World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - (final) Task 5 - 87km

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.  

Copa do Mundo - Brasil 2023 - Pico do Gavião, Andradas - Tarefa 4 (após 2 dias de descanso) 67km.

Eu apreciaria feedback quanto à qualidade desta tradução do inglês para o português.

Esta é a minha terceira visita a Andradas. Estivemos aqui em 2017 e 2019 e voamos quase todos os dias. Também voamos em Poços de Caldas em 2010 (visível do lançamento), mas isso foi em abril e choveu praticamente todos os dias. A razão pela qual viemos a Andradas, como explicado anteriormente, é devido à 'Teoria das Oliveiras'.

Portanto, ter dois dias consecutivos sem voar em Andradas faz parecer que o céu está caindo. Para ser sincero, provavelmente voaremos novamente hoje, o que resultará em mais cinco dias de voo, o que é incrível em termos de consistência para qualquer local de competição em todo o mundo.

Quanto à tarefa de ontem, as condições foram muito mais moderadas em comparação com as tarefas anteriores. A base estava 2.000 metros mais baixa, com atividade térmica suave e ventos leves. O comitê de tarefas atingiu um pico criativo ao definir uma tarefa de entrada-saída de círculo concêntrico, o que exigiu tomadas de decisão críticas por parte dos pilotos, ao contrário da procissão normal que caracteriza as competições da Copa do Mundo.

Você verá pelas trilhas na imagem abaixo que várias rotas eram possíveis:

Estou feliz em relatar que finalmente coloquei as coisas em ordem e fiz boas escolhas. Usei a rota da escolha minoritária sob uma rua de nuvens no eixo norte/sul para chegar à meta em um tempo razoável, cerca de 10 minutos atrás do líder, seguido por Russell (+18min) e Khobi (+24min). Jon foi forçado a voltar no início, pois o vento mudou mais abaixo. Russell ainda está entre os trinta primeiros, e Khobi subiu para o terceiro lugar na categoria feminina e tem todas as razões para ser otimista em relação a um lugar no pódio.

O dia foi caracterizado por poucas térmicas, e fomos resgatados pelos pássaros em várias ocasiões. A meta foi colocada na base da montