Unexpected;10 days in N.Z. and only 4/5 in Australia.

53d Multi Class Nationals ; Waikirie Australia.

A very blue LAST day.
courtesy Adam

AND YES,……The weather improved.
Glad it did!!!As organizers or pilots you don’t want to hang around, you want ACTION!!!!
Here is their message:
“Thursday 15th January 2015.. Fifteen Metre will launch first, task A 416.5km task B 322.5km Open class task A 425.2km task B 334.1km Standard class task A 360.6km task B 283.5km … All tasks go a little south then East out as far as carwarp for Open. Feels cool with 7/8 cloud at the moment, but day expected to cycle with lift going to 4500 ft maybe 5000 ft. Lighter winds than yesterday 10 to 15 knots.”

Interesting to see. Lisa won day 1 and day 2 was won by kilometer eater Tobias in his LS 4 , day 3 and 4 by another kilometer-eater Allan Barnes in his LS 8.They are both enthusiastic long distance pilots and that does n’t mean per definition, that they are good competition pilots.In this case ,..they are!
Day 4 made it a valid competition in St Class and 15 m and day 4 indeed showed some better Aussie weather.
Allan won the set 36o.6 km. with a speed of 117.9 km./h. Just a tad faster as Norm [Bloch] , who was a while out of competition soaring but is back in great form.[117.4 km./h. ]
And about the same time 117.3 km./h. for Stephen O ‘Donnell .6 LS 8 gliders topped the daily list followed by 2 LS 4.

In 15m. Matthew is in the winning flow. Always eager to fly, he had his daily win number 3 this time over 416.5 km [1000 points] !!!! .Good on him.A nice article about Matthew on the OLC news from Sunday January 11 by Elke .
Mac [ 990 ]and Adam [975] followed .
The same 3 names and the same sequence after 4 days over-all-flying.

Matthew mentioned in his” tales”.[Matthew Scutter’s Gliding on FB]
“Bit of an easier run today – 4500 ft cloud-base, 20-25 kt breeze and lots of spread-out. Picked up a few followers pre-start, but never got low, never got slow, and overran the gaggle as they found themselves in trouble near the irrigated country.”

Day 3 for 18 m. and open class with 424 km. Good old Butch won the day in his ASG 29. He was already in the top in 1984 and still is.Amazing!
AND THEN THE LAST DAY. The forecast was for a BLUE day!
As the organizers said;” it looks like the weather god’s are going to throw a classic South Australian blue day into the mix. ”

This time I did not have to look ahead ,as experts AT the spot did that for me on the site.
“ nearly all winners places aren’t yet secure however with quality pilots like Allan Barnes leading STD by 123 points & the ever reliable Matt Scutter leading 15M by 112 points it is hard to see these positions changing barring disaster!
A 15M class win tomorrow by Matt would give him back – back Australian 15M Championships and would be his 5th Australian Nationals title out of a possible 6 in the last 2 seasons (2013/14 Joey Glide, Sports Class & 15M Class Champion & 2014/15 Joey Glide & 15M Class Champion), a remarkable achievement!
In 18M class Butch Buchanan is leading Pete Temple by just 31 points with Georgo pushing only 83 points off the lead. Pete T as a local thrives in the blue conditions so it could be an interesting race to this national title.
In OPEN class Ian Craigie from Kingaroy flying his beautiful JS1C “Z5” has a nice but far from insurmountable 95 point lead over Butch. It will be interesting to see how he goes on a typical SA soaring day…”

The West was option A , but when it turned out colder and more blue they decided for the good old cat’s cradle around Waikirie.B was on.

In Standard class a slow day with best speed 88.5 km./h. but still 1000 points and they were for Greg Beecroft. The runner up on the last day was Matthew’s sister Claire .GOOD ON HER !!!! A few out-landings as well.
The title was for Allan Barnes with 3641 points.Norm was 3d!!!Only 11 points behind the runner up Stephen.

A max of 746 points in 15 m. class and they were for Scott Percival in the SZD -56-1.Matthew took so to see no risk and finished on a daily spot 6. But was of course the new champion, like he was last year. Well done Matthew!
Mac was the runner up just 101 points behind Matthew and Adam was on spot 3. He was very happy with the result and when I congratulated him he wrote .” Thanks Ritz, my best placing at a seniors! Was a good comp, my write up to come.”
Good!

In 18 m. class only 4 days and only 4 finishers on the last day!! Andrew [Georgeson-Ventus 2cx] ] won the last day and moved from spot 3 overall to 2. Meaning Butch dropped to 3.[ 3153] The winner was Pete Temple, good on him, after the scares with the bushfires close to his house , he could set his mind on soaring and won the comps .[3193 p]. Just a tad better than Andrew who had 15 points less.
All pretty close those scores!

In open class Ian Craigie [JS1 c] topped the overall scores EVERY day, on this last day as well. [3122]He did not win the day as Andrew did, also in open class, but had enough points for the best scores after 4 days.Pete and Andrew were on spot 2 and 3 whilst Brad [Edwards] was on 4 and Butch on 5.

