PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 8 & FINAL

NZ Champ Reuben Muir
flanked by Jeff Ripley (2nd place)
& Women's Champ Eva Keim

The forecast for Saturday hadn’t looked promising, so some of the pilots hit the Nelson nightlife scene pretty hard on Friday night. Lucky for them, we were given a late start on Saturday, with a decision at 9:30 to head to Tapawera.

The stunning site with a low ridge along a wide valley has never been used before for a competition task. And today was not going to change that. The wind was too strong, so we were all wishing we’d brought our hang gliders along.

Ah well, that gave us time for a Saturday afternoon nap, a reserve re-pack seminar and to get ready for the prize giving dinner. The closing ceremony was a fabulous meal at The Honest Lawyer in Monaco, with Rob Boyle as MC. Now on to the winners!

PG Open Round 2 - Nelson Champions:

Harald Wilhelmi – overall

Claus Petry – sport class

Derek Divers – fun class

Kinga Masztalerz – women’s class

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

And the New Zealand National Champions for 2016:

Reuben Muir – overall and serial class winner

Grant Middendorf – sport class

Joe Ward – fun class

Eva Keim – women’s class

It might be fitting to toast our NZ champs with a GIN & tonic.

The Jill Borst trophy, awarded to a pilot who has made a significant contribution to the paragliding community, was jointly awarded to Nick Neynens and Louis Tapper for their stellar efforts at the 2015 Red Bull X-Alps (Nick as competitor, Louis as his supporter) and firmly putting NZ on the map as a flying destination for overseas pilots.

The Leo Geary award, which is awarded to a promising new pilot, generally flying for under 3 years, for performance in competitions, was awarded to Leighton Joll. Leighton has been licensed for under a year, and hasn't wasted any time kicking a** with his XC flying – he’s hit goal three times during the PG Open rounds this year.

The PB Trophy, introduced by the Tasman club this year, goes to the pilot who extends their NZ Personal Best in XC open distance flight by the greatest percentage. The inaugural award goes to Brian Erasmus, who also managed a podium place in the fun class in his first ever competition here in Nelson. 

Well done to all of you. Also well done to the rest of the pilots who stayed safe - no accidents!

Thanks to the organisers for a great comp - Nick Taber, Frog Twissell, and Peter Allison did a terrific job, supported by many others from the Tasman club.

You can find more photos on the Facebook page: PG Nationals 2016 Nelson 

Hope to see you all again next year!

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 7

Evan testing the waters. Yep, perfect backwind.

Friday we made a late start at Takaka, briefing on the hill at 13:00. Conditions looked lovely, if a little stable. The streamers were coming up the face beautifully.

Task was set from Takaka to Waitui Spur in the valley, back to take-off, in to Bush Knob, up to East Takaka and back to Takaka bomb-out.

Always keen to get off, Hamish Barker launched as soon as the window opened. He didn’t make it look terribly exciting, but was staying up. Mark Hardman rigged up, and was in the air pretty quickly behind Hamish, but had to wait for the right moment to launch as the sea breeze was starting to come in over the back. The queue on launch started growing, and there was more waiting as the wind was coming more regularly over the back.

Mark and Hamish were having a tremendous flight, but the rest of the pilots on launch were just heating up in all our gear, waiting for a decent cycle to come up the face. Gradually pilots at the back of the queue realised they weren’t going to get away anytime soon, so de-rigged.

As we stood on launch feeling a solid breeze on the back of our necks, we watched as Mark and Hamish flew past on their way up to the last turnpoint at East Takaka, then heard them call in as they made it to goal. Meanwhile, launch was closed so we couldn't get any other pilots off. So…the Task Committee set a good course, even if it’s not a valid task.

Stunning

On the way back in to Nelson, we stopped at the Takaka SE launch, with lots of pilots having a stunning glide down to the valley. Then off to the Sprig & Fern for a free barbie to end another great day.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 6

Upper Takaka Valley
from Kris Ericksen's viewpoint

Wow, day 6 already…and we’ve flown every day we’ve been here!

Thursday was another Takaka day, with a nice SW, and the sea breeze expected to join us in the afternoon.

The 32km course had us fly from Takaka Hill to Hail Knob, out to Waitui Spur, in to Takaka launch, back to Bush Knob, up to East Takaka then riding the sea breeze back in to Takaka bombout.

