YouTube coverage
Final press release
6 March press release
Monday, 12 March 2007
Saturday, 10 March 2007
OverallThe team is very pleased with the result. Having a team member on the podium at a World Championships is unprecedented and a phenomenal achievement. Congratulations Harmo!
This was made even sweeter by having Viv Williams, former Kiwi, now flying for Australia (If the Australians can claim Split Enz, Pavlova, and Farlap; then surly we can clam her as one of our own).
Final results for team Kahu:
Click on the image to view clearly
Task 5
The last day of the 10th FAI World Champs. After persistent rain the previous day conditions were going to be slow, low, and weak. And they were. A 53.6 km ask to Gulf Creek was called (On the main road north between Barraba and Bingara) launch was open at 12:40 and the first of four 20 minute start gates was at 13:00.
Conditions in front of launch were very slow I waited for about 20 minutes watching pilots only climb a few hundred meters above launch. Some slightly stronger cycles come through and I decide its time to launch. We climbed at between 1 and 2 meters per/sic cloud base is around 1150m. The thermals are quite small, uneven, and a little ruff. The potential for a collision is high as there are a lot of other pilots close together. I took one collapse and just managed to maintain my turn while sandwiched between two other wings.
When I reach cloud base the first start gate has passed and I decide to let the next pass as well because conditions are still improving and I am not in a good position in the 3km radius start cylinder.
At the next start time I am very well placed in a strong gaggle with good height. We move north along the Baldwins Range toward Tarpoly, a well known sink hole. We stay close to base under active but low clouds (1200m). We even manage to get above base up the side of some clouds. A couple of the pilots are pushing the no cloud flying rule.
We manage to negotiate the sink hole and the gaggle splits behind me and I move on with a very strong gaggle of about 15 pilots. We veer left to some small hills. The climbs are very weak we try drifting in 0’s to 0.5 m/s. The lift dies and we move on getting very low. Now at about 30m above the ground we get a small broken bubble and start to turn. Some lower pilots only manage half a turn but lose it and land. We drift along for three km about 100m AGL with pilot’s slowly dropping out and landing, I to land 25km from goal. The rest of the gaggle is all on the ground over the next 5km.
When the gaggle split at Tarpoly, the pilots that went more east had a better time and many made goal (wrong decision by me).
Thomas was also in the sane gaggle as me and landed 20km from goal.
Harmo was 6.7 from goal. A fantastic effort considering she spent a long time scratching below launch and got a late start and then flying pretty much on her own.
Personally the last two tasks I was a little disappointed with my results. But I am happy with the decisions I made given the conditions I had.
Middy.
The last day of the 10th FAI World Champs. After persistent rain the previous day conditions were going to be slow, low, and weak. And they were. A 53.6 km ask to Gulf Creek was called (On the main road north between Barraba and Bingara) launch was open at 12:40 and the first of four 20 minute start gates was at 13:00.
Conditions in front of launch were very slow I waited for about 20 minutes watching pilots only climb a few hundred meters above launch. Some slightly stronger cycles come through and I decide its time to launch. We climbed at between 1 and 2 meters per/sic cloud base is around 1150m. The thermals are quite small, uneven, and a little ruff. The potential for a collision is high as there are a lot of other pilots close together. I took one collapse and just managed to maintain my turn while sandwiched between two other wings.
When I reach cloud base the first start gate has passed and I decide to let the next pass as well because conditions are still improving and I am not in a good position in the 3km radius start cylinder.
At the next start time I am very well placed in a strong gaggle with good height. We move north along the Baldwins Range toward Tarpoly, a well known sink hole. We stay close to base under active but low clouds (1200m). We even manage to get above base up the side of some clouds. A couple of the pilots are pushing the no cloud flying rule.
We manage to negotiate the sink hole and the gaggle splits behind me and I move on with a very strong gaggle of about 15 pilots. We veer left to some small hills. The climbs are very weak we try drifting in 0’s to 0.5 m/s. The lift dies and we move on getting very low. Now at about 30m above the ground we get a small broken bubble and start to turn. Some lower pilots only manage half a turn but lose it and land. We drift along for three km about 100m AGL with pilot’s slowly dropping out and landing, I to land 25km from goal. The rest of the gaggle is all on the ground over the next 5km.
