2010 Chelan XC Open Results

Friday Update -  The last task on Thursday was a short and fast, with many pilots getting stuck early in the task.  For all these reasons, the task was devalued and the day's winner, Dean Stratton, only earned 605 points.   The top-5 ranking changed little in the OPEN CLASS -

1. Russel Ogden
2. Jack Brown
3. Andre Rainsford
4. Josh Cohn
5. Brad Gunnuscio

Chris Galli flew the CRAP out of his GTO on the last day, placing 3rd for the day - Nice job Chris!

The SERIAL CLASS top-5 are -

1. James Thompson from Australia, (not bad for a guy who can't speak the language)
2. Arnie Frankenberger 
3. Marinus Brenkman 
4. Chris Galli
5. Luis Rosenkjer

Rounding out the WOMEN'S CATEGORY - 

1. Melanie Pfister
2. Cherie Silvera
3. Chrissy Drunk
4. Meredyth Malocsay
5. C.J. Brockway

All the scores are available on the http://www.chelanxcopen.com/ website.

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Thursday Evening Update - The final task was a dash to the East to WITHRW and then to goal at Simm's Corner.  A short task that took in the neighborhood of 2 hours.  None of the scores are out yet, but you can bet the boys were racing hard today.

 Results for task 5 will be available HERE and cumulative scores will be HERE.  

Congrats to all, not only the winners, but those wherever they finished in the standings - An epic flight is a personal event and scoring has little to do with the import that a great flight can have on the psyche.

I just arrived in Seattle and hope to get a ride to Chelan in the morning.  With luck, I'll get my first high-flight on the XC3 and find the corners that are important to explore when flying a new wing.  The Chelan PWC starts on  Sunday the 18th and it looks like it will start off with light winds and more classic Chelan weather.

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Wednesday Evening Update - The task today was an out and return to near Leahy, down to Mansfield, then South to near WITH07 and back to the Soccer field at the bottom of the Columbia River gorge.  Expect to see some shakeup of the top 5 is all I'll say . . .  

Results for task 4 will be HERE and cumulative scores are HERE.
Serial overall standings are HERE and woman's overall are HERE.

Tuesday evening update -

The task today was over 100K to Wilbur (East of Almira) and over 50 pilots made it to goal.  Score aren't out yet & I'm headed for bed - The day three results will be HERE and overall will be HERE

My new Avax XC3 arrived today and I got a chance to kite it for an hour or so -  It is a nice wing, well made and easy to manage.  I'm really looking forward to flying it soon.  Seeya at the PWC.

Monday Afternoon update -
By getting creative, and typing in 'task 2' into the task one URL, I have found a scoresheet for the Sunday second task.  Apparently it was quite windy on launch, and in the air - many pilots chose not to launch, and many others ended their flights at the soccer field. For those who made it out, on course, it sounds like it was scary-fun as the winds kicked in.

As a matter of fact, only 24 pilots covered more than 20 kilometers of the 77k task.  The scores  for task 2 can be seen HERE.   

Cumulative scores are:

• HERE for Open Class
• HERE for Serial Class
• and HERE for Women's Class.

 Jack Brown, one of the three pilots in goal, has a blog entry HERE

Tim

Monday Morning Update -
The Chelan winds are forecast to blow today.  I doubt a task will be called, but stranger things have happened.  

Sunday Evening Update-
It looks (from the SPOT page) like the task was canceled today.  Jack Brown & Josh Cohn took a tour and flew East, to Sims Corner then up to Leahy, ending at Sims.  The rest of the field (using SPOTS) ended in the soccer field, which leads me to think the task was called off.

The 2010 Chelan XC Open has started and I'm a spectator for this one -
It sounds like classic Chelan flying.  I can't wait to get in the air there, next week.

You can join me in living vicariously by visiting these blogs:

• Jack Brown - http://alaskaparajack.blogspot.com/
• David Norwood's Blog - http://thepreacherswing.blogspot.com/
• Dave Hanning - http://www.xc-action.com/
• More when I find them - 

Results are on the Chelan XC Open website now - http://www.chelanxcopen.com/
I have a page with the Open results, updated daily, HERE.

Enjoy!