We discovered that ridge soaring was the way to get ahead in this race. It felt a bit like a Karioitahi Beach run, so the Aucklanders were quite at home with the conditions. Lots of fun.

The sea breeze did come in with a bang, flushing many pilots to the ground just north of Upper Takaka. At just after 14:00, the task was stopped due to the strong wind in the valley.

Abe Laguna is the winner of the day, with 31.93km on task.

Abe Laguna's track log for the Task

On the entertaining side of things we also had an exciting evening, with the Magical Mystery Tour. The Tasman club had organised a sponsorship from Burger King, who donated 100 burgers. We may have broken another record – number of burgers a gaggle of pilots can wolf down in under 10 minutes.

After that excitement, Claus Petry put on a truly awesome aerobatic show with his single-seater plane. Wow – everyone was very impressed.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 5

After another great barbie prepared by Tony Dickison at the Boat House (what a view!), a couple of our sponsors came for a show and tell on Tuesday night. No one complains when Scott McCashin of Stoke Brewery wants to share his craft beer with us, nor when Gelato Roma plies us with gelato – anyone for a fourth serving?

Tony obviously serious about food

Guaranteed to be talking sh*t about flying

Nicely ballasted up, Mt Murchison beckoned us on Wednesday morning.

The wind was a gentle SW, and we knew we could expect a sea breeze to come in later in the day. Task was set to Howard Valley Rd with a 4km cylinder, then way up to Argyle Rd Jnc (10km) with end of speed and goal back at Tophouse.

Russell Read was the only pilot in goal, with the majority of the field getting flushed by the sea breeze on the way through St Arnaud. We had just the right amount of heart-stopping excitement with several pilots getting very low, basically kicking treetops; but everyone managed to avoid the trees.

We should have a few more NZ Personal Bests to talk about too.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

Someone get this man a beer!

THE WEATHER ABATES

Nelson Mail continues its coverage of the PG Open.

Link to Nelson Mail article

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 4

Are those 'go-faster'
stripes on your
harness, Louis?

The weather has been really hard to pick these last few days.

Saturday, the first day of the comp, should have been a rainy blowout, but we got a task. Today, Tuesday, was supposed to be the cream on top. However at the 8am briefing this morning there were some reservations about the flying possibilities.

The team headed to Havelock for the best chance at a task. The task was set to Canvastown after a bit of bopping around the Havelock valley, but with provisional start times so we could gauge what was up. There was a lot of cloud cover and a bit more south in the wind than we wanted to see.

Pilots spent some time clearing up a few twigs and pricklies on launch, but by 13:30 it was clear that the conditions weren’t improving enough for us to get into task-mode.

There's only so much parawaiting time you can spend teasing your mates for landing in cow patties, so we needed a plan B.

A decision was made to head back to Nelson and give Barnicoat a go. By the time we arrived it was quite late in the day, and the Task Committee opted for a spot-landing contest. A handful of pilots got in the air, but the wind pretty quickly turned south (more like east, actually), preventing the rest of the field from launching.

Sounds like they were the lucky ones though, as it got somewhat funky in the air and on landing. 

No worries - bbq is on tonight. Let's eat.

Results: Highcloud PG Open Nelson Results

FICKLE FORECAST FOILS FREE FLYERS

Another blurb in the Nelson Mail.

Link to Nelson Mail article

PG OPEN ROUND 2 – NELSON – DAY 3

Itai talking us through bridles & nappies

Those pesky strong high level winds were still keeping us out of the mountains on Monday.

The Task Committee was toying with options like Takaka or Barnicoat, but unsure whether the forecast could be believed.

A call at the 8am briefing was made to delay a decision until 10:30.

Luckily the organisers had catered for just this sort of fickle weather occurrence, and had arranged for Itai to give a talk on reserves. It proved quite popular and hopefully useful. The key message was that instead of carefully packing our reserves, we should just pop them in a plastic shopping bag with a rock. 

Just kidding, of course (what would you do with the rock, anyway?). The point is, it’s well worth understanding how your emergency reserve system works, what sorts of attributes you should be looking for in your gear and how it’s all connected and packed.

At 10:30 the Task Committee piped up with the message that we better hit the road. To Takaka, everyone!

