Canungra Cup - Kiwi Results and updated ladder

The competition season has officially begun, with 26 kiwi pilots flying in the Canungra Cup, which was designated as an overseas league. This gets re-scored for Kiwi pilots only, and the results are shown here. Congratulations to reigning champion, Reuben, who won out of the Kiwis.

The ladder has been updated to reflect this, and you can find it here.

Evan and Roy have both moved up within the top ten. Robbo, Eva and Leighton are climbing back towards it. Bruce Vickerman has re-entered the ladder, earning a fat 37 points in Canungra.

Reuben reinforced his position in the number one slot.

CANUNGRA CUP 2016 - IT'S A WRAP

Team New Zealand

Friday was another blowout, but an obvious one, so people made alternative plans early – kitesurfing, surfing, whale-watching, tramping, site-seeing – whatever. Just no flying.

As pilots do, we were starting to get depressed, being stuck at alt=0m.

Saturday, the last day of the comp, promised to be EPIC. We had something to cling on to.

At 8am Saturday morning, the call came through on the radio – buses leaving at 8:30am.

We raced up to Beechmont, and saw there were already 2 hang gliders and a few paragliders about to hit cloudbase. Yeehaa – it’s on!!

The task was set with a Beechmont start cylinder of 8km, heading 95km to the west at Maryvale. It was an early kickoff of 9:50am open launch, and start gate at 11:20. All pilots had launched well before the start opened.

It definitely was the epic day we were promised – what a way to end the comp! Almost half the field made it in to goal, including Reuben as the first of several Kiwis. Wayne fell for the old trick of hitting the End of Speed section, but not quite hitting the Goal Cylinder. This was due to instrument failure, and he was only 150m short, dammit.

No competition is ever without its dramas, and today saw a few – tree landings, wedgie attacks, helicopter rescues and DOMS (google it) from early morning bootcamp, preventing Joe from flying.
Saturday was the prize giving ceremony and competition dinner.

In the end, Reuben was the top Kiwi, coming 16^th overall. We had a couple of Kiwis on the podium, with Andy Maloney winning third in the Fun class, and Eva taking home third in the Women’s class. Congratulations, and nice flying!

This comp was also an overseas league, so Johnny will be re-scoring for team NZ based on NZHGPA rules, and sharing the results soon.

CANUNGRA CUP 2016 - WELL WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF SITES

Not inspired to launch

Tuesday we had another go at Hinchcliffe’s, with a task set to Laravale, then down to Hillview and back up to Bromelton for goal.

Conditions were a bit wonky, with a strong and steady breeze coming up the hill, and the low clouds above blasting over the back. As soon as the launch window was open, it was immediately suspended.

After a short wait, there was a re-brief called, and the day was canned.

Heaps of pilots had taken their wings out though, and it looked somewhat flyable, so a few launched. It wasn’t convincing enough for everyone, so most pilots packed up for the drive down. No one flying got very far, and it wasn’t long before rain came in so all had to get on the deck.

Wednesday was the day we had been watching for, with epic looking conditions. We headed to Beechmont early, where it was switching on and off. Not quite epic, but certainly taskable.

The task was set over Locked Gate Valley (guess why it’s called that?) to Coulson, then down to Croftby for goal – a distance of 75km. The conditions were not easy, and saw busloads of strong pilots hit the bombout. Thankfully re-flights were allowed, so most got a second chance.

Kiwis in the launch slots

Wally from Bright won the task (again!), just a few km short of goal. Wayne was the top Kiwi (again!), at 30.29km. That puts him 5^th overall!! He definitely brought his A-game, but he’s not sharing his secrets.

Actually he is – get high and fly far. I think we’ll try that tomorrow, thanks Wayne.

Andy Maloney from Wellington won the Fun class for the day.

Thursday’s forecast suggested a blowout later in the day, so we got off for an early start. At the turnoff for Beechmont the buses stopped for a decision on whether to head to Beechmont or to Hinchcliffe’s. After a thirty minute wait, the call was made for neither – it was already blown out.

Ivan the Russian Australian offered to give his famous safety brief, entitled Kill the Bastard. The main takeaway for me was his good news that ‘some of uz not gonna die today’. Also that if you put a fridge on a good wing, it will glide better than a fridge on a crap wing. Guess we won’t dispute that.

Now it’s bush walks, beer drinking, comp barbie and hope for good weather for the last two days of the comp. And try not to be too envious of the crew in the Indian Himalayas, who seem to be getting a whole lot more airtime than we are.