Getting ready to Rumble!

July 10th-15th 2010

We are only two weeks away from the heart of the U.S. Paragliding competition circuit.  2010 is a special year since the schedule includes a PWC event and a Pre-PWC event.  It all starts July 10th with the Chelan XC Open.  I flew this event 2 years ago, when it was a Pre-PWC event and had a great time.  I flew a great 75 mile triangle to make goal and really had a ball.  Unfortunately I won't be able to get the time-off necessary to fly this event. . .  I will keep track of the results here though.  Good luck to all and FLY SAFE.  Info about the comp can be found at http://www.chelanxcopen.com
What's great about the site, in Chelan, is that it has a great mountain launch with a dramatic exposure of the Columbia River Gorge and XC possibilities to the South, East and North.  To the East is a high plain of some of the best XC flats I've ever flown.  Unlimited landing spots, epic climbs to above 10,000', and dusties that you can see for 20 miles make this a place to remember.

July 18th-24th 2010

Following the Chelan XC Open, Chelan will host the first PWC (Paragliding World Cup) event to be held in the USA in 12 years.  PWC events attract the best pilots from all over the world and are the highest level of Paragliding XC competition.  I am really looking forward to flying with the best and brightest.  This will also be my first opportunity to see the newest, exotic 2-liner wings from Ozone, Niviuk, and SOL.

Chelan looking South, with launch on the right and the flats to the left.

I will be flying my new Gradient Avax XC3 which is a new Serial Class wing, and lower performance than the majority of the wings entered in the PWC.  My goals and expectations involve getting to goal every day and making good decisions while learning all I can about tactics and strategies from the great pilots I'll be surrounded by.   I will be posting regularly, while flying in this great competition.

In August we will travel to Sun Valley, Idaho for the US Nat's. I've never flown Sun Valley, but the site looks great.  This event will also be a Pre-PWC event.

My Gradient Avax XC3 should be here soon and I hope to get familiar with it before flying it in anger at the PWC ;-)

Tim

Like a kid on Christmas Eve -

That's me.  I'm waiting for my new Gradient Avax XC-3 to arrive.  The early reports are very positive and the performance is being touted as 'much better' than the XC-2, which I was very impressed with.  When I ordered the XC-2 (3 years ago) I was concerned that it would be too hot for me.  I was very happy with the handling and benign flight characteristics and it was perfect for my stage of development, as a paraglider pilot.

Now, I'm ready for anything that Gradient can get by the EN-D testing.  And I'm ready to enjoy the great handling I've come to expect from the Gradient team.  I won't be worried about competing against the ultra-specialized, exotic, 2-liner comp wings rolling off the factory floors - I'm a serial guy, and happy to be flying a little less performance with much better handling.

I didn't want to complicate my order, so I went with the stock blue colors.  It should be here within a couple weeks.  I plan to fly it in the US Nat'ls in Sun Valley in August, and the PWC in Chelan, WA in July.

The XC3 is advertised as having a better-than 10:1 glide ratio with a nice wide speed range that exceeds 60Kph accelerated.  The 6.8 aspect ratio is right between that of the XC2 and the Boomerang 5 I flew this year.   The 3-line configuration eliminated almost 25% of the line length (read drag) and it looks like the line diameters haven't been increased substantially, like they have been on the 2-line designs.

More info to come when I get a chance to wring it out -

Here's a nice video of the XC-3 in flight.

YouTube Link

2010 U.S. Paragliding Competition Schedule

I just received a dispatch from Rob Sporrer, who has just returned from the USHPA BOD mtg.

Dates	Competition	Location	Organizer
May 2-10	Florida Ridge	Florida Ridge	David Prentice
June 13-19	Rat Race	Ruch, OR	Mike Haley
July 10-15	Chelan XC Open	Chelan, WA	Doug Stroop
Aug28-Sept5	Sun Valley Nats	Sun Valley, ID	Mike Pfau
There will be a PWC event directly after the Chelan XC Open.
July 18-24	PWC	Chelan, WA	Doug Stroop

The Chelan XC Open and Sun Valley Comp scores will determine the U.S. Nat'l Champ.

I'll list the websites as they become functional.

Let the fun begin!
Tim