The wind was so strong when we arrived at the hill that we could hardly stand up. It felt pretty sweet in the lee behind the trees at the back of launch though, so a few pilots napped in the sun. The Task Committee has a lot of faith, and they demanded patience from us.

Harald Wilhelmi's track log for Monday's Task

Eventually the 28km task was briefed: Takaka to Bush Knob, over to Waitui Spur then Point 704 and East Takaka and finally Lindsay Bridge for goal. Then we waited a little more to consider the start time, since the wind was still strong.

We all became believers when the wind did eventually drop, and the time of 15:25 was set for the Start. 

Launch cleared pretty quickly after Mark Hardman and Louis Tapper got in the air and showed it was going up. 

The sea breeze pushing in from the north and east, mixing with the prevailing westerly, created conditions that were a little funky in areas. A couple of pilots called safety alerts and some chose to land, but others found it pleasant flying. 

Harald Wilhelmi, one of our visiting pilots from Germany, was the task winner, making it to goal in 57 minutes.

Great work from the Task Committee, pulling a task out of a day that looked like a blowout.

And hey, does anyone have a couple of maillons for me? I think I need to re-fit my reserve.

WILL THE WEATHER COME TO THE PARTY?

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

Link to Nelson Mail article

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

WE HAVE A NEW LEADER

Updated National Paragliding Ladder.

You can download the latest version of the New Zealand paragliding ladder here.

It has been updated to include the six valid tasks from the PG Open (Round 1) that was held in Manilla.

Reuben Muir has overtaken Grant Middendorf at the top of the table and Jeff Ripley has climbed into third place.

Glen Stevens, Louis Tapper and Roy Tingay have all entered the Top Ten at the expense of Derek Divers, Mark Hardman and Eva Keim.

Joe Ward has appeared on the table - straight into 11th place!

Glen Stevens has scored the most ladder points (375) so far this season, while Nick Neynens is the biggest climber, moving up 28 places to number 15.

There are now 93 pilots on the ladder, and 52 of them have 277 points or less, so are facing the chop between seasons.

There are two competitions still scheduled this season that will affect this ladder.

• PG Open (Round 2) in Nelson
• Regional Competition in Auckland

PERSONAL BEST TROPHY - READY TO BE WON

Those wonderful competition organisers down in Nelson! Not only are they busy organising round two of the PG Open but they have also created a new trophy and gifted this to the national competition scene.

The "Personal Best Trophy" will be won by the pilot who best exceeds their personal best open distance flight during the competition.

You can win the trophy at the PG Open in Nelson.

Here is a picture of the trophy and the formal rules are pasted below.


4.8.11 Personal Best Trophy The Personal Best Trophy is particularly aimed at beginner and intermediate level pilots to encourage fun, skill improvement and increased participation in New Zealand Paraglider Flight Competitions.

The PB Trophy is open to NZ pilots that participate in the current annual New Zealand Paragliding Open and fly a Personal Best Open distance.

“Open distance” in NZ is as specified in section 6.6.1 of the rules. Open Distance is the measurement used for Personal Best, regardless of the task type flown in the competition.

A pilot must fly a minimum of 20 kilometres (“Open Distance”) in the current Competition in New Zealand in order to qualify for the PB Trophy.

Their best competition open distance flight will be measured and compared, in percentage terms, to their previous registered career personal best distance (as stipulated at Competition registration, though this figure may subsequently be verified).

In the event that the 20 kilometre Open Distance requirement is not triggered during the competition then the trophy will not be awarded for that given year.

The pilot with the highest open distance increase, over and above their previous registered Personal Best, in percentage terms, as per the PB Rules, will be awarded the PB Trophy.

The PB Trophy will be awarded at the completion of the Competition and will display the winners name and distance flown.

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Registration is now open for round 2 of the PG Open which will be held in Nelson, 27th Feb - 5th March 2016

You can find details, including the registration form, at www.pgopen.org.nz

2016 PG OPEN ROUNDS DECIDED ON

In 2016 there will be two rounds of the PG Open - the NZ National Paragliding Competition.

Round One will be held in Manilla, NSW, Australia, from Monday 8th February to Sunday 14th February inclusive (registration and competition meeting Sunday 7th February).

Round Two will be held in Nelson from Saturday 27th February to Saturday 5th March inclusive (registration and competition meeting Friday 26th February).

Details will be maintained, for now at least, on the PG Open website here www.pgopen.org.nz.