Results are here: Canungra Cup 2016 Results

CANUNGRA CUP 2016 - WE HAVE LIFT-OFF

Sunday's weather forecast was for a lot of South, so we headed to Hinchcliff’s for the best chance of a fly. It was howling when we arrived, and a few optimistic souls were heard to talk about it ‘just being a wee gust’. The wee gust was pretty d*mn persistent.

A task was set, giving us all good practice remembering how to use our instruments. That’s all it was though, because after half an hour of waiting, we decided that the wee gust was not finished with us, so the task was canned.

The forecast for Monday was not looking promising, so we were mostly surprised when the call was made to head to Tamborine on Monday morning. It was the keenest we’ve been, with lots of pilots pulling their wings out to get ready.

The task was set down to Kyogle NSW, with a waypoint at Lions Road, a distance of 78.2km. To borrow Evan’s words, it was a day of low saves, with no one getting very high and only two pilots in goal.

Wayne was the top Kiwi, in seventh place with 60.2km. Roy also made it into the top ten at 49.1km. So tell us guys, how do you like your new wings?!

In non-flying news, we have a Kiwi bootcamp running at 05:30 every morning. Leighton has been giving us drills (military push ups – no cheating!) and we are starting to suspect he’s trying to break us. It’s working, but we’re addicted. Brucie’s been spotted all over town on his unicycle, and Johnny’s juggling anything he can find. 

Fingers crossed for more good flying on Tuesday.

Results are here: Canungra Cup 2016 Results

(Photos all ripped off from Dominique's Facebook page)

CANUNGRA CUP 2016 KICKS OFF

Twenty four Kiwis descended on Queensland for the 2016 Canungra Cup, which started today. In the biggest comp here yet, with 95 pilots, this may also be the largest Kiwi contingent for an Ozzie comp.

There was no mad rush at the first briefing on Saturday morning (more on that later). A couple of interesting points of discussion:

• Rather than EN-ratings, the comp is using aspect ratio to determine the class you are in. Fun class is up to 5.8, Sport class is up to 6.7 and Serial up to 7.1.
• KLO (km lead-out) was voted on, and decided to drop from 250 to 200 points. Don't worry if this doesn't make sense to you, I get the feeling most of the rest of the field doesn't completely understand it either. Myself included.
• In addition to the wing classes, there is a Reynolds class as well, which is for pilots with flying weight of up to 90kg.
• Since the Ozzies have put so much effort into their Paragliding Squad and developing their pilots, they have moved up the CIVL country ranking from 31 to 17. Awesome that they are seeing such results, and I wonder if NZ pilots would be interested in trying to do the same. Perhaps discussion for another time.

Now back to the flying or rather, not-flying. Saturday morning winds were looking strong, and the locals weren't optimistic. However we thought it was worth a look at Tamborine. It felt perfectly launchable, but after hearing Phil Hystek's annual site briefing, another look at the distance to a landing field, and the 20m gum trees in between, it all seemed to make sense when the day was canned.

A few of us hung around at the Polish Club, just down the road from launch. There we had a good view of the ridge, the 2 hang gliders that launched shortly after all the paragliders left (who didn't do much more than a bit of ridge soaring, phew), and the spectacular bird life. And goannas!

Another group headed over to the coast to hit the beach, and ended up watching a pod of humpback whales put on a show out at sea.

Welcome to Australia!

Results (once we get a task) will be here: Canungra Cup 2016 Results

CANUNGRA CUP 2016 - REGISTRATION OPEN

Canungra Cup 2015

Registration is now open for this FAI Cat-2 Paragliding Competition in Queensland, Australia.

Follow this link to register:

Canungra Cup

As well as being FAI Cat-2 sanctioned, this event will also be declared a New Zealand Overseas Paragliding League Event - so your score may contribute towards your NZ national ladder score.

Plus it will be loads of fun!

ACTUALLY... PHIL HYSTEK WON

The overseas league that was held during the Canungra Cup has been rescored.

We accidentally missed Phil Hystek.

He is actually an Aussie but is a full member of the NZHGPA.

Turns out that he actually won it. Well done, Phil.

I've updated the national ladder too, with this correction.
You can download that here.

CANUNGRA CUP TASK 6 & FINAL

We woke to beautiful blue skies on the final task day at Canungra, but the blue quickly disappeared until we had full cloud cover.

Oh well, let’s check out Beechmont and see what we can do.

A few free-fliers showed us they could stay up in the ridge lift, but it didn’t look exciting, and certainly not like something you should throw 90 pilots at.

