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. . .
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* 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

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!

BAPA Comp at Dunlap May '10

Dave S. and I headed to Dunlap on Wed. afternoon with the intent to fly 3 days and then participate in the SFBAPA league events over the weekend.  When we arrived at launch the conditions looked perfect for a nice 'shake-out" flight around the valley.  We camped at Dan's LZ and enjoyed a nice dinner up the road at the pub.
Thursday Jug Arrived and we had another fun flight around the valley under great cumulus clouds.  The top-of-climb was low but it was still possible to move around the valley.

Friday was more of the same and I made the decision that I would be flying my Avax XC2 in the weekend comp.  I've decided to fly Serial class in the coming season and have ordered a new Gradient Avax XC3.  The Boomerang 5 is a great wing and I've enjoyed flying it for about 30 hours.  It never did anything squirrelly to me and has great glide performance.  I just didn't connect with the wing.  I didn't trust it and felt that I could actually score better on my XC2 or new XC3.  Maybe I'm not ready for a comp wing yet - I'm OK with that.  I'm firmly of the opinion that we all fly better on wings we are confident in and flying well.  I do know that I can't compete, in the open class, with the latest 2-line wings on a two-year-old Boom 5 so I might as well fly the wings I enjoy flying and that are at the top-end of their class.  


Saturday the troops all assembled at Dan's at 9:30 and we headed up the hill at 10:30.  The conditions were forecast to be good with lift to 6-7000' and a NW wind in the valley.  A task was called from launch to hill 49917 and back, then over Big Cat - and Bald, then a leg to Orosi in the flats for a total of 25 miles.



I had a good high start and barred it all the way to Hill 49917 the lift there was sporadic, but I soon found a thermal pulsing off the hill.  I climbed high enough to get back to launch and caught some lift with the lead gaggle.  We all headed down to Big Cat and then hit the 4km cylinder around Bald Mtn.


A few wings turned directly to Ruth Hill and were struggling low in the shade, so I was looking for alternatives.  To my right (the wrong way to Orosi) was in sunlight and I thought about heading there to poach a bubble off the low hills.  At that same moment, I noticed Josh coming across low to the same area.  He began to circle low in weak lift and I came in on top of him.  The lift was weak but soon bloomed and we climbed together to over 6000' which made it possible to pick our way past the shade at Ruth Hill  and start a relatively straight forward flight to Orosi.  The clouds were working well and lift was often 500-600'/min.  Josh pulled ahead when it was obvious that the flight was going to be easy and beat me to goal by 3 minutes.  Fredric and Steve made it to goal about 30 minutes later and Hoop made a great effort, landing 1km from goal.

Lesson reaffirmed: Don't follow others into conditions that are obviously NOT working.  Look for viable options and try to capitalize on the opportunities they present.

Sunday's task was started in conditions that included low cloudbase and some forecasts of convective activity.  We built a 19 mile task that would put more pilots in goal and keep them in the Dunlap Valley.   After looking over the conditions I decided to launch early to sample the lift and make sure that the convection was reasonable.  Climbs were plentiful and the lift didn't increase in intensity as the cloudbase was approached.   As the start time approached conditions felt better and as we made a glide into Hill 49917 the trend was obviously better.  At that point I just concentrated on the race since I was in the hunt with Josh, Eric, and Fredric.   By the third turnpoint I was in 4th place and the flying was fast.  Josh had stopped to take a climb after Big Cat, on the way to Airstrip, while Eric and Fredric continued into Granny's Knob low.  It looked like they had gotten stuck on the knob, so I took the next 400'/min climb and topped out at around 5500'.  This gave me sufficient height to overfly the guys while they wrestled with sporadic lift, low over the knob.  I was fortunate to pick a great line that actually provided lift as I tagged and returned from the Airstrip.   All I needed for the last 7 miles of the task was one more climb, which I took just short of Big Cat.  I knew Josh was on final glide and Eric was hustling to catch me, but I took the climb at least 1000' too high and had way too much altitude for the final glide.  A rookie mistake, but I still placed second for the day - 4 minutes behind Josh.

I feel very good about the weekend for two reasons.  Firstly; My indecision regarding how I was going to compete this season (and in future seasons)  was resolved, as I sold my Boom 5 on Friday and ordered a new Gradient Avax XC3 on Thursday.  I'm flying serial class for the foreseeable future.
Second; I left the Boom in the bag and flew my three-yr-old Avax XC2 well this weekend and placed 2nd to Josh in both tasks.  I really feel like some of the effort I've put into studying the game is paying off.  

