World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Task 5 Cancelled

The rush up the hill was a little muted this morning with updated predictions indicating stronger winds than yesterday.
The task was cancelled after we began the inevitable foot-vote which is so often the result of the mortal battle between transcendental reality and blind optimism.

I guess I should say a little about Pocos de Caldas which is a mid-size city in the Minas Gerais province. If you're really interested about the stats go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po%C3%A7os_de_Caldas.

It is 'nice' enough, but it is hard to be positively subjective when there has been no flying.

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Glider Talk

The talk of new gliders and technology here seems to revolve around: the duration of Ozones' current advantage; and the protos from Gin, Niviuk & Mac. The casual consensus seems to be that Ozone is a minimum of 6 months ahead of any other manufacturer putting a production version of something competitive on the market (the failed PMA recommendation is widely interpreted as a confession by various players that they have no answer for the R10.2). After equilibrium is restored among the manufacturers the expectation is that the performance improvements will once again be minutely incremental as has been the case over the last 5 years with Aircross being the possible exception (again). Comp results around the world are confirming what we already know about Ozone, but the rest of the protos are all unknown given the absence of any objective data or opinions.

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Silly buggers

Watch the first few seconds of this video clip to see the crazy Belgian doing a Benny Hill style 'thing'

Untitled http://vimeo.com/channels/paraglidingworldcup#10769139

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Task 1 - 4

Did I mention it rains during the monsoon season?

The first three days were cancelled and the fourth dawned frigid and relatively dry. We finally went up the mountain in the howling gale and low base with great excitement and enthusiasm. A 55km downwind dash was set and cancelled after 40 or so pilots were pasted all over the sky like skinny post-it notes facing into the wind in perfect alignment at cloud-base.

Picture courtesy of Arnold Pansi

Several anxious calls of level three conditions along with the imminent probability of one or two luckless individuals getting blown over the back low prompted the decision to halt the proceedings. A little too hasty in my opinion, but maybe for the best. It was quite comical to see the new Ozone gliders ripping several individuals off of their feet. It seems new ground handling techniques are being developed with each attempt. Wind guru predicts lighter southerly winds for the rest of the week. Thankfully no rain has been predicted.

We live in hope!

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Practice Day

Humid and overcast as Brasil always seems to be we arrived after an epic 24hrs of travelling.

It is great to have so many compatriots at a world cup after flying 'solo' for so many years. It feels like a world championship without any of the bother.

The hotel has broadband! We managed to catch the Dam-style cable car up to launch which in typical Brazilian style has a lush green carpet of freshly cut lawn defining the launch strip. Cloudy with drizzle and 25km/h wind up the vertical face.

Pictures courtesy of Arnold Pansi

The new glider is fast, flat and smoooth with a vicious launch that snatches you off your feet in strong wind. 2hrs 40mins of boating around in the light and windy conditions. Can't wait to try this machine in the comp.

It has been raining all day....

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my R10.2L from Ozone in time for Pocos. It's a pity we couldn't get them for the local comp starting Sunday, but as long as it arrives for Brazil, I don't really mind.

There certainly has been a huge buzz of anticipation about this new machine. I have no doubt Brazil will reveal all things interesting.

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville - last two tasks

It is not easy going into the last two days with such a slim lead. The third day saw the lead gaggle of Francois, Andrew, Nevil and I miss the climb on the way to bumpy peak while the lag gaggle scored a fantastic corner elevator at teenage-tit which whisked them up and away carrying them halfway over the back en-route to the second turn point in the back valley. Wim was in this group and they chose to fly the foothills for the valley run. Feeling some pressure I applied liberal doses of the speed system and a more direct line under a fortuitous cloud street which negated the massive advantage the leaders had as we managed to reel them in before the last 15km glide from Cuitrusdal. Only one cheeky upstart (in the form of Damian Sykes) within this group went the valley route alone and was handsomely rewarded with a task win. This was probably the best flying day I have seen in PVille ever.

The last day was a messy affair with the task comm setting a risky front valley foray early on that saw several top pilots landing and had just about the entire fleet grovelling and desperate at some point. I managed to find a crew to fly with and the second half of the task was tedious as we were in front with my competition stuck behind which means you have to fly a little more conservatively which is a horrible way to fly. Anton took the aggressive racing stance and I had to reel in my neck and bite my knuckles wistfully while letting him go screaming off into the back valley on a solo effort that had a half chance of securing a task win. It all ended well ... Anton got his task win and I got my comp win.

