The final day dawned to a similar forecast and a new type of cloud draped over the hills surrounding the town. These are called 'oreo-graphic' according to one visiting pilot.
It is interesting how the general mood at these events improves over the duration of the competition if there is good flying. The tension of the early protested task has dissolved into general good humour and tolerance as everyone accepts their fate and enjoys the remaining time. Goran also seems to have found a happy place and it is clear the world-cup/organiser relationship is sound.
The task was appropriate for the day. We all launched early for fear of getting stuck on launch given the still air at take off. Cloud-base at around 2,200m ASL. The start gate was positioned in a place where it was easy to hang about, so the start was a relatively stress free affair.
Team SA had a poor day with only Khobi into goal. Russell and Jon managed to land somewhere in the bottom left of the picture, and I managed to land short of goal with infinite skill after making end of speed section.
Khobi ended up on the ladies' podium in third place which was a great performance despite the four years since her last world cup event.
The winner of the ladies event was Johanna Hamne from Finland (18th overall). Interesting fact about Johanna for those of you who aspire to fly big triangles: Johanna flew a national winched flatland triangle in Finland of 190km when she was 8 months pregnant!! We are simply not trying hard enough in South Africa!
It was a mexican one two in the overall result, with Estefano Salgado edging Manuel Quintanilla out by 29 points. The Serbian, Vladimir Bacanin, was third by 4 points. The top ten were separated by about 100 points which is less than 3%. Looking at other events shows a similar ratio.
My observations about this event after a long lay-off:
1. The standard was very high with a whole new batch of super competitive young up and coming pilots emerging despite the absence of many top european pilots.
2. The equipment has improved steadily. I don't know exactly what the manufacturers do year on year to the same model, but the Enzo 3s I saw here are not the same as in 2019.
3. Brazil has established itself as the premier competition destination. It has unmatched variety, reliability, and affordability.
