Kicking off the comp season

Goal at the end of the peninsula.
Pretty special.
Photo: Matt Senior

Auckland kicked off the season big style with the first competition of 2016/2017.

Great to see representation from Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Tasman & Southern clubs, some new faces to the scene, and of course loads of the usual characters making up the 36 competition pilots.

Saturday morning started with a lot more cloud cover than we were expecting, and it stuck around a lot longer than we wanted it to. When we rocked up to Moirs it was a bit fresh, but looked reasonable for a 42km task up to Mangawhai. We just weren't sure whether to get straight into it, or wait for more sun to break through.

The tourists were so excited by the possibilities our world-famous Auckland sites offer, that we had three out-of-towners (Hamish, Matt & Abe) leading the launch, within seconds of the window opening. Conditions for launching were tricky, with lots of pilots needing second and third attempts.

Jeff decided to launch with a nice big cravat, which took a while to clean out, but it didn't distract him from going on to win the task, making it 35.27km along the courseline.

Sunday's sky had more blue in it. What a gorgeous day for a flight out to Tawharanui. A whole heap of pilots thought so, with 14 making it to the End of Speed section, and 9 of those following Jeff into goal.


Overall, Jeff came out on top. His name is becoming a familiar sight on the Auckland Regional Competition trophy. In hot pursuit was Bruce Vickerman, King of the Waikato, coming second & also top of the sport class. Rob Gillard is never far away from Brucie, and this comp was no exception - he came third & top of the fun class (in his first ever PG comp - great going!).

Results are in: Auckland Regional Paragliding Competition Dec 2016 Results

Big thanks to Johnny for organising, and remembering to bribe the Ministry of Weather and getting us two great days of flying; Janice for keeping us organised on launch; Diane for keeping our wings organised on launch; and Rodger (aka Santa) for helping everyone got off safely.

And as always, thanks to all the pilots for good times & good flying.

Hurry up & take the photo - it's ON!

St Arnaud Regional Paragliding Comp in February

St Arnaud Paragliding League and XC Camp 2017
(Incorporating a Tasman Regional Competition)

XC Camp Dates: 
Sat, February 11 – Sun, February 19, 2017.

Fly XC without a set task and see how far you can get. Optional flight logging to find who flies the most kilometres over their best four flights.

Regional Comp. Dates: Feb 11 – 13, 2017 (Sat-Mon). Reserve dates: Feb 17 – 19, 2017 (Fri-Sun).

Contact: Tim Percival percival@actrix.co.nz 03 548 7397 or 022 646 3864

Competition Task Format: Standard competition tasks.

First Briefing: To be advised on the forum of the NZHGPA website.

Sites: Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison, Mt Robert (walking access, depending on attendees), others to be advised.

Cost: $5 suggested donation per day, maximum $15.

Required for Safety: PG2 + 20 hours, reserve, back protection, GPS, UHF Radio, maps.

Transport Notes: Mt. Murchison requires 4WD vehicles so if you have one, it would be good to bring it. Vehicles used on forestry access roads must be equipped with fire extinguishers (be sure to contact Tim beforehand if you’re in need of one for your vehicle).

Additional Information
St. Arnaud is an excellent place for a long weekend with a variety of accommodation available including good tenting in the DoC campground, backpackers, and holiday baches for easy rental if you are a little organised. It has a shop and an all important bar. I am hiring a bach to serve as a base, which will be able to accommodate several other comp attendees at an economical rate.

The sites we will be using are high sites (up to 1450m ASL), so they make for some very scenic and exhilarating flying around the St. Arnaud area, which is the northern-most end of the Southern Alps.
(The site records for Inwoods Lookout, Mt Murchison and Mt Robert are 116km, 95km and 91km respectively).

Come along just for the XC Camp if you’d prefer to just fly XC without a set task and designated flying time. Please contact me for further information on accommodation etc. if you are thinking of coming;

Tim Percival
47A Brook Street, Nelson
ph. 03 548 7397 or 022 646 3864
percival@actrix.co.nz

Craigieburn - Regional Paragliding Competition

The Christchurch Club is hosting the first Regional Paragliding Competition of the 2016/17 season.

All qualified NZHGPA member paraglider pilots are welcome.

This will run over Labour Day weekend, 22-24th October 2016, inclusive. Postponed to the 5th - 7th November 2016.

The comp will be held at the Craigieburn site, and is organised by Michal Talavasek and Mark Hardman.

There will be a training day on Friday 21st of October, designed to help newcomers and low airtime pilots to familiarise themselves with comp talk, strategies, instruments and geography.
Also, if enough people confirm will stay overnight for one or more nights, we can arrange to rent a house at Castle Hill village and also use it as headquarters for the weekend (to book contact Michal).

A BBQ will be available for everyone to use. Bring your camp chair and guitar.

There is no on-line registration system - please use the contact details below for further information and to express interest. Results from this comp can contribute towards your national ladder position.

Comp Organiser: Michal Talavasek - michal.talavasek@gmail.com or 022 340 4511
Scoring and Support: Mark Hardman - info@paraventures.co.nz

Here is a link to the waypoints file for the comp:  Craigieburn Competition waypoints 2013.wpt

A DOC campground nearby is also a good option for a place to stay: craigieburn-shelter

Well, that sounds fine and dandy but what if the weather isn’t always on for paragliding? Should I still go? What is there to do??

Castle Hill area is spectacular on its own and offers cool sights and activities for all. The rock climbing/bouldering is great and there is even a cool cave to explore nearby.

The mountain biking is also great and well organised, offering kilometres of established trails. You should get your fix one way or another…

Links are here:
Castlehill Basin
Craigieburn Trails
Craigieburn Forest Park mountain biking tracks
Cave Stream Scenic Reserve

Cheeseman to round hill

Cheeseman ski field to lewis Pass

Auckland Regional PG Comp - early December

Auckland Regional Paragliding Competition scheduled for 3rd/4th December 2016.

Sites will be around Auckland or as far as Rotorua, depending on weather.

Details and registration here: https://airtribune.com/auckland/info

The comp is free, but pre-registration is very much appreciated.

SOUTHERN REGIONAL PG COMP

Derek Divers, from the Southern Club, is organising the first Southern Regional Paragliding Competition of the season.

Get some points on the NZ Paragliding Ladder early in the season.

The dates are Sat 7th and Sun 8th November 2015
Reserve dates are Sat 14th and Sun 15th November 2015.

This comp has FAI Cat-2 sanction pending.

The Kai Whakapai Cafe in Wanaka will be the headquarters.

The decision on the location of task 1 will be announce on Thursday night.

Please contact Derek at d.divers@xtra.co.nz