Post 1.401 on January 25 2023.

2023 NATIONALS at WAIKIRIE.

Task 6 at day 9 of the Nationals showed a set task of 371 km. for open class. With a start at 1PM , Matthew and Pete left to race over the distance. With around 120 km./h they were back in 2.40; Matthew got 875 points and Pete 798.
Nearly the end of the comps, so start-games were played;
“A day of defending for me at the Nationals. Taylor departed first with two others, with the thermals great & to a decent height at the start time, I thought it was better to start 5 min behind him, rather than worry about Peter Temple & Matty Scutter behind me. My thinking was that if I get caught up in any sort of game with them, then Taylor will get the day win & be rewarded with his early start decision.
Unfortunately Matt & Peter are cunning & played the same on me, which linked Taylor & myself up – easy climbs marked all day.” more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Adam was 3d and Bruce 6th.
Task 7; 3 hour AAT,… Bruce was one of the 2 who flew over 100 km./h over 324 km. The other one was Lumpy in his Quintus; 105 km./h. He flew 315 km.
Bruce went as last on track and won the day.
Adam; “The scores are tied, it’s time for the big one! Scutter, Taylor & I are separated by 38-48 points going to the last day, fortunately it’s me in #1 spot atm, & they need to effectively fly further than me. I’m up for it Kasansky.”

As already mentioned by Adam, Matthew has chances too ;”second place for the day, which brings me within a whisker of first with one day to go.” Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Bruce; ‘Today was a day of chasing sunshine and dodging shadows. This was in air that was quite similar to yesterday, as in blue and a bit crappy, but with less wind. The tricky bit was that we had bands of cirrus pushing in overhead, and the trigger temperature was critical enough to have the shadowed areas quit.”
Taylor’s Gliding Page

Task 8 VERY LAST DAY….383 km; and WHATADAY!!!!!

AND….his last story on the same site. What an effort and believe in himself.
Here is the NATIONAL CHAMPION ; MATTHEW SCUTTER.
“It’s all over – the last day forecast was a ripper and I knew I needed to deliver something special.
With both Bruce and Woolley in strong contention and Pete nearby there was no way to cover everyone and the only solution was to ditch everyone and go for a big day win.
I’ve been ‘working hard’ on relaxing in the glider because previously I’d land exhausted and burnt out every day from being tensed up and focused the entire flight, but there was no relaxing allowed today – I dosed myself to the eyeballs on caffeine and sugar, tanked the glider to the gunnels and aimed to just keep running at cloudbase and hope Wool and Bruce pushed too hard.
I made some fake starts and waited and waited until everyone left so I had the sky to myself, then cruised 110kts all day and only took 6kts, never getting out of touch with the clouds.
I’ve learnt a lot this week from some excellent competitors who’ve kindly punished me every time I blinked, and I’m very thankful to Waikerie Gliding Club, Mandy, Peter and many others involved in the organisation who ran a dream competition. We had almost the perfect task for every day, almost no outlandings and no hassle at all.”

So you have read Matties view on this last day which he started with 44 points less than Adam.
He “got” 846 points for this “coup”….speed 146 km.
In the end Bruce was runner up with a speed of 147 km./h.
Adam lost quite a lot of points on this last day. He dropped from 1 to 3, being 7th on the last day , he was 7th and “got” 579 points.
He started his day full of energy and hope “ Last day, let’s roll” Had a solid start at the correct time,7n kts, 7000 ft. kept pushing also after not the best lift under good looking clouds, though he had to dig himself out, and we know that costs time . In the end,…..”easy day, freaking awesome day, but I lost it“.
“If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. My debrief on the day I lost the nationals, I think you’ll enjoy it – I’m still smiling, laughing, that’s racing.” he said on his last video to his RACEFANSSSSS………!!!!!in Waikirie.
Great when you are a gracious “loser”! Unlucky, but still looking ahead of making the team. He should be in it….
Bruce was runner up.
Bruce:’It was a smoking last day, and the best fun of the competition. Initially we had a 500km flight set, then it seemed to be very slow starting so we flew the B task of 385km. Once it fired up it improved very quickly… not super high at just over 8,000 feet, but the climbs were big and strong, and generally beautifully smooth. South, then east, north then home. What a ride!
Matthew Scutter had a great day, enough to jump into first place overall for another nationals title. I just pipped him in raw speed but stayed in second place for the day and overall. Sadly Adam had a low spot and it took enough time to get up and running to drop him back into third place overall. He’s been flying so consistently all competition and I was sorry to see him finish on a bit of a low note. It was the only day he was really off the pace all fortnight.”

Overall scores from this NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP;
1. Matthew Scutter in Diana 2 FES /15 m. with 5.932 points.
2. Bruce Taylor in ASG 29 E /18m. with 5842 p.
3. Adam Woolley in Ventus 3T/15 m. with 5.703 p.

Only 4 pilots finished the Nationals in sport class and as expected David Collins won in his ASW 20 with Bernie Sizer as runner up in the PIK 20; 5.773 points for 5.444 p.
David won 5 from 8 flying days out of 11 in total ,Bernie 2.