All in all a great comp and a job well done by Cathy, Waldo and Mike. I sincerely hope they will do it again next year.

In my opinion the up and coming pilots to watch out for in the next three seasons are RusselA, FourieG & DamianS (in no particular order). One could include RyanM, ChrisVN & TheunsK in that list, but they are a little more unpredictable so I'm inclined to wait and see if they can get/repeat results.
It was good to have FrancoisDV, JacquesB and KarelK back and racing as fast (albeit rusty) as ever too. Anton is back and looking good. Nevil and Henry were solid as they always are.
Andrew somehow pulled all the bad luck landing in front on two occasions and Joe was dissapointing after his great performance in Barbs earlier in the year.
Another one to watch is Khobi who walked away with all the female prizes and very nearly took the sports class too. Lastly there is StefJ who is an awesome pilot in all respects. It is a great pity he does not fly comps more seriously.

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville - Day 5 Task 2

After four sublime practice days we had three blown out comp days. No-one can remember when last there were so many un-flyable days in PVille.

The first task was a quick affair which saw all the regulars with a total of 42 pilots in goal. I managed to squeeze in less than a minute ahead of Wim verHoewe from Belgium. Scoring turned out to be an un-mitigated disaster with the new software unable to download tracklogs. We finally reverted to Ulf's trusty old TP which saved the day. The second task was in stark contrast to the first with a tedious 30km into wind fight which saw half the leaders go down shortly after the start in some serious sink. The second wave got through and two hours later I managed to sneak a win by a few seconds from Wim and Nevil. Ten in goal.

Today looks like a typical PVille day with a Southerly predicted.

Sebastian is having a ball, Pascale is delightful and Fernanda relaxed and smiling.

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville

After the sad and sorry debacle about a dead world cup in Porterville, we thought Porterville was no more. The All Africa Open Porterville may well be history, but we can now say Long live Porterville!.

Yes folks my favourite comp site of all time (ok a close second or third to Bravo, Castelo and Piedrahitha) will be brought to life by Mike Burgess who has stepped up to the plate and opened the Pampoenfontein launch site to host the SA Winelands Open 2009. This competition may end up being called the 'Papsak Oop' being in Cape Town and all, but I have no doubt it will maintain the amazing tradition of our premier comp site in South Africa.

By the time of this writing the website was showing 88 registered pilots which is promising to say the least. The much vaunted Cape pilot attendence predictions have fallen completely flat other than the notable regulars like Earl and Steffi. This makes me wonder what 'they' (as in the cape pilots) were going on about during all those years of Dasklip boycott when Rob appeared to be the source of their phobia. Whatever the case foreigners and Gautengers make up the majority of the field and with luck we'll see 100 pilots screaming down the ridge in a week.

I'm heading off to the village for some practice tomorrow. Hope for some good up days!!!

Aeroclub pulls rank on SAHPA over comp bans (for the first time ever)

After months of rumour and speculation SAHPA has published an ‘official’ decision on the terrible lost love triangle between the troubled competitor; the duped administrator; and the difficult land owner.

For those of you who missed this astonishing missive, I invite you to read (between the lines if you can) and comment. It so happens that I volunteered to ‘mediate’ in an attempt to resuscitate both the AAO and the PWC which were planned for 2009, so feel free to ask any questions around my failed involvement.

For the record you should know that this was only the second time in the history of the PWC that a world cup event was cancelled. This is a stupendous achievement on our part. In the eyes of the competitive paragliding world we are now effectively relegated to the rarefied elite class of fractious goat herders who have gorged on their own faeces and allowed the feta to run rancid.

I cringe at the thought of having to show my face at the next world cup event I attend where I will hang my head in shame and apologise profusely to my world cup friends whom I have for years regaled with wondrous stories of our great and hospitable nation.

The question we should ask ourselves is how on earth did we allow any of our governing bodies, who purport to represent our best interests, to destroy our competition scene so comprehensively, quickly and quietly?

(SAHPA notice - click to enlarge)

Mexico Task 9

Another 106km task through 6 turn points.
Base @ 3800m
Thermals: strong
Convergence: plenty of.

There is a high pressure system sitting over the Gulf of Mexico and this somehow feeds moist air into Valle de Bravo. The result is cloud cover. The northerly wind mixes with the South westerly valley breezes and this is what produces the convergence marked by cloud streets amplified by moisture.

It is astonishing how entirely predictable and consistent the flying conditions are. I have never seen anything like it.