When the gaggle split at Tarpoly, the pilots that went more east had a better time and many made goal (wrong decision by me).
Thomas was also in the sane gaggle as me and landed 20km from goal.
Harmo was 6.7 from goal. A fantastic effort considering she spent a long time scratching below launch and got a late start and then flying pretty much on her own.
Personally the last two tasks I was a little disappointed with my results. But I am happy with the decisions I made given the conditions I had.
Middy.
Thursday, 8 March 2007
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
Task 4
Yet another very slow, tough day. A 60.8km task to Baanbaa with no turn points was called, launch window opened at 2:15pm with five start gates 15 minutes apart the first at 2:45pm.
Shortly after the launch opened the sky in front got very crowded as the climbs were very slow low down. The slow climbs and small thermals resulted in a number of midair collisions, the first I saw resulted in one pilot deploying there reserve. Another (I didn’t see) resulted in both pilots deploying there reserves; unfortunately they were locked together and spinning down. I am not sure of the outcome, but understand one pilot has back injuries.
Conditions on course didn’t change much. I took the third start gate and made reasonable progress taking a more northern rough along the rangers were the clouds looked better. After the Narrabri gap a large cloud toward Mt Kaputar cast a large shadow and slowed progress. My gaggle was forced to drift in slow climbs. We were drifting NW and getting in a position that left us with a into wind leg to goal. The head wind proved too much and I landed 5.2km from goal.
Thomas landed around 4.9km short after taking an earlier start time.
Harmo landed about 33km from goal. Unfortunately she bombed first up and was held up on launch for her reflight.
26 pilots managed to complete the task in good time considering the tricky conditions.
Two comp days left. I hope we get some racing before the end of the comp.
Middy.
Yet another very slow, tough day. A 60.8km task to Baanbaa with no turn points was called, launch window opened at 2:15pm with five start gates 15 minutes apart the first at 2:45pm.
Shortly after the launch opened the sky in front got very crowded as the climbs were very slow low down. The slow climbs and small thermals resulted in a number of midair collisions, the first I saw resulted in one pilot deploying there reserve. Another (I didn’t see) resulted in both pilots deploying there reserves; unfortunately they were locked together and spinning down. I am not sure of the outcome, but understand one pilot has back injuries.
Conditions on course didn’t change much. I took the third start gate and made reasonable progress taking a more northern rough along the rangers were the clouds looked better. After the Narrabri gap a large cloud toward Mt Kaputar cast a large shadow and slowed progress. My gaggle was forced to drift in slow climbs. We were drifting NW and getting in a position that left us with a into wind leg to goal. The head wind proved too much and I landed 5.2km from goal.
Thomas landed around 4.9km short after taking an earlier start time.
Harmo landed about 33km from goal. Unfortunately she bombed first up and was held up on launch for her reflight.
26 pilots managed to complete the task in good time considering the tricky conditions.
Two comp days left. I hope we get some racing before the end of the comp.
Middy.
Tuesday, 6 March 2007
Scoring systems
If country rankings were based on the average score of all the team members then New Zealand would be coming second!
If you wanted to be really perverse about scoring systems (almost as unfair as the current system) then if you took each country's lowest three scoring pilots then NZ would be coming first!
Kris
| # | Country | Total | Pilots | Ave |
| 1 | CZE | 15890 | 7 | 2270 |
| 2 | NZL | 6409 | 3 | 2136 |
| 3 | CHE | 13011 | 7 | 1859 |
| 4 | GBR | 12863 | 7 | 1838 |
| 5 | FRA | 12310 | 7 | 1759 |
| 6 | DEU | 11339 | 7 | 1620 |
| 7 | ESP | 7925 | 5 | 1585 |
| 8 | SVN | 9983 | 7 | 1426 |
If you wanted to be really perverse about scoring systems (almost as unfair as the current system) then if you took each country's lowest three scoring pilots then NZ would be coming first!
