PWC Superfinal - The Final Task

The PWC Superfinal's final task was a very fast 76 Km. task.  The winners were almost 40k/hr. and the top-60 into goal all flew faster than 35k/hr. average speeds.  Josh and Nick were running in the lead gaggle and accrued many leading points, placing 22nd and 23rd.  Eric found a hole and was slower, in  49th for the day.  Scores for the final task can be viewed HERE.

Cumulative results are HERE.  Josh maintained his hold on 5th place with Nick and Eric placing 22nd and 25th overall.  BZ had some tough tasks in the last few days placing 95th and Jack sat out the last two tasks after landing under canopy on task 7.  He finished up at 81st.

The US team placed 5th in the Nations standings - Congrats guys!

And finally, Big Congratulations to Peter Neuenschwander for flying well all week!

 

Click for larger graphic

Here are a couple of great videos from Task 8 - yesterday -



Valle task 8 part 2 from broers philippe on Vimeo. Official sites 3D Tracking  Official PWC site
Organiser's website
Paragliding World Cup TV
Pilot list
Live tracking
Taskboards
Live Leaderboard
Retrieve map
Results: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9 | Overall
Task Tracklogs: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9
Task Animations: Task 1 | Task 2 | Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | Task 7 | Task 8 | Task 9
Twitter (in test): https://twitter.com/#!/ParaglidingWCup


Blogs:
in English: Nicole McLearn | Brett Hazlett | Nicky Moss | Andre Rainsford | Gin Team Blog
in French: Gin Team France | Team ABAC | Elisa Houdry & Ludovic Sivignon | Maxime Bellemin | Charles Cazeau
in German: Swiss Team | German Team | Pepe Malecki
in Russian: Russian Team
in Portuguese: Claudio Virgilio
in Slovenian: SFFA news
in Czech: PGweb.cz/Renata Kuhnova
in Italian: Italian Team 



  

Rat Race Awards

Mike and Gail Haley with Roger Brock

The last Rat Race task was a great day of flying and I think all who flew this week were treated to some great weather and great tasks.
Here are some podium shots, generously passed along to me by Andrew Zoechbauer  http://foxyvoxel.com/ratrace .

Congratulations to all who hit the podium, especially to Nick Greece who got dunked.





If you haven't donated to the US Paragliding World Team please consider doing so now!  The World Championships begin next week and our team needs your support!  To donate to the US World Team Fund please visit http://usparaglidingteam.org/

Tim

Jeff Huey- World Team Leader

All Winners

Women's RR Winners

RR Open Class Winners

RR Serial Class Winners

RR Sport Class Winners

Sportsmanship Award to Luke Boscovitch

Sprint Women Winners

Sprint Open Class Winners

Sprint Sport Class Winners

2011 U.S. Paragliding Team Fund-Raising

The U.S. Paragliding Team Inc. is a non-profit corp. set up to help subsidize the expenses of our U.S. PG team.  They have made it easy to make tax-deductible donations to the team and the fund raising has begun.

The team consists of Brad Gunnuscio, Josh Cohn, Jack Brown, Nick Greece, and Meredyth Molocsay.  Team Leader is Rob Sporrer assisted by Jeff Huey.  Our standing in the international stage has been improving over the last few years and these pilots are the standouts in US Paragliding and responsible for much of the improvements in our US ranking. 

If each of us threw $20 in the pot it would take a large bite out of the costs and overhead incurred by the team as it attends competitions in Spain this Summer.  To make a tax-deductible donation go to www.usparaglidingteam.org and click the 'donate' link.

Fly Safe -
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

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.

2010 PWC Superfinal Results and some News

The US team is heading home from Turkey and they can hold their heads up high.  After 7 tasks in 11 days, the US pilots all flew well and brought home 5th place in the Team standings, of which Cross Country Magazine says, "In fifth place was Team USA. The seven pilots flew strongly to show that they are now a true force on the international stage."

Congratulations go to all seven guys:  Nate Scales who was the highest scoring US pilot, at 23rd - Josh Cohn placed 28th - Eric Reed at 49th - Len Szafaryn at 54th - Nick Greece, who was leading after task two, finished at 59th - 2010 US Nat'l Champion, Jack Brown, at 88th and Brad Gunnuscio at 92nd.

Thanks for representing the US Comp pilots and flying well! 

Final Results are HERE

PWC FORMAT TO RETAIN THE SUPERFINAL:

The PWC format, for the foreseeable future, will retain the 'Superfinal' format, with 5 regional tests before selecting the qualifiers for the Superfinal.  This format was overwhelmingly approved and will continue to improve the chances of US pilots to qualify, and participate in, the highest level competitions in our sport.


PMA SAYS "GO SERIAL":

On an interesting note; The PMA has announced:

“The PMA believe that from the material point of view a significant way to improve safety in FAI cat.1 competitions is to restrict them to EN–D gliders. Open Class gliders have their place in competitions but FAI cat.1 is not that place.”

Read the full Cross Country article HERE.

I've gone on record as being in favor of such a move, and I still believe it would help our sport grow and improve the quality and safety of our competitions.  I do believe that there is a place for full-on racing (uncertified) ships for use in the PWC that will provide a venue for the highest performance and R&D for the manufacturers.  Much like Formula One and America's Cup racing, there is a place for the spectacular performance of a "cost is no object" type of class*, but I feel that competing mano-a-mano on whatever performance wing will provide better 'sport' for a larger market.  Admittedly, I am flying an EN-D wing in competitions and this obviously biases my opinion, but my choice of wing is due to my opinion that my EN-D wing provides a increased margin of safety and handling not exhibited by competition wings.

I am not cynical enough to assume that the PMA decision is to boost sales by requiring serious competitors to purchase a Cat 1 comp wing and another to fly in PWC events - I hope they feel it will stimulate the market and expand it.  Am I naive?  I hope not.

Do I think Cross Country Competitions will become safer?  Probably not.  Quite simply, it's the stuff between the ears that, ultimately, provides a safety margin.  You can fly a Cessna 150 into trashy air & the result will be ugly.  Pick your line intelligently and fly safely - THAT's the measure of a good pilot. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------
* By 'cost is no object' I mean $$ is no object. . . Unfortunately in the sport of paragliding, the cost to compete on the highest performance wings can mean the cost is your personal safety - This I find unacceptable.

Fly Safe,
Tim