The league has really flourished due to Jug's efforts.  Introducing the Mentoring program and reevaluating the goals of the league to promote the participation and education of newer pilots has revitalized the league.  It's going to be a great season.

Results are HERE.  
and more photos can be viewed HERE

Tim

US Nats - Inspo, Utah - Results

It's been a great week with 7 straight days of flying. The organization was good with retrieves coordinated by L.E. and executed with precision by some of the best volunteer van drivers I've ever seen. The task committee was spot-on in extracting the best flying available by designing tasks each day, and Chris Galli was very helpful in understanding the Salt Lake Basin weather. Mark Gaskill was a good meet director for the week and kept it fun. If I've left anyone out it's because I just returned from a 16 hour drive home. . .

RESULTS

I was unable to get quality podium shots so if you have any please send them to timoATbiggovtsucks.com and I will put them up here. Thanks.

Congratulations go out to Open Class winner Mads Syndergaard, who dominated the comp and placed first overall. Matt Beechinor, Brad Gunnuscio, Josh Cohn, and Jack Brown filled in the Top-five places overall.

The Women's Top-5 were Cherie Silvera followed by Melanie Pfister, Nicole McLearn, Meredyth Malocsay, and Natalia Bonilla.

The Serial Class was won by Johnnie Van Duser, followed by Dave Hanning, Steve Young, Darius Lukosevicius, and Cherie Silvera.

The Sport Class was won by Jochen Rink, followed by Tim O'Neill, Nicole McLearn, Arun Moorthy, and Gary Scillian.

The Masters Class was won by Jack Brown, followed by Mike Steed, Tim O'Neill, Steve Young, and Andy Palmer.

The blended scores for the two legs of the US Nationals determined Brad Gunnuscio as the 2009 US National Champ. Congrats to Brad.

See you all next year!

Tim

US Nats - Inspo, Utah DAY 7 - Task 7

WHEW! What a week. Seven straight days of flying. The task committee did an amazing job of working with the weather, winds, and FAA Temporary Flight Restrictions to make the week safe, challenging and enjoyable. In seven tasks the total mileage was 547KM and there was someone in goal every day.

It's late and I'm pooped. so here's the rundown on today:The task was late do to some conversations regarding a TFR North of the Point of the mountain. We flew the revised task above. It was very hot on launch today.

The 53Km task assumed a light west wind. It was a 2Km Exit start around the "Y" mountain, then North to Mahogany. Then we headed South to Stoufer - a school out in the flats.
Then it was a glide to Inspolz. Many had issues down low at various locations, so I opted for the high conservative plan. It worked well all day & I was passing pilots all the way to goal. A high Cirrus layer occeasionally blotted out the sun and having height was gold.

The race went as expected, I placed 14th for the day. Overall, I placed 23rd and took 3rd in the Masters Class and Second in the Sports Class.

The awards party was held tonight and was a lot of fun with great sides and a roast pig for the main.

After merging the scores for this comp and the 1st round in Dunlap this year, Brad Gunnuscio is the 2009 - US National champion.

I can't even stay awake so get the scores HERE - they will be up ASAP.

Fly safe -

Tim

US Nats - Inspo, Utah DAY 6 - Task 6

CNTRL-CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER VERSION

Today started a little sooner and conditions before start were perfect - light winds aloft and good lift to 11,000-12,000'. The task called was a dash South 13Km to Camel Pk then a 28Km leg to Mahogany. We then proceeded 40Km North to Beacon Hill, and finally 35Km back South to Point of the mountain. Total flight distance was 115Km.The start was much more of a race start than on prior days because there were two large gaggles at 11,000-12,000' over Cascade Peak in good position for the start.The leaders and second gaggle were able to make quick work of the first 70Km but got stuck at Beacon Hill. Lift was very weak and disorganized until the cycle let loose. I was about 20 minutes behind the lead gaggle and thought I was in good shape as I passed over them with a lot more altitude than they had. Unfortunately the area around Beacon Hill just wasn't putting off dependable lift and I guess I wasn't patient enough.Meanwhile the flow into the finish cylinder was increasing. It was a photo finish between Josh Cohn and Matt Beechinor, with Josh winning the task with leading points. The top ten were:

1 Josh Cohn 03:11:18 1000
2 Matt Beechinor 03:11:18 997
3 Brad Gunnuscio 03:15:39 933
4 Nate Scales 03:15:34 932
5 Nicholas Greece 03:17:37 910
6 Eric Reed 03:17:15 909
7 Bernard Winkelmann 03:18:42 898
8 Peter Schaefer 03:21:05 871
9 Matt Dadam 03:22:29 869
10 Andy Macrae 03:21:16 864

There were 33 in goal and 20 between the Beacon Hill turnpoint and goal. 55 pilots flew more than 70Km today.

As you might have read on the RESULTS page, the meet director has requested that cumulative scores not be published until Saturday's award ceremony.

If we fly tomorrow it will be a short task and the awards ceremony will be held at the North side of the Point.
Tim

BAPA Comp at Dunlap Aug '09

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW LARGER VERSION

This weekend Jack Grisanti joined me to fly in a weekend comp at Dunlap, CA. We drove up Friday night and stayed in my Pop-Up camper. The days were about 85*-90* in the Valley but cooled in the evening for perfect sleeping weather at the top of the hill.

The turnout was good with many first-timers and a few visitors from Hawaii, Germany, and Bo from Seoul.

The weekend forecast looked like the top of climb would be around 6000' with good climb rates and no cloud. Actual conditions were good with some very small cores that made centering a bit of a struggle.

The 65K task on Saturday was lap of the Dunlap valley followed by a 37K leg to goal at Woodlake. I had a good start and was in the hunt for the first few waypoints. At Bald Mtn., the last fix before the leg to Woodlake, I was about 10-15 minutes behind Josh & Eric and Kansas. I was between the lead pack and the second small gaggle. I hit the Squaw Valley turnpoint and decided to go back to Bald for a climb which would also (possibly) allow me to be joined by Steve and Alex to help with the nleg to Woodlake. By now the West winds had established and it seemed to break up the lift on top of Bald. To make a long story short, I ended my flight at the Ranger Station with many others after getting skunked at Bald. I had made what I thought was the high percentage decision. The fact that it didn't work out doesn't it make it wrong, but it does make me replay the decision to look for reasonable alternatives.

Eric was the only pilot in goal, with Josh and Alex just short of goal. I placed 5th or 6th for the day.

Sunday weather was a carbon copy of Sat. and we called a 39K task that included 5 valley crossings. With the winds, and critical crossings, this task was very technical. Every pilot had at least one or two low saves.

I had another good start and was, again, right behind Josh & Eric for the first hour, with Kansas, Alex, and Steve, just ahead of me or hot on my heels. We (the second gaggle) actually traded positions many times as each of us found our own holes, routes, and low saves. I was very conservative generally, and used most climbs until the net gain (lift vs. drift) was a wash.

Near the end of the task, as I neared the ranger station I passed by Kansas and Josh, who were in the lead and flying from the Ranger station to launch. They were quite low and flying along my track. I had felt little in the way of lift, so I was in doubt about the prospect of lift along that route. As I headed the last 2K to Ranger station, I kept an eye on Josh & Kansas and it was not good, so I made the turnpoint and turned left to a low (200' tall) lift trigger. The hill had been terraced for a home and had a field at the base if no lift was found. Fortunately, I hit a well behaved thermal at about 250' above the ground that took me up 3000' and assured making it to launch. I'd have to say that my decision to take the weak climb, just prior to the ranger station, which gave me the extra 200-300' to get to my lift trigger, was THE decision that allowed me to make it to goal. Luck was a factor too, but in this instance, I made my luck.

On the way to launch I found one more boomer that gave me enough altitude to fly from launch to Granny's knob, then to goal. Alex had had a similar save and was only about 5-10 minutes behind me into goal. There were no other pilots at the goal field, so my initial thoughts were that Josh and Eric had gone looking for shade and beer. It wasn't until a guy drove by and congratulated me that I realized I was first into goal 8-) Alex was also surprised when he found out that we were the first. SEE EDIT BELOW.

We had a celebratory brew and packed up before a few other pilots landed at the LZ, but I'm unsure if they completed the task. It was a long day that required the dreaded low save. I was able to make goal while others weren't, only because I was lucky enough to get my save when I needed it most. Alex flew very consistently well - placing second on both days.

It was a great weekend with a lot of great flights and great people.

EDIT - My initial thoughts were correct! Eric Reed won the task day with a great time of 1:20 for the task. I was a full 38 minutes behind Eric. He then continued on to a landing out by the pizza place. Alex and I are happy with second and third.

Results will be HERE soon.

My Sat. Flight is HERE.

My Sun. Flight is HERE.

This was a fun weekend and a good warmup for the US Nat's next week.

Tim

X-Alps is over. Honza places 3rd!

CLICK ON GRAPHIC FOR LARGER VERSION

Well the Red Bull X-Alps 2009 is over and it was a great race to watch. As I said earlier, this race is quite an adventure. The sacrifices these athletes make to prepare for, and participate in, this race are much more than most modern citizens will ever endure. RESPECT to all the athlete/pilots.

Christian Maurer absolutely outran the field winning by almost two days margin. Alex Hofer placed second and was the only other competitor to make it to the raft in Monaco.

Honza Rajmanek made a late push beyond Aiden Toase and finished a respectable 3rd place. He covered over 1150KM and had an epic journey. I really enjoyed watching this event and am proud of them all.
The event website is HERE.

Tim

Progress check

Well let's see. . . "The guy who has the most fun wins."

I try to live by this rule. . .er, recommendation.. . . ah, tenet.

But it's not easy. I mean, I AM having fun most of the time. But I'm a competitive guy, and I'd like to stand on the podium as much as the next guy. It's not that I want to get a trophy (although it's nice, before paragliding, the last I got was when I was 12). And I don't need to win so I can swagger amongst the launch queue. But I want to do my very best at the sport that has my attention.

How do I do that? In short - Practice, Practice, Practice. I need to make good decisions and learn from those that aren't. One of the reasons I started writing this bloggage was so I could relive the tasks that went bad, as much as those that went well. The only way to learn from the bad decisions is to remember them.

In order to plot my progress I've built a crude Excel graph of my placing in the last eight competitions. No compensation has been made for field quality or for the fact that I was on a DHV 1/2 and 2 for most of these comps. My present wing, a Gradient Avax XC2, is an EN-C (almost a 2/3) that I am very comfortable flying. I don't have any qualms flying it in angry conditions because I know what it is saying and how it will react. I also own a Boomerang 5 that I have flown a few times now. The Boom 5 has obviously better performance but isn't a wing that I enjoy flying - right now. The handling seems unresponsive and almost untrustworthy. I imagine that I will get some confidence on the Boom, with time, but until then I will be competing on the Avax XC2 - that includes the U.S. Nat's in Inspo UT in August.

So - looking at the graph, it seems there has been some progress. I'm happy competing and learning while flying in the Serial/Sports class. I'm also getting a taste of the Boom on days that allow some altitude.

Looking forward to Utah next month.

WCPC Day 7 - Task 7

Click on photos for larger version

Today was the 4th scored task. We have flown every day, but 3 tasks were canceled for weather. The weather today looked as good as any of the days this week, so it was "Game-On" and the boys were ready to do some hard charging.

The task was two triangles - The first, from Woodrat Pk to Rabies Pk to Burnt then back to Woodrat Pk. From there we flew to Rabies then to Cemetery to Donato. I got suited up and got in line. From then on, for the next 40 minutes, it was a fiasco. The winds were very light and I blew my first launch because I just couldn't drive hard enough with my broken ankle. I set-up for try #2 and this time the wing got swirled by a gust and landed on top of me. I pulled out of the queue and sorted my gear. I took my time because I didn't want to compound the error. I was the last pilot off the hill - 13 minutes before the start time. I found a nice core, right off of launch, and soon was in a nice spot for the start. As I pushed my speed-bar to get into position for the start, the right brummel-hook (quick reslease for the speed system) let loos and the speed line was buried in the bottom of my harness. This meant I would have to fly the course handicapped, without my speed bar.

From then on things HAD to get better, and they did. I took my time and found the good climbs when I needed them and flew good lines - using the convergence to my advantage as we flew the early laps. Eventually I found myself on top of Burnt Ridge, on the way to Cemetery, and Nicole and I were not finding the screamer that we wanted. We were high enough to get over the back, but not high enough to get to the cemetery waypoint without a climb. The clouds looked good and we went for it. It seemed like the thing to do - but it didn't work out. We both landed about a mile from Cemetery. There were at least a dozen in goal today. I placed 20th for the day.

Eric Reed won the day with all the usual suspects in goal. I got picked up by the van on its way to the goal to pick up the guys in goal. . .I call it the VAN-RIDE-OF-SHAME - You are in this van filled with happy guys who made goal, and you didn't. But I did lurk and learn ;-) Watch your backs boys - I'm learning.