Thank you to Adam, Bruce and Matthew for sharing their “at the field” stories!!!

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Good news for female pilot Reiko from Japan;
“The experienced gliding instructor, professionally a helicopter pilot, has already traveled to almost every gliding destination on the globe, from Australia to Argentina and South Africa as well as the French Alps.
During her first flight experience in Namibia, she was surprised by the consistently very good cross-country flight opportunities. Reiko was flying an Arcus M mostly as a single-seater, and also in the club class version: fixed landing gear and no water ballast.
All the more impressive the flight performance of the petite Japanese without fear or reproach.“
On the last day of her 2 -week-stay in Veronica, on January 16, she flew a new Japanese 770 FAI triangle-female-record!!!
Good on her! Congratulations.

The flight was just before the end of the Namibian season ;
“The Bitterwasser season 2022/2023 is history.
This morning the last container with airplanes was picked up in Bitterwasser.
Between October 29th and January 23rd 856 flights (856 times “have fun” on the radio) with a total of 709,000 route kilometers were flown.
299 flights greater than 1000 km
2 x > 1400 km; 20 x > 1300 km; 48 x > 1200 km; 87 x > 1100 km
and a lot of flights that were just fun.
All this without any accidents and without any damage to the planes.
Many thanks to all pilots, guests and staff who contributed to this.
We are already looking forward to the season 2023/2024.“
Also the Pokweni gliders are in the containers.
Next year they all come back to Namibia after such a great year.
More stats in next weeks blog.

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Western Cape Regionals;

Weird weather in Worcester during these comps. 2 Days were cancelled, though a few flew nice distances and speed; on January 16, 3 from the 6 flying pilots that day, flew over 350 km. with a speed over 145 km./h for ZERO points. Task was a 2.30 AAT.
You would think a de-valuated day …..not cancelled….
So I decided to check with Sven about these zero points for nice distances. A simple answer; “the day was canceled before the gate opened – thereafter the weather improved and a few of us flew the task. This happened on the other two days as well.”
Well that says it all.
On January 18 a 476 km distances was set , task 5 and this time nobody finished , though Sven and Laurens tried hard and flew just over 110 km. That was it. No points.
January 19, task 6, had another long distance; 479 km. , only 7 pilots started and 5 finished the task…..for points this time.
Laurens won with 162 km./h. Andreas was faster , 169 km./h, but was punished for a low finish.
January 20 task 7 with 494 km.....LAST DAY!!!!! Another interesting last day with Laurens on 1 overall, 2.286 points, followed by Andreas with 2.135 p and Sven with 2.105.
These 3 pilots are going to decide who will be the winner from Cape Gauntlet Cup.
Guest Andreas was the winner of this last day and consolidated his overall runner- up- spot ; speed a whopping 171 km./h
Laurens won the day and the comps ;3.180 points and Andreas had 3.090 p. and Sven 2.990. He was 4th on the last day.
Laurens will fly the South African Qualifying Grand Prix in Worcester, straight after this competition. So does Andreas, Peter [Farrel] and Sven. They had great practice.
In 15 m. Findlay Smith [15 m. Ventus b]was the clear winner with 3.550 points more than 600 points on runner up Tokkie [Pieter Carstens] in LS 4.
In club the scores were CLOSE; USA pilot Brad Jackson won in his Ventus 2CM/18 m [handicap 120] with 8 points over Kevin Mitchell in DG 400/17m.
2 young men Wozniak & Groenwald, shared an Astir CS 77 and deserved, 1.117 points.

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The South African Qualifying round of the Sailplane Grand Prix at
Worcester will be held from the 22nd to the 28th of January 2023.

Also in Worcester this qualifying SGP, series IX with 12 participating pilots in 18 m. class.
You can follow the action on
https://glideandseek.com
Practice race ; Saturday January 21…...484 km
Uys showed his skills with a speed of 161 km/h. Oscar was runner up and our Dutch guest Erik Borgmann was 3d.
Race 1 on January 22;412 km….. Great race , with a regatta start at 13.44 and 5 pilots , from 10 starting, with about the same speed; between 143 and 145 km./h. Winning team , 1 and 2, was from Germany, Michael Pfennig and Mathias Schunk with Erik just behind them , then Oscar and Laurens.
Uys was unlucky with some penalty points for a too high start [56 sec]
“Fun first race at the SGP in South Africa. We saw great ridge riding and an exciting finish.“

Race 2; 549 km…..10 started and 10 finished the longish task. With 147 km./h Sven won the day; 10 points in the pocket. Good on him. As always there were some “mistakes” as a too low finish, a missed finish and a too early start.
Runner up was German pilot Lorenz Dierschk in JS1.
Laurens was 3d , Oscar 5th and Erik 6th.
“The 2nd race of the South Africa #SGP was fun with Oscar Goudriaan and Sven Olivier managing to take the lead. With the penalties, it is Sven who is winning the day.”
Full results at southafrica23.sgp.aero
January 24; was cancelled.
Race 3 ; 412.41 km is today, so next time the rest of thisSGP.

