Drama on the final day
Well - what a final day! It was a boomer day with some good climbs and some good speeds but also a good dose of drama. I did say a particular result was likely “barring the unexpected”, but unfortunately for some the unexpected was what we got. Tim got pinged for busting airspace which was enough to drop him from 1st to 8th for the day and from 1st to 2nd overall by just FOUR POINTS! So congratulations to Mike Strathern who flew consistently well to take the honours in the Club Class Nationals, backing up his win in the Central Plateau contest just a couple of months ago.
Also featuring in the “unexpected” category was a certain local pilot who finished up in the Kinloch golf course. All good though - no holes in one glider!
In the MSC class Pat Dreissen had a good flight to win the day, but it was not quite enough to head off Sebastian Kawa for an overall win with Pat Dreissen a creditable second after taking into account the removal of each pilots worst day. Keith Essex came third. Congratulations!
So overall it has been a very successful contest with good weather and good racing as well as good experience gained by many. If there were any concerns, they would have to be around the continuing struggle to find enough volunteers for those all-important non-flying tasks that make all the difference to the success of the event. At times the Contest Director was having to run wings and other tasks which took him away from his primary role of keeping an overall perspective, which was not ideal, but we were lucky to have a CD who was prepared to do that. The volunteers who were there did a great job - let’s just hope the success of this contest inspires a few more people to put their hand up for the next. Try it - you’ll like it!
Enough from me. It’s been fun. Over and out.
Semi-Final Day
What a great couple of weeks it has been. Plenty of good close contests and lots of good camerarderie. And all coming down to the last race today. In the Club Class Tim will be difficult to catch barring the unexpected, but in the MSC Class there's still only about 100 points between our top two entries - Sebastian in the Duo Discus and Keith in the ASG 29! Yesterday was tough going in places, but again showed how the experienced pilot can fly the energy lines and make the most of what is there...
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Day 10
Well - it was indeed a good test yesterday. It was a tough day with several landouts and devalued points, but another step towards a close finish in the overall race for contest honours. Tim flew well for another day win in the Club Class and may be hard to catch, while Sebastian clings on to a lead in the MSC Class despite not quite such a good day yesterday. Today is looking good with a T-T-T-Task set to Tirau, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui and Titiraupenga. Should be a good day for TT!
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Day 9
All rested and raring to go. Not the greatest weather day ever, but a task has been set to the Northeast using the best available wind and thermal forecasts, so it will be a good test of finding the energy lines today methinks.
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Waitangi Day
Only right and proper that we have a rest day today I guess, but it was certainly a good decision. I will post a photo of the windsock! The wind's whistling wild round the winglets,It's whipped the gazebo to ringlets.It's rough and it's tough,and to fly in that stuff,You'd really have to be dinglets! Tonight it's barbecue night, and there is a flash-looking Weber barbie on show courtesy of Trev Terry Marine who are one of our major sponsors. They have very generously donated a brand new Weber...
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Day 8
Well Folks, we have a contest on our hands. You can see the results for yourselves, but in the MSC class we have a close race for the podium places between Keith Essex, Sebastian Kawa and the duo of Willams and Schofield, and in the Club Class it's all on between Tim, Mike and Steve. Today was another tight one with some good speeds and of course some struggles, but again the weather cooperated and it was a great day's flying. I know because I was in the back seat of the Duo with Alan Belworthy,...
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Day 7
Another beautiful day on the Central Plateau. 26 gliders are rigged and ready and rolled, now rollicking round the rocks. The task setters again looked at a racing task, but there is a possibility of overdeveloping so again it's an AAT, but Hey! - we're having fun and enjoying a few days of good weather in a row. Yesterday produced some good flights with perhaps predictable results - Patrick, Sebastian and Keith leading the MSC class, and Mike, Mark Wilson and Tim the Club Class. It's still clos...
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Day 6, Sunday 3rd. Feb
The day holds more promise than yesterday, so a task has been set and a launch has been programmed for 1300. It was hoped to get a racing task in today, but after reviewing the weather models the task-setters have decided today is not the day for that, so another AAT task it is. Both classes will head northwest to Wharepapa South, back down to the Western Bays, across to the Galatea area, south again to Poronui Station and home.
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Saturday 2nd Feb
Should be Day 6, but the day is cancelled due weather. It is 8/8ths overcast and not forecast to improve sufficiently for a task. So it should be a quiet day. It might be in terms of gliding activity, but it's a big day at the Bruce McLaren Motorsports park and there's an easterly wind, so it's actually bloody noisy! As the bumper sticker says, "Glider Pilots do it Quietly"!
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Day 5
Oh dear. Visibility about 5km in misty drizzle. Various weather models have various ideas on when it will clear, but if we do fly today it will be a latish start. However the pilots have been working pretty hard over the last couple of days, so a quiet day might be welcome. Sebastian certainly worked hard yesterday for a win in the MSC contest, as did Pat Driessen and Keith Essex for 2nd and 3rd. Tim Bromhead took out daily honours in the Club Class, easing past Mike Strathern for first place ov...
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