It's been a fun competition and Mike and Gail did another great job of making the comp fun and exciting.

Open Cumulative Scores
1 Mattew Beechinor 2399
2 Josh Cohn 2284
3 Matt Dadam 2227
4 Eric Reed 2180
5 Nate Scales 2148
6 Hayden Glatte III 2067
7 Paul Murdoch 1899
8 Andy Macrae 1709
9 Peter Warren 1643
10 Brad Gunnuscio 1457
11 Brett Hardin 1365
12 Michal Hammel 1357
13 Cliff Curry 1299
14 Tim O'Neill 1293
15 Nicholas Greece 1245

Serial Class Cumulative Scores
1 Peter Warren 1643
2 Brett Hardin 1365
3 Tim O'Neill 1293
4 David Wheeler 1216
5 Tom Moock 1203
6 Melanie Pfister 1157
7 Sam Mulder 1058
8 Nicole Mclearn 1056
9 Steve Young 1016
10 Meredyth Malocsay 878

Women's Class Cumulative Scores
1 Melanie Pfister 772
2 Nicole Mclearn 677
3 Meredyth Malocsay 584
4 Veronica Dubak 401

Results are here.

Tim

WCPC Day 6 - Task 6

Today we met at WCPC HQ under broken cloud layers similar to those of previous mornings. The forecast called for clearing with more North West winds than on previous days. We were joined by 15 kids from the local elementary school who rode to launch with a few of us. The kids were enjoying their first day of Summer vacation and chose to watch the paragliders.

A 40Km task was called from Woodrat to WelRG to Cemetery to Donato. Things looked good for a fun day of flying with many layers of clouds visible from launch. At one point a rather risque looking cloud formed right in front of launch. It was soon dubbed "cumuluscockenbalus" by those meteorologists in attendance.

I launched early and made a few ragged climbs to work around the peak to find the best climb. Soon I found myself getting low in a down-shaded cycle and frustratingly, unable to get high. I fought with 10-16kt wind-blown thermals for 49 minutes and eventually ended in the LZ at the base of the hill.

My vantage point in the LZ offered a good view of the race. Many of the guys were over Rabies and basically stuck in the wind - unable to penetrate into the first turnpoint without getting low in a place that was uncomfortable. Josh and Nick managed to get into the turnpoint and soon they were WAY out in front and flew over Burnt in good shape. About 20 minutes later I saw Hayden go by, also on his way to cemetery. As it turned out, only Hayden made goal and Josh and Nick made it within 6 Km of goal.

Today was my character builder. I've been fortunate until today to get up and into the race for the first couple tasks - that fortune ended today.

I just returned from the hamburger feed at HQ and I am amazed at how devalued this task was. Hayden, who flew the entire task to goal, only earned 175 points! This was a remarkable accomplishment that was devalued due to the small number of pilots making it along the courseline. All but 4 pilots landed within 8KM of the start. The results changed very little due to the low scores for the day. I'm still in 4th in the serial class and 12th overall.

Results will be found HERE.

WCPC Day 4 - Task Canceled - Due to O.D. (again)

Click on photos for larger version

When we arrived at launch the skies looked good in three quadrants. The view to the South of launch indicated we were destined to have large dark clouds early in the day however.

The task was a 34Km flight from Woodrat Pk. to Grant's Pk. to Trovin (a nice LZ located adjacent to a winery that is pilot-friendly). It was very similar to the task we tried to run yesterday.

I launched with 30 minutes before the start and was scratching in front of the 'mid-launch' when the discussion among the weather pilots and Mike began. "It's a 2" - "The cell is starting to rumble already." - "It's not IF, but WHEN you are going to cancel the day." With about 15 minutes to the start time, the task was canceled. Many relieved pilots landed in the LZ below launch and we were sprinkled by rain as we packed up. The call, again, was the right call. This is the view from the LZ, looking at the launch hill, just before it began to sprinkle.
Ironically the clouds that had appeared so ominous, suddenly dispersed and the skies over the launch and LZ became very friendly looking. Some pilots headed on course to Grant's Pass, and I wouldn't doubt that they have great flights, but my experience with Thunderstorms (capitalized due to some major respect) is that they are best left alone. They are unpredictable and fast-moving. When I'm strapped to a paraglider, I am anything BUT fast-moving. If I'm going to avoid T-storms, I go for the head start, every time. Below is a very short video of what the weather looked like when we packed up.