Yesterdays' task of 117km was completed in 2hrs 36 mins. This is spectacularly quick. Much of the day involved pushing as much of the speed bar as you dared at cloud base.

As for today, our mixed fortunes continue to... uhm well... mix! I guess. Nevil and Andre down in a blue hole after half way, so it was was up to Henry to carry the candle for SA. He managed goal along with about 70 others. A few of the leaders went down at the second last turn point, so there may be a bit of a mix up in the top twenty. Today was a day to lurk it seems.

The task took us to the east and back to the launch area before snatching a nasty lee side cliff top tower for a turn point and then a choice of routes over the lake. The leaders chose the easterly route around the lake and got sucked into the blue hole that was the area between convergence zones. Some went tiger line over the lake. There appeared to be a lull in the thermic/convergence activity for about 30 mins before the entire valley went off! The results will tell the story I am sure.

More tomorrow... two days to go.

Mexico task 8

Valle by night



Team report.

Today saw the boys in goal and desi doing a 23.6 m/s spiral out of a cloud. Now let me tell you wannabee comp pilots out there, a spiral of this magnitude would render the author unconscious with stretched and shredded lines plus glider. Had it not been for the proof supplied we might have been sceptical.

A fantastic day of 117km back and forward under substantial cloud streets.
Andre 13th two mins late with nev and henry in a little later.

Average speed of 37 km/h and 7m/s thermals.

Here is Nevil's tree experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhjulfnHgeg

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 9 Task 7

Team Reporting

97km triangle through 7 turn points.

Cloud Base >3400m ASL

Thermals 6.5m/s

Goal G01 on the lake.

Another great day for flying after two rest days.

There were four reserve deployments including Nevil who ended up hanging from a thirty meter tree three seconds after deploying behind the infamous el Penon or 'finger'. He was rescued by the expert team who according to the organisers have LOTS of experience (good grief!). A video will be available on youTube documenting the whole experience.

Andre and Henry got in to goal ok and Desi did a couple of turn points.

All in all an eventful day with a couple of mid-air collisions thrown in for good measure.

World Champs: MEXICO - Days 4, 5 & 6

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 4, 5 & 6

Sorry no news for a while, and now the news is bad. Day six was a real bummer. One of the Swiss super stars, Stefan Schmoker, crashed on the cliffs behind the 'Finger' shortly after the start. I saw the whole thing from directly above and it was brutal. I was flying around the crash site with Helmut Eicholzer. Heli spiralled down and some how managed to land unscathed between the trees on a rock the size of a car on the cliff. HUGE respect to him! The rest of us lesser mortals cleared the area after the organisers came on the radio and asked everyone not involved to move off.

Stefan died after a couple of hours despite the desperate efforts of Heli to save his life.

Today was a rest day.

I will write some more about the flying when I feel inspired again. Sorry folks.

Have a look at Nevil's Valle movie on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJWqLD64zt0&feature=channel_page

We are in 21st position after 6 tasks

Nevil 58th

Andre 62nd

Henry 89th

Desi 144th

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 3 Task 3

Team Reporting.

94km similar to day 2.
Cloud base >3000m ASL.
Cloud Cover 1/8ths with cloud street dominating the course line after the first two turn points.
Wind Variable < 5kts.
Max Climb 7m/s
Average Climb for the day +- 2-3m/s

The day appeared more stable than the preceding days, but this did not deter the task committee in setting a challenging race. The convergence set up for three legs of the course making goal relatively easy if you got the first three moves right. There were reportedly four reserve deployments and some tree landings despite the apparent benign conditions. Henry is the only dissenter on that mild evaluation having witnessed countless ‘in-klappers’ and having managed to snag a fellow competitor in his lines. Nevil managed two cascade events for no apparent reason. He had the opportunity to observe the ‘finger of God’ up close while plummeting past said digit in a non-flying configuration. The ‘finger of God’ is Nevil’s pet name for the prominent rock out crop that dominates the front of launch.

Nevil got into goal in a reasonable time.
Andre got stuck after the second turn point which saw him into goal late.
Henry landed on the way to goal.
Desi got around three turn points.

Results are hard to come by, but you will probably find them on the official web site some time during the morning (SA time).

Day two faulty provisional results were not updated as at the time of this report.

SA Results Day two:
Andre 36th
Henry 81st
Nevil 90th

Overall after 2 tasks
Andre 20th
Henry 66th
Nevil +-77th
Des 141st

This picture will change somewhat after they fix day 2 and publish todays result.