| Country | lowest 3 | |
| 1 | NZL | 6409 |
| 2 | CZE | 5723 |
| 3 | JPN | 4618 |
| 4 | CHE | 4610 |
| 5 | ITA | 4600 |
| 6 | AUS | 4441 |
| 7 | BEL | 4289 |
| 8 | BRA | 4239 |
| 9 | CAN | 4226 |
| 10 | AUT | 4148 |
| 11 | NOR | 4016 |
| 12 | DNK | 3979 |
| 13 | DEU | 3931 |
| 14 | RUS | 3809 |
| 15 | USA | 3799 |
| 16 | ESP | 3718 |
| 17 | IND | 3666 |
| 18 | VEN | 3661 |
| 19 | NLD | 3634 |
| 20 | SWE | 3625 |
| 21 | GBR | 3483 |
| 22 | FRA | 3337 |
| 23 | POL | 3271 |
| 24 | KOR | 3130 |
| 25 | ZAF | 3099 |
| 26 | HRV | 2998 |
| 27 | SVN | 2351 |
Kris
A long day.....
Monday, 5 March 2007
Day 9: Monday 5th March
Just when the weather looked a little more promising for the week, mother nature decided once again to send storms through the region. There was a small chance based on the cloud, wind and rain patterns in the morning that a gap in the weather might appear after midday. Teams were asked to be at Mt Borah at 1.30pm for a re-brief just in case. A large storm cell that quickly developed in the south at lunch time was on its way. The day was cancelled. To be valid the event needs 4 tasks. There have been 3 tasks so far and there are 4 potential days left.
Team results - NZ is now in 7th place. If team results were based on the best three pilots, rather than the teams best three flights for each day, then NZ would still be in 5th position....
Team results - NZ is now in 7th place. If team results were based on the best three pilots, rather than the teams best three flights for each day, then NZ would still be in 5th position....
Sunday, 4 March 2007
Results!
Just checked the results, all the Kiwi's are on the first page.
Task 3
Middy 27th 788 points
Thomas 32th 748 points
Harmo 71th 550 points
Overalls
Middy 12th
Thomas 24th
Harmo 27th (2nd Women)
Team placings not up yet!
Middy
Task 3
Middy 27th 788 points
Thomas 32th 748 points
Harmo 71th 550 points
Overalls
Middy 12th
Thomas 24th
Harmo 27th (2nd Women)
Team placings not up yet!
Middy
Sunday 4th March.
57.2 km task via three turn points to Tamworth…yes Tamworth, first time ever to have a task go into the town with the airspace open especially for us ( sat and Sun only). So they really pushed for it for the publicity etc despite it being an into wind task. Race to goal exit start gate started at 14.30. Window was open at 13.15. A very sweet climb to base in a 2-3m/s was pretty quick so it all got a bit congested waiting for the start.
At this point a managed to avoid a collision between two gliders by about 15m, when a woman flew into the top of another pilots wing in the congested thermal, she was freed quite quickly but her impact on his wing send him spinning with many line twist and eventually threw his washing and drifted past the power lines below and apparently is quite ok.
2nd T/P was another 24km upwind and was pretty slow but straight forward. At the T/P however pilots were super low Middy gravelling around 20m off the deck but managed to get away with it and make it most the way around the course just missing goal by about 544m. Thomas we never really saw much of through the day but landed at the end of speed section 1km from goal, both a very good effort as it was soooo hard. I decked it with around 25 others at around 15km from the goal. Bummer!!! It was nearly 6pm when I landed and still 30deg!! Thomas somehow ripped out a few lines from the attachments which he is currently fixing down at HQ.
The cu-nim eventually had a gust front once everyone was safe on the ground and driving home there were heaps more spotted all over the place. We are tired as it was around 4 hours in the sky traveling very slowly and was mentally draining.
57.2 km task via three turn points to Tamworth…yes Tamworth, first time ever to have a task go into the town with the airspace open especially for us ( sat and Sun only). So they really pushed for it for the publicity etc despite it being an into wind task. Race to goal exit start gate started at 14.30. Window was open at 13.15. A very sweet climb to base in a 2-3m/s was pretty quick so it all got a bit congested waiting for the start.