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The CLUB CLASS NATIONALS in ARGENTINA.
16 January 2023 – 27 January 2023

They did not have the best weather there in Pigüé. The pilots continued, but flew over the first 4 days only 1 task, on January 19, which was won as you can still see in my last blog by Jose Dentone.
Then another off-day, but January 21 showed a 2.30 AAT [task 6 on flying day 3] and the daily winner was again Jose…..245 km in 2.29; speed 98 km./h.
44 Pilots started and 2 were “out”.
Task 7 ; 2.30 AAT….changed in 2 hour AAT….and,…again Jose was the best. He flew 250 km. with a speed of 121 km./h.
In between Lucas and Damian moved up , after a daily spot 5 and 6, to an overall spot on 6 and 7.
Javier Gaude and Felipe Girado, familiar names , are on 2 and 3 overall, after 7 days and 4 tasks in total.
Task 8; 3 hour AAT....From 46 there are 40 pilots still in the race and 3 were out this day. A 1000 points-
day and those points were for Javier; 321 km in time 3.03; 105 km./h.
Jose, still on 1 overall was 7th [873 points]
Yesterday they had no task. More next week.

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New Zealand National Multi class championships.
Omarama
20 January 2023 – 28 January 2023

Quite a few championships at the moment. Here we go with N.Z.
On January 20 , 6 pilots started in open and 5 in racing class.
OPEN;
Task 1; 2 hour AAT..…283 km for Keith Essex in the fancy ASG 32 and the very best speed of all; 134 km./h. On day 1 already nearly 160 points ahead.
“AATs have been set for both classes. There is a front coming though soon and we’re gridding for a late afternoon launch with a 60% to 70% (depending who you ask) chance that we’ll get to fly the task. “
Task 2; 371.88 km....with 131 km./h. Keith won day 2 as well, after a rather late start.
Task 3; 3.30 AAT….500 km flown by ….Keith…. speed 134 km./h and number 1 again. Max Stevens was unlucky….out after 450 km.
Task 4; 2.30 AAT…..”Today the task setters are expecting it will take a while for the cloud base to lift so there is a later start with launching expected at 14:30.”
And indeed Keith started at 15.25, but no worries he still flew 368 km with a speed of 144 km./h. Back just before 6 PM for dinner.
Task 5; 389 km…..5 still in the race. Keith won, but was not the fastest as the ASH 25 flown by “a few” [Morgan & Hamilton & Oakley] was 1 km./h faster but had on handicap [114] less points.
Keith started as the last pilot at 14.45.
The lead from Keith is growing and growing; more than 600 points and 4 days to go.

Task 6; 2.30 AAT…..indeed a bit boring but also very strong flying of Keith;1000 points for 343 km flying with a speed of 118 km./h.

Racing class…..please look at www.soaringspot for more about their scores.
In short…..on task 2 Tony Van Dyke won in his LS 8; 350 km…speed 107 km./h.
Task 3 ;3.30 AAT …won by Tony again 423 km…… speed 120,80 km./h. 4 pilots flying and 3 were in.
Task 4; 2.30 AAT and 319 km in his LS 8 for Tony . He is leading overall now with more than 250 points. Good on him. It’s quite a long time ago that I met him for the last time . Though he lives already for ages in N.Z. he still spoke decent Dutch.
Task 5; 280 km....Like Keith in open , Tony is winning often in this class, as he did today; 101.92 km./h.
Task 6; 2.30 AAT and ouch Tony was out after 104 km whilst Terry flew flew 249 km in time 2.33. He lost more than 500 points…….

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Some long flights, seem to just happen.
Normally you prepare, find the best option for a strong departure ,and a strong area to fly in weather-wise ,to reach the best result.
This is what happened to MASTER KILOMETER EATER Klaus Ohlman; 1.426 km. with a speed of 149 km./h. in the Antares 20. This time it was more ad hoc, no worries, he knows all wave-areas and all mountains.
He flew from La Cerdanya in Spain.
Gil Souviron started from Perpignan and flew in the STEMME 12, 1.380 km.
“between the decision to fly home and a very nice day in the Pyrennees there are always the adventurer is winning. So, to try something new, I decided to fly downstream at the end of the day to the famous airfield of Fuentemilanos. No regrets, tomorrow, I will try to go home with other means of transports, taking the trailer and make the long journey to get the glider home again. Great thanks for my friends, GiIl, who gave me the motivation, to use this beautiful day. Joan, who helped me so early in the morning and alerted his friends in Fuente. Phantastic day, nice evening with new friends, thanks Miguel,, and a lot of new stories to tell.
Great thanks as well for all the controllers who allowed to use their airspaces.” by Klaus.
Pierre de Broqueville used the same air/wave , started at St Gaudens in his EB 29DR, but had a more than bumpy ride;”20 m/s sink and then again 10 m. lift. Brrrr what a contrast “. He is a very experienced Pyrenees pilot.

More than enough news .
The WAGA state comps , in Beverley Australia are in full swing with 27 pilots, a lot for a regional competition and good pilots as well. What about Norm Bloch, Don Woodward and Greg Beecroft.
More next week.

Cheers Ritz