What a pity about this weather. Saw that it improved now, what can you do!Anyhow HAPPY winners!!!

Mac ,Matthew and Adam.
courtesy Adam.

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Ostler Vineyards Multi Class Nationals Gliding at Omarama [N.Z.]

Prizes have been handed over to the champions in all classes after 10 days of soaring
Courtesy FB site.

After a scrubbed day they happily continued with DAY 9 , Thursday at Omarama. Only one more day to go on Friday.
Maybe NOT TOO happy as only 1 glider finished ; the ASH 25e with Tom and Graham.
Lex from the scoring informed us in a very clear way on their official blog;
” Only one glider managed to get around the task today: Graham Parker / Tom Claffey in ZZ in the Open class. Michael Oakley / Karen Morgan (TF) streched out their last glide of the day to get within 450m of the 40km circle around the Tin Hutt (110) turnpoint and then back to Pukaki airfield so they get a 25 point penalty for missing the turnpoint but manage to get a few extra points than if they had not made it to with 500m of that turnpoint.

The magic number for today was 80km, or more precisely; how many people in each class got over 80km.
In the Open class half of the pilots got over 80km so the day ended up being out of 500 points.
In the 20m class all of the (three) pilots got over 80km but none of them got over 200km so it was devalued down to a 720 point day.
In the 18m class only two of the eight pilots got over 80km – you need to get over the 25% mark to score any points so this unfortunately means that the day was worth 0 points.
In the 15m / Standard class five out of nine got over 80km but this is less than the 75% mark needed to get full points, and, no one got to the (other) magic number of 200km which further devalued the day – their day is currently out of a maximum of 460 points but ZAs GPS file could change that.”

So what happened with the scores on this one but last day of a very interesting competition in New Zealand, with better weather as in Australia at the moment.
Lex, on FB kept us informed in the most prefect way. Here is the last morning message. Thanks to him!!!
“ It has been a wee while since we have had a Day 10! Today is sunny, hot and windy and we have a classic Omarama Fuzzy Turnpoint Racing Task for each class. It is an AAT task but with an impossibly short minimum task time of 1 hour and only 5km radius areas at each turnpoint. The idea is that it is flown as a Racing task and the larger turnpoint circles allow for the variability of the wave cloud and conditions at each turnpoint. But it is important for pilots to remember that it will be scored as an AAT task so normal AAT tactics apply! We are expecting strong wave conditions today and have a wee bit of an unusual task with everyone going north, then east, then way south. Hopefully every one gets back in time for the prize giving dinner tonight – and in time to give me their GPS!”

Fabulous South Island from New Zealand.
Picture shared by the organizers.

What happened,…. sensation enough!
First the exciting 15 m./st.class class with junior Alex on spot 5 overall. It looks that he took quite a risk, but I am sure a calculated risk to start as last pilot, in his class.The first pilots crossed the start line at 13.16, Alex left at 14.58. So in the end of the day it was waiting for him. He finished at 17.22, the rest was in already for more than an hour, but he was the fastest pilot with 155.7 km./h. over 373.4 km.So 1000 points for him on this last day. Some kind of coupe!!
With a non flying day for George [on spot 4 overall on day 9] and an out-landing by Tony [on spot 3 on day 9] Alex climbed up to the podium for the bronze. [5736] Other junior and good mate of Alex, Nick stayed on spot 2 [6473] and the winner was Vaughan.[7110]
By the way the difference in points between Alex and Tony was only 16 points. Tony finished on spot 4.
By the way , I checked with Jill, Alex mum and yes it was ALL OR NOTHING on that last day. He started just before the finish-line closed!!2 minutes left !!!!

Nick and Alex.
courtesy Canterbury Gliding Club.

The last day in the combined open class was won, AGAIN,by 18 m. pilot Grae ;173.3 km./h. over 416.8 km. ASH pilot Michael was runner up on the last day and 20 m pilots Keith and Gavin were on spot 3.

How do the overall scores look in the different classes?
Looking at st. class only, Nick won and Alex was runner up. A great result on their way to the JWGC in Narromine.
18 m. class ; a glorious win for Grae in the Ventus 2cxt with a total of 7751 points!!!!! Derek Kraak [ASG 29] was runner up with 6444 points and on spot 3 it was Warren Dickinson.[LS 8 t/18m ]
As I heard Warren is Dane’s dad. All Italian young ladies , for sure remember talented young pilot Dane, [JWGC in Rieti] who has flying on on a low profile at the moment, doing post graduate studies in the UK.
20 m. was for Tom Klassen and Ge Dale in the DUO DISCUS with 8304 points and Keith Essex and Gavin Wills, [ARCUS ] were the runner up with exact 100 points less .
Open class was a clear win for Michael Oakley in the ASH 25 with 8409 points.18 m. Pilot Grae was here the runner up with 7297 points and third place was for my Aussie mates graham and Tom in the ASH 25e with 7040 points.