Just after start, on glide over Manilla
At this point a managed to avoid a collision between two gliders by about 15m, when a woman flew into the top of another pilots wing in the congested thermal, she was freed quite quickly but her impact on his wing send him spinning with many line twist and eventually threw his washing and drifted past the power lines below and apparently is quite ok.
2nd T/P was another 24km upwind and was pretty slow but straight forward. At the T/P however pilots were super low Middy gravelling around 20m off the deck but managed to get away with it and make it most the way around the course just missing goal by about 544m. Thomas we never really saw much of through the day but landed at the end of speed section 1km from goal, both a very good effort as it was soooo hard. I decked it with around 25 others at around 15km from the goal. Bummer!!! It was nearly 6pm when I landed and still 30deg!! Thomas somehow ripped out a few lines from the attachments which he is currently fixing down at HQ.
The cu-nim eventually had a gust front once everyone was safe on the ground and driving home there were heaps more spotted all over the place. We are tired as it was around 4 hours in the sky traveling very slowly and was mentally draining.
On glide toward Cb beyond goal
Harmo
Day 8 : Task 3 : Sunday 4th
Day 8 : Task 3 : Sunday 4th : 57kms - Mt Borah to Tamworth.
The forecast was for isolated thunderstorms and variable winds ... another hard day for task setting. The winds on the balloon flight showed some NE-NW. A 57kms race task to Tamwoth City goal (in the middle of the Tamworth CTA !) was set via the special event airspace corridor. Most blue conditions and light climbs greeted the 150 pilots on course after the 14.30 start gate. A wall of Cu-Nimbs sat 150kms to the south all day long and kept pilots carefully watching the sky ahead. 13 pilots made goal and 15-20 were just short. Petra was in the top places again - she will now be leading the event after 3 tasks!
Brian Webb's tracklog (Thanks Brian!)
The forecast was for isolated thunderstorms and variable winds ... another hard day for task setting. The winds on the balloon flight showed some NE-NW. A 57kms race task to Tamwoth City goal (in the middle of the Tamworth CTA !) was set via the special event airspace corridor. Most blue conditions and light climbs greeted the 150 pilots on course after the 14.30 start gate. A wall of Cu-Nimbs sat 150kms to the south all day long and kept pilots carefully watching the sky ahead. 13 pilots made goal and 15-20 were just short. Petra was in the top places again - she will now be leading the event after 3 tasks!
Brian Webb's tracklog (Thanks Brian!)
Saturday, 3 March 2007
Day 7 cancelled.....
The forecast looked promising with light and variable winds but a fast moving front to the south proved the weather bureau wrong. Pre-frontal northerly winds were racing across the region most of the morning. By the final Team Leaders HQ re-briefing at 12.30pm there was no change and winds at Mt Borah were averaging 30km/h with gusts to over 40km/h. Perfect skies but too windy. The day was cancelled....
Results from Day 6. Middy came in at 18th, Harmo at 39th and Thomas at 68th. New Zealand is now 5th in the teams competition! The next team with only three members is Denmark - and they are in 16th position. Overall Middy is in 8th, Harmo in 21st and Thomas in 35th. Harmo is currently third ranked female!!
Results from Day 6. Middy came in at 18th, Harmo at 39th and Thomas at 68th. New Zealand is now 5th in the teams competition! The next team with only three members is Denmark - and they are in 16th position. Overall Middy is in 8th, Harmo in 21st and Thomas in 35th. Harmo is currently third ranked female!!
Friday, 2 March 2007
Day 6 Task 2 Friday 3 Mar.
After three days of rain it was a relief to be greeted with a clear blue dawn. The ground was very damp and when some Cu’s did start to pop, the base was very low, and the development was scraggly and weak looking.
After three days of rain it was a relief to be greeted with a clear blue dawn. The ground was very damp and when some Cu’s did start to pop, the base was very low, and the development was scraggly and weak looking.
(Photo by Brett Hardin “Behind launch” - click on photo for a larger version)
A 60.7Km elapsed time race to goal with three start gates (14:15, 14:45, & 15:15), via three turn points was called. Launch was open at 13:30 but conditions were still very fickle and the wind techs had difficulties staying up.
