Post 1.410 on March 25 2023.

AUSGLIDE 2023
15 March 2023 – 24 March 2023

With only 2 more flying days to go and scores VERY CLOSE, this pre world competition might feel in the end, like a thriller . BUT,….the first of the 2 days on March 23, had in each class a cancelled 2 hour AAT.
Such a pity!
Bruce; “The day was forecast to be very short today; the eventuality was a day that lasted longer and we could have added an hour to the flight time… but that is easily said after the fact. This morning it was obvious that the air in our nearby trough line was very moist and unstable, with a couple of showers passing by before briefing.”
And,…a bit later…..”Today was cancelled at about the scheduled launch time of 1230, and at 1520 it looks to have been a great decision. Heaps of mid-level rubbish around and some very solid development down to the south.” more on Taylor’s Gliding Page

March 24 VERY LAST DAY!!!!
From Narromine Gliding Club Official I received messages as ‘The tasks are set, same for all three classes with separate Start Points but approx 230k AAT with a 2 hour minimum time :

* Start 10.00 km Line (Radius 5.00 km)

* 70Nevertire 53.38 km 313.2° Cylinder R=30.00 km

* 14Armatree 84.15 km 59.2° Cylinder R=30.00 km

* 00NarromineAF

Gliders are gridding and should be launching shortly.
And….
“If the Skysight forecast is accurate today then fortune will favour the brave late starters with the strongest conditions on track around 2pm.“
And…
“Last day of the competition and it is down to the wire for team selection and the competition winners. A big day today.”

So what happened on the last day!!!!
Standard class; Task 9..2 hour AAT….Starts between 14.39 and 15.00.
Greg [Beecroft] as early starter, won the last day . He was only a few points behind Bruce overall. Was this the “game chancer”???
No it was not. Bruce , who started at 15.00 remains on spot 1 overall after being only 1 km/h slower. BUT,…with only 30 points difference. Yes , I know, only ONE point would have been enough too.
Greg flew 231.90 km with 103.93 km./h and Bruce 214.05 km with 102.24 km./h.
Bruce and Greg are the well deserved winners and they will represent Australia in the WGC in Narromine end of this year. Bruce even after an outlanding on task 2!!!! Gutsy way of working your way back to the top. But then he is an old hand in our soaring world.
Bruce; “The final day is done. It was a tough one, with a short window and everything to play for. Climbs were pretty weak and hard to find with fast cycling and wet air. I kept afloat and came home with a very close second to retain the lead from Greg Beecroft.” more in Taylor’s Gliding Page

Final results in standard class after 8 out of 10 days
1. Bruce Taylor in LS 8 with 5.737 points.
2. Greg Beecroft in LS 8 with 5. 707 p.
3. Scott Lennon in LS 8 with 5.462 p.

The Narromine Gliding Club Official analyze; “We cannot look past the amazing efforts of our Standard Class winners and almost winners. Firstly congratulations to Bruce Taylor, Greg Beecroft and Scott Lennon! Three worthy Champions and we all watched your fantastic efforts today on the live tracking. Greg an outstanding Day Win and it almost got you there. Bruce won the Championship despite outlanding early in the comp and that may well be a first.
Commiserations though for two of our top pilots, David Jansen and Mike Durrant. Had David not missed his start point on day 2 he may well have been a podium finisher. Similar story for Mike who was confidently leading the comp until day 6 when he outlanded and got 47 points to Bruce’s 876.
That’s it for this competition and we hope to see you at the Worlds in December!!“

15 m class; 2 hour AAT
Matthew in a tough race to be in for the WGC team, just missed out on 11 points, even with the glorious “all or nothing” win of the day; 220.91 km. with 107.50 km./h much faster than runner up Norm who flew 223.08 km with 95. 79 km./h. He gained 605 points.
Adam and Toby were 3d and 4th for 475 and 457 points.
Adam was pleased he won the AusGlide ; A day of many emotions, for the first time since I won my last nationals in October 2019 (with the original G1), I’m again National Champion in 15m class flying this absolute rocket, the Ventus 3TS-15“more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Matthew was a bit sad “it looks like I don’t have a chair for the Worlds later this year. 60pts from 1st, 7 points from 2nd – top two get picked. My first ballasted single-seat nationals loss since 2013(?), breaking a streak of 8(?) wins.”, but realized he was not at his best in the beginning of the comps. I am sad with him, because he belongs at a WGC. The full story on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

Final results in 15 m. class after 8 out of 10 days.
1. Adam Woolley in VENTUS 3/15m with 6.121 points.
2. Tobi Geiger in VENTUS 2 with 6.068 p.
3. Matthew Scutter in Diana 2 with 6.057 p.

Club class; 2 hour AAT
Ryan in his ASW 20C won the day; 201.20 km in 89.12 km./h. with a start at 14.42. USA tony started at 3 PM and was 5th whilst Jo and James were “only” 8th and 9th .
That meant on this last day a few changes.
James was after day 8 the leader of the clubbies with Jo as runner up and Daniel as number 3.
That changed, though James remained on spot 1 as he had a clear lead.
Daniel was on 3 and moved to spot 2.
Ryan was on 5 and moved to 3.
Tony; “Tough day in the office. Hardly ever above 5k. Hot and humid and weak climbs. I managed to do pretty well considering. 5th for the day and 7th overall. Very pleased with that considering my outlanding.“

Final results in club class after 8 out of 10 days.
1. James Nugent in LS 3 with 5.848 points.
2. Daniel Summers in LS 3a with 5.415 p.
3. Ryan Driscoll in ASW 20 C with 5.396 p.

“I am so happy for everyone that competed in Club Class at this event. The new generation of Australian Competition Pilots has arrived and swept all before them. Such a great result.
And let’s not forget that two of the top three 15m Podium winners are also former Juniors.
We are looking forward to the World Gliding Championships in December at Narromine and hoping to see you there supporting the Aussies! “Narromine Gliding Club Official

Tony got a beautiful trophy called after Swaantje who died a couple of years ago on cancer. Lovely lady, great pilot. The last time I saw and spoke Swaantje was at Narromine, she then was already very sick.
This trophy is for the highest placed foreign pilot and that was Tony.

Talking about Tony, his trip back to Temora was more than eventful!!! He was dam lucky;
“Not what you want to see at fuel stop…plywood hanging below the trailer, fuselage resting on the brake actuator. Trailer brakes had been dragging. Thankfully stopped right next to Bunnings.”

An interesting AusGlide. A pity that not more overseas pilots tried their luck/practiced , but I know it’s far and expensive as we travelled more than 30 times up and down from the Netherlands to down-under.

This weekend we move our clock ONE hour ahead, meaning that the time difference between here and parts of Australia is now 8 hours instead of 10.
And,…it’s spring here ,it feels more like autumn.

CU again on Wednesday ,
Cheers Ritz