days early in the comp.

For the latest scores go to http://www.volandoenroldanillo.com

The overall results can be viewed in this .PDF file.

Flytec's 6030 soon to have features of the Flymaster B1Nav!

Hey sportsfans - The folks at Flytec just announced there will be a significant firmware update for the 6030 very soon. It is being tested at the January HG comps in OZ and PWC comp in Columbia. If there are no significant bugs reported that cannot be quickly fixed they expect to release it at the end of this month.

Click for link to my magazine review

The "significant features" added include:

• Optimized route.
• Goal line finish
• Speed to start cylinder
• Nascent/near thermal tone
• NMEA output over Bluetooth

Yep, the $1449 SRP Flytec 6030 will soon (maybe) have the same features as the $630 Flymaster B1Nav.

It's great that Flytec is adding these features.  I don't sell either instrument and I don't really care which is 'best' - I just don't like the big-guys using their influence to control the market and the price points of a niche business.  I especially don't like our limited publications allowing this control to be exercised in their pages.  When I mentioned these "significant features" in my review of the B1Nav, it was considered an unbalanced view ;-)

Tim

For additional background, see my review of the B1Nav - http://biggovtsucks.blogspot.com/2010/08/flymaster-b1-nav.html
and the reaction to it's publication:

http://biggovtsucks.blogspot.com/2010/11/really.html