A 60.7Km elapsed time race to goal with three start gates (14:15, 14:45, & 15:15), via three turn points was called. Launch was open at 13:30 but conditions were still very fickle and the wind techs had difficulties staying up.
A few brave souls took off (including Thomas) but the thermals were very weak and broken. They found themselves at the bottom of the hill shortly after. No one else was so keen to take to the sky for quite some time. Thomas was back up ready to launch before the next pilots launched.
Eventually a few cycles started to come up the face of the east launch. Two wings were seen starting to climb of the North launch and pilots started to take to the skies. It quickly became congested in front of launch and launch was suspended for a short time. The gaggles slow started to climb out and launch was reopened. By the time we reached cloud base the last start time had passed and we were straight on cause, the first turn point, Tarpoly, was 14.4km to the north along the Borah ridge. Then back 29km south past Mt Baldwin to some large chicken sheds. The last turn point was 6km East of Manilla.
By the time we reached this point conditions had started to weaken again. The climbs has slowed to around 0.5m/s. We had to change down a gear and take every thing available. We could no longer get above 1100m now and many snuck into the last turn point. At this stage there were gliders littering the ground beneath everywhere you looked. I left with four others and made in with only five metres over the line the others were not as lucky! Harmo was not too far behind but had to go on final glide with goal closing at 18.30pm, she didn’t have the time to top up to make it in, she and 6 others landed within the 1km mark from goal, and narrowly avoided power lines that were difficult to see in the low setting sun!! Thomas landed at the same time as Harmo 2.8km from goal.
Overall a wickedly slow and demanding day. We are shattered!!!
Middy
60km around Manilla, STARTG, TARPOLY, CHICKSTH, NAMOIPK, MANILLAE (caravan park goal) with about 35 in goal.
Eventually a few cycles started to come up the face of the east launch. Two wings were seen starting to climb of the North launch and pilots started to take to the skies. It quickly became congested in front of launch and launch was suspended for a short time. The gaggles slow started to climb out and launch was reopened. By the time we reached cloud base the last start time had passed and we were straight on cause, the first turn point, Tarpoly, was 14.4km to the north along the Borah ridge. Then back 29km south past Mt Baldwin to some large chicken sheds. The last turn point was 6km East of Manilla.
By the time we reached this point conditions had started to weaken again. The climbs has slowed to around 0.5m/s. We had to change down a gear and take every thing available. We could no longer get above 1100m now and many snuck into the last turn point. At this stage there were gliders littering the ground beneath everywhere you looked. I left with four others and made in with only five metres over the line the others were not as lucky! Harmo was not too far behind but had to go on final glide with goal closing at 18.30pm, she didn’t have the time to top up to make it in, she and 6 others landed within the 1km mark from goal, and narrowly avoided power lines that were difficult to see in the low setting sun!! Thomas landed at the same time as Harmo 2.8km from goal.
Overall a wickedly slow and demanding day. We are shattered!!!
Middy
60km around Manilla, STARTG, TARPOLY, CHICKSTH, NAMOIPK, MANILLAE (caravan park goal) with about 35 in goal.
Thursday, 1 March 2007
Day 5 and Manilla floods.....
The Kiwis are definitely rain gods! It rained in Manilla like nothing the locals have seen for over 10 years. Storms with tropical downpours causing flash flooding developed in the afternoon. The day was cancelled at the 12.30pm Team Leaders Briefing.
Storms can flying on day 4
Why we didn't fly today!
A huge 250kms wide storm line swept through the region overnight and left lingering cells and high moisture. Even though it was a nice looking day close to Manilla, the storms clouds were still developing nearby, and winds were unpredictable and strong. The day was held until 12.30pm to see if the blue hole and more stable weather would get bigger like the day before. Conditions didn't get better and the day was canceled.
A huge 250kms wide storm line swept through the region overnight and left lingering cells and high moisture. Even though it was a nice looking day close to Manilla, the storms clouds were still developing nearby, and winds were unpredictable and strong. The day was held until 12.30pm to see if the blue hole and more stable weather would get bigger like the day before. Conditions didn't get better and the day was canceled.
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