PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 2

Beautiful Havelock; photo cred: Devon MacDonald

Strong westerlies at altitude were forecast on Sunday, keeping us out of the mountains.

The two best options were another task at Barnicoat, or head to Havelock. We opted to jump in the cars and race to Havelock.

Task was set to start at Footes Hill, then deep in the hills at the back to Pelorus with a 10km cylinder, over to Riley North, across the valley to Cullen West, up to Cullen North then towards Picton at Duncan, with Goal at Cullensville.

We were warned to watch for the sea breeze coming in, or for the high westerly to greet us, which we expected to find at around 4000 feet. The first few pilots launched and had no trouble staying aloft, but the radio call came through pretty quickly that pilots were feeling the westerly from about 2000 feet.

Next thing you know, the sea breeze picked up. That made for choppy air around Footes Hill, demonstrated by the rocking wings and wee collapses; as Tim Brown describes it: The Jiggles.

A few Level 2 and Level 3 calls came over the radio, and at 13:11, the task was stopped due to safety concerns. A good call. Sadly, it looks like we haven’t met the minimum criteria of 5 pilots flying a minimum 6km on course to be a valid task. 

Well, we gave it a good shot. And tomorrow is another day. And we'll have some great photos to share - watch this space.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 1

Tim Brown briefing the task

The Nelson round of the PG Open got off to a fine start on Friday night, with what was probably the best registration barbie a paragliding comp has ever seen. Yum.

The formalities were taken care of, with introductions from competition organisers Peter Allison, Nick Taber & Frog Twissell.

The Task Committee of Tim Brown, Jeff Ripley & Itai Almog was appointed, and the Safety Committee of Russell Read, Joe Ward and Roy Tingay elected.

Since the forecast for Saturday wasn’t looking flash, a few of the pilots took the opportunity to offer extensive support to one of our generous competition sponsors – the Sprig & Fern pub.

They may have been regretting it on Saturday morning, when we were all reminded that the weather sometimes surprises us. 

Saturday saw us head up to Barnicoat, where the wind was initially over the back. The Task Committee didn’t seem to take notice, and focused on setting the task. Don’t worry, they said. 

The wind will come around.

Task 1 was set with start at Barnicoat, over to Jenkins then to Spur with Trees, back to Cumming Spur, end of speed at Water Tank, and goal back at Barni. The wind was still over the back.

We bided time listening to the Sprig & Fern supporters in the group regale us with tales of their ‘quiet night’, and next thing you know, we could feel the breeze on our faces.

Frog Twissell encouraging Hamish Barker to get in the air

Barnicoat is a beautiful big launch, so it didn't take long to get everyone in the air and on course.

Jeff Ripley was the first in goal, with a small gaggle in hot pursuit. It was a short task of 24km, but a very welcome surprise to get a fly on a day we were expecting strong winds and rain, and a great way to kick off the competition.

The weather looks promising for the next few days too, so we have big plans rest of the week.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

PG-OPEN NELSON IS ON NEXT WEEK

Round 2 of the PG-Open gets some media attention.

Link to Nelson Mail article