So, with four days of flying behind us, we only have 2 tasks scored and they each were less than 700 and 800 point days respectively. The Friday and Saturday forecasts look good, so I'm expecting to have at least 4 days scored this week.

Scores can be found at http://www.flyxc.org/2009WCPC.html

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five Part 2

As reported in my previous post, the fifth task was a bugger. Conditions at launch were very sketchy for a long time. See a photo on Andy Macrea's blog showing conditions at launch. Even when the clouds rose high enough for launches to begin, conditions were weak. The sky shaded over just after the start and this caused most pilots to land before, or just after the first turnpoint.

The task results are in and the task was drastically devalued because so many competitors landed within the first 10km. No one made goal but Nate Scales and Josh Cohn were within spitting distance of making it. Nate and Josh only got a little over 300 points for their efforts. No changes to the top 3 in any category.

Final results are:

Sport Top 10:

1)Tim O’Neill
2)Darius Lukosevicus
3)Stephen Maher
4)Ty Sporrer
5)Jim Chu
6)Arun Moorthy
7)Sam Mulder
8)Chris Hilliard
9)David Norwood
10) Aaron Price

Serial Top 10:

1)John VanDuzer
2)Amir Izadi
3)Jon Hunt
4)Tom Moock
5)Cliff Curry
6)Dave Hanning
7)Steve Young
8)Wil Brown
9)Francisco Henriquez
10)Chris Galli

Women’s Top 3:

1)Meredyth Malocsay
2)Magali LaLonde-Legault
3)Pamela Nichols

Overall Top 10:

1)Brad Gunnuscio
2)Eric Reed
3)Rob Sporrer
4)Nick Greece
5)Hayden Glatte
6)Jack Brown
7)Nate Scales
8)Peter Schaefer
9)Andy Macrae
10)John VanDuzer

I placed 26th overall. I am happy with my decision making made on the first 3 tasks. When conditions were weaker, on the later tasks, I made some decisions that committed me to routes that, ultimately, didn't work out.

This comp was held at Dunlap with the hope that the competitors would leave with a yearning to fly this site in future events. The weather, terrain, and great tasks all made for a wonderful week of flying. The St. Nicolas Ranch also worked out well in providing a comfortable communal environment to eat, sleep and party.

Jugdeep Aggarwal did a great job in planning this event. He even left his wing in the bag to ensure the meet was safe and successful. I know how much Jug enjoys competing and appreciate the sacrifice he made for the good of the other 70 competitors.

Bill Hughes was a painfully patient scorer who worked long into the night to provide scores for the morning briefings. John Ivey served as safety Director and did a great job even when he had his hands full with 3 reserve tosses and the incumbent pilot extractions. No injuries resulted from any of the irregular ops.
Connie Locke, Sonnie, and their group of retrieve staff did a good job of getting the pilots back to camp after a "break-in" period, in all this was a successful and enjoyable competition.

Congrats to Brad, Rob, and Eric for flying very consistently and showing the way.

Tim

U.S. Nationals - Dunlap, CA - Day Six - Task Five

The weather was dreary when we arrived at launch around noon. Cloudbase was at least 400' below launch and the visibility was a half mile. We waited it out ans finally called a 38K task - A 2k Exit start around 49917 then out to wolver (near Squaw Valley) then down valley to Woodlake. Cloudbase was just barely higher than launch so things were a bit interesting before the start, but lift was abundant and I had no issues with the call to fly the task.

My start was a good one and I was with a contingent heading directly along courseline across the Dunlap valley. The other group was working from 49917 to Bald and then out to Wolver. My group included Dean Stratton and Babush so I felt the gamble was a sound one. We had the potential to be 5-10 minutes ahead of the Bald group *IF* we could contact lift along our route. It looked good with dark spots under the clouds, but nothing substantial was found by the collective. Meanwhile the Bald group was able to get up to 5000-6000' over Bald and continue on course while my group slowly dwindled as we landed one-by-one. I found a bubble of warm, buggie air with thermal birds buzzing around and was able to hang in there for 15 minutes before falling out and landing in a nice field with 5 other pilots. Dean made it over to the other side of the ridge but also landed - our gamble had failed.

Meanwhile the other group had made the Wolver turnpoint and were headed South in dwindling conditions. Looking at the SPOT page, it looks like Pete Shaefer has made well along the course and Josh Cohn has also made it down the valley also -

It's been a great comp with 6 straight days of flying and one canceled task. The conditions have been very good.

More to come after the awards party tonight.

Tim