We waited. Our patience was rewarded with reasonable flying conditions. The 58km task was to 36 OVAL in the Kerry Valley, then goal at 25 CROF.

No pilots made goal, but the Kiwis came out strong, with John Smith coming 2nd in the task, Mark Hardman 5th, and Evan Lamberton 6th. Nice work, boys.

We hurried back for the closing ceremony at the Canungra Hotel – plenty of well deserved cold beer and hot food.

The competition was won by Brazilian pilot Felipe Rezende on his Enzo2. John Smith was the highest ranking Kiwi, coming in 19th place, closely followed by Evan in 20th.

Final results are here: http://highcloud.net/xc/comp_result.php?comPk=173

Overall the Canungra Cup lived up to its reputation of being an incredibly well-run competition. The organisation is fantastic and retrieves are superb.

The conditions weren’t great for us, but the Task Committee made the most of what we had and turned it into some good flying. With 6 days of flying and close to 90 pilots, there were over 500 launches and landings with no reserve throws, no mid-airs and in fact no accidents to speak of, which in itself is a great result.

We’ll be back.

CANUNGRA CUP TASK 5

After 2 rain days, we were ready for more flying on Friday.

The call was made to go to Beechmont, but the usual rush to get wings out and ready was missing. Might have been something to do with the full cloud cover, damp ground & limp windsock.


The 54km task was set to 41 JOSE, with goal at MARG, and once the windsock started moving in the right direction, we were ready to go.

There were several safety calls shared on the radio, due to congestion around launch. It's hard work keeping close to 90 pilots in the air along a small ridge when cloudbase is just a few hundred feet about launch.

A few pilots got up and made their way to the edge of the start cylinder, but the task was thwarted by rain. A few splatters hit pilots flying near launch, then a few more.

The task was stopped 10 minutes after Start - just in time for some & too late for others. The weather came in fast, with pretty steady rain hitting many pilots. I suppose it would have been good if your glider needed a clean.

I heard it made interesting (and confusing) watching on the Live Tracking. In the end it was too short a day to call it a task.

Things did get better though - in the evening, local hang glider pilots Rangi & Shirley hosted a Kiwi barbie, which was a great success. 

CANUNGRA CUP DAY 5

Question: What do you call a gaggle of 90 keen pilots, and not a wing in sight?

Answer: A non-taskable day.

CANUNGRA CUP TASK 4

It was another day of marginal looking conditions, with thunderstorms forecast to come in from the south.

We weren’t sure it would be taskable, but headed up to Tambo to check things out.

Task was set to start at North Tamborine, then down in the south west to Laravale, and over Locked Gate Valley to goal at Coulson.

The sea breeze came in shortly after the task started, and everyone kept a good eye on the clouds building to the south & east, but the course line was clear. For a couple of hours, anyway.

Eventually the sea breeze hit the course, as well as rain, and the task was stopped. The timing was probably right to stop the task, because although it seemed fine in the air, there were a lot of vertical landings.

Evan was the lead Kiwi for the day, making it to goal. Unfortunately due to the 5-minute countback from Task Stop time, it’s not scoring that way.

Cameron had another great flight too. Not hearing that the task was stopped, he carried on to goal. Soiling himself all the way, it should be noted, as landing options were few. Had he known that it was Locked Gate Valley he was flying over, he may truly have needed a change of pants. If you hadn’t guessed, Locked Gate Valley is so named because of the big padlocked gates preventing retrieve vehicle access.

All pilots made it back to the pub before the massive thunderstorm & lightshow hit Canungra.

Scores are here: http://highcloud.net/xc/comp_result.php?comPk=173

Live tracking here: https://airtribune.com/canungracup/blog__day_4  

CANUNGRA CUP TASK 3

Kris E's 3-day old wing shredded

Monday’s forecast sent us to Mt Tamborine, with mixed views on what the day would bring.

It’s a long glide out to bomb-out at Tambo, and we’re told it’s not uncommon to see pilots kicking trees on the way down, so the Task Committee was apprehensive about the wind picking up.

The task was set to 41 Josephville to the south west, then carrying on in the same direction to goal at Maroon.

Due to the concerns about the conditions, Brooke Whatnall was asked to launch prior to the launch being formally open, to give us an indication of what was happening out there. Brooke went up, and reported that winds were light, so the task was ON.

The famous Australian wedge-tailed eagle paid a visit to at least 6 pilots, and she wasn’t there to give us a warm welcome. Kris was the unfortunate winner of the Eagle Class, having a huge chunk of his brand new wing stolen. Now some lucky wedgie has a very colourful nest made of light-weight but durable material, suitable for hike & fly.