As said…..Great competition to follow and a fabulous picture by Geoff Soper again to close it.

Finish by Brett Hunter in the JS 1c.He won day 3.
Courtsey Geoff Soper, via the FB site.

Only one day after the comps my Aussie mates Graham and Tom, “visited” Mount Cook and the South [coast]of the South Island in the ASH 25, flying from Omarama a 1000 km. distance in wave, [up to 5567 MSL] on what they called a lovely day. Lovely speed as well 177.5 km./h.!!!!
For sure ” happy chappies”!

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Nationals at Chaves in Argentina.

Could n’t find any news, so for sure a few non flying days.BUT,…on Thursday they flew again in both classes with each a 3.30 AAT.
That was clearly TOO much for all , as the best distance in St. class, was “only” 281.3 km. and the best speed was 78.4 km./h[LS 4]
Still a good performance!
In 15 m. it was 317 km. with a speed of 89.6 km./h. in a Ventus 2CM/18 m..
Martin Bossart won the day and Damian and his “Rosario” -club-mate Santiago, were both runner up, both started about the same time, both finished like that and both got 984 daily points.On top of that both fly the ASW 20.

In the end they had 5 and 6 days.National Champions; Damian in 15 m. Class [ 5302 points] and Javier Sondon [ 4613 points] in standard class.
Congratulations !!!

Santiago [Berca] , Damian and Martin and Santiago [Demodena] ,Javier and Andres.
Courtesy Marcello Navaro.

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THE ANDES OPEN 2015

Club de Planeadores de Vitacura, Santiago, Chili,

Courtesy Jorge Carrizo.

Good weather and a good task on day 5 ;3.45 AAT, so I expected “A” Vidal in the top. Not one but ,….both were the best. Rene got the 1000 points for 518.7 km. with a speed of 135.7 km./h. and Carlos got 9 points less for his 509 km. with a speed of 134 km./h.
After 5 days Carlos had already 4947 points and Rene as runner up 4174.

Day 6 had the same task,…new chances and new possibilities for all 17 pilots.BUT,..another winner as this time Carlos [Ventus 2b] was the best again with 554.3 km. with a nice speed of 144 km./h.
Rene [Ventus 2cxa/15m.] flew 556.4 km but slower ;129.7 km./h.
Carlos leads with more than 900 points now on Rene and he is nearly 500 points ahead of the ARCUS M with Andres Errazuris.
Yesterday was the last day and the weather was different than expected.The 2.30 hour AAT turned out more difficult than expected due to the unexpected entrance of cold air. Some had to abort their flight and returned home.7 From 17 finished.
The final outcome was no surprise.
Before they all enjoyed a good roast, Carlos Rocca Vidal was crowned as WINNER of the Andes Open.. Rene was the runner up and Andres in the ARCUS remained on spot 3.

Courtesy Jorge Carizzo.

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On the 15th the OLC showed a nice and unexpected long flight from 2 of my Dutch mates, Alfred Paul and Mark. The forecast was they said not too good, so they were not in a hurry. It turned out better and better with later lift up to 4 m. and a cloud base of 3500 MSL. From Kuruman they flew 1.165 km. [989 FAI triangle] in the NIMBUS 4DM with a speed of 132 km./h.
Other friends , Roland and Hans, flew from there also over 1000 km. The only 1000 km. flights for that day.
SO nice to see all those friends flying around WITH each other in 2 seaters.
Other friends flying together are Erik and Boudewijn, [ARCUS T] Wolfgang and Reinhard [ARCUS M] and Manuele in the ARCUS M spending time with Ugo.
Those 2 – seaters bring a lot of joy and GOOD soaring and even great lessons from masters to pupils.

Last Friday Bernd Goretzki, flew in an 18 m. Ventus 2cm, in wave up to 6067 MSL from Munivitacura Pis in Chile.
And,,,good, better best,…it was Jean Marc Perrin who nearly flew 2000 km. in the 15 m. version DG 808 from Los Antiquos in Argentina.; 1.978, 69 km.

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During the Australian and New Zealand Nationals quite a few young pilots participated and practiced for the JWGC in Narromine end of this year.
Also the UK and Germany are very busy with their preparations. Holland and Belgium, as well.I know they are ALL active to “find” enough money to travel to that far-away-dream land.
To finish some pictures from the young Belgium team , busy with their Australian dream Project to be present at the JWGC at Narromine and from the Dutch team with their 2 in “very-good-health-being” Cirrusses;AU and AG.They maintain them their selves in winter period, so the know the gliders from in and out-side!

Belgium; ” We are about to launch a small action movie with our juniors which would present the Belgian team in Australia and which hopefully helps our juniors is the next and final upcoming project. (will be announced soon!)”
” We had the possibility to use a professional team which helped us a lot with everything. We even had the possibility to use a drone to make the actions even more spectacular! ”