PG OPEN ROUND 1 - MANILLA - DAY 1

If those of you watching from home weren't already jealous of what you are missing in Manilla, you should be now.

Sunday was a training day, with more beautiful conditions at Mt Borah, and more spectacular PBs broken - including Evan Lamberton and Wayne Rohrs, who both flew over 110km in a very blue sky. It was hard work but very rewarding, and perfect IFR (I follow roads) flying, with the SSE sending us pretty well straight up north.

Monday, the first day of the Kiwi Open, Round 1 of this year's PG Open, was an even better day. The task was set with an 8km start cylinder around Mt Borah, then up through the Horton Valley to a 21km End of Speed at Terry Hie Hie, and goal a 20km cylinder around the same waypoint.

A few more clouds accompanied us and helped guide 38 pilots in to goal. Even some late starts who launched close to 3pm (just before the launch window closed) managed to fly the 85km to goal. First in was Ivan Anissimov on his Enzo2. I know the Aussies are typically racers, but wow, he was fast, getting there in under two hours.

Overflying goal to become yet another pilot to get a 100+km flight under his belt on this trip, was Johnny Hopper.

Check here for scores: Highcloud Kiwi Open Results

There has also been some fun with retrieves. After an unnecessarily long (6 hour?) retrieve, Team GIN can probably recommend at least one local driver to avoid. Hope everyone managed to get some tea, because Tuesday promises to be another big day.