Jean Brossard was the sole Kiwi to make goal, and managed to do it with a leg injury sustained when launching during Task 2 (banged his leg against the carbon foot board on the harness). Good work, Jean. It turned into a great day.

CANUNGRA CUP TASK 2

Evan & Mark celebrating GOAL!

The forecast for Sunday was looking more promising, so the pilots headed up to Beechmont for more action.

There appeared to be something wrong with the windsocks though, as they were all blowing backwards. Fortunately we are a patient bunch (Tui ad?), and we started to see puffs coming up the hill.

The task was set to Bord with a 5km radius, then Pale with a 10km radius, and goal at Rath. Dave Gibbs, the Comp Organiser promised us 30% of pilots would be in the bombout, but he got that wrong - turns out about 30% made it to goal.

That included a few Kiwis. John Smith was the first to make it there, followed closely by Evan Lamberton & Mark Hardman. Roy Tingay just missed out, making it to End of Speed but not quite touching the goal cylinder.

Cameron had the most exciting flight of the day though, getting 40km around the track then getting smashed by the sea breeze. Twas a bit strong on landing, and he went for a bit of a roll. Fortunately it was on his left side, and Task 3 will be a right turn day.

Cam about to start a great flight. Photo credit: Uncle Don Kennedy

Nice legs Cam. But the flight made it all worth while. You deserve that beer. Photo credit: Johnny Hopper

CANUNGRA CUP - TASK 1

The Kiwi team rocked up with high expectations for some great flying in Canungra, especially after seeing one of the Ozzie’s pull out a 247km flight here last week.

Looks like we aren’t the only ones, with 90 pilots registered for the competition.

Those in the know told us the forecast for Saturday was pretty marginal. Ever the optimists, we headed up to Beechmont for a look. The task was set, with a 7.5km start cylinder, and goal at Kalbar, a distance of about 60km.

Launch had to be suspended a few times due to congestion, with 60 to 70 wings fighting to stay in up, but in the end all pilots managed to get off, with a smattering getting away. Dave Snowden managed the furthest distance, just under 23km.

Kris Ericksen is New Zealand’s national hero for the Task, being the top Kiwi & winning the Fun class prize for the day. First flight on his new wing, so let’s hope this is a sign of things to come.

See here for scores:

http://highcloud.net/xc/comp_result.php?comPk=173

And check out the Live Tracking – this is quite cool:

https://airtribune.com/canungracup/blog__day_1

 Good team preparation.

CANUNGRA CUP 2015 - REGISTRATION OPEN

Registration for this FAI Cat-2 Paragliding Competition in Queensland, Australia is now open.
You can register by following this link:

Canungra Cup

As well as being FAI Cat-2 sanctioned, this event has also been declared a New Zealand Overseas Paragliding League Event - so your score may contribute towards your NZ national ladder score.

CANUNGRA CROSS COUNTRY CLINIC

Tamborine Launch

The Cross Country Clinic generated a lot of interest from pilots here and Australia with pilots traveling from as far away as Melbourne and Queenstown NZ.

The Canungra Club has seen a fall off in pilots attending the competitions around Australia and wanted to attract new pilots to competition and pilots who felt intimidated flying against some of the best pilots in Australia.

Their motto is that competitions should be geared for the up and coming pilots not the top pilots, with most of the prizes going to the "best of the rest", from a brand new Malibu from Moyes Gliders to cups and t-shirts for the most outstanding efforts of the day from up and coming pilots.

Briefing for CCC

The Canungra Club realizes that the future of their club and Hang Gliding is the up and coming pilots, with the experienced pilots actively supporting all the pilots who are keen to better their flying.

The 3 days of the Cross Country Clinic had pilots being briefed on skills for flying and getting them orientated to the area they would be flying in for the comp, with 10 mentors helping the pilots on the tasks for the day. Mentors included Flocky, Adam Stevens, Dave Stevens(Rangi), Jonny Durant junior and senior to name a few.

John and Lisa, instructors from Queenstown who come to Australia for the winter to instruct, have also played a big part in the CCC helping to organize it and promote the clinic.

NZ pilots attending the CCC

This recognition of up and coming pilots will help attract pilots to competition flying, as this is where they can learn more skills in a week than they would pick up in a year of flying off the local hill and get to meet the guys that can help them get high and far, safely.

After flying here this week, I see that there is great potential for learner and intermediate pilots to learn to become top ranked pilots.

Mark Alton reporting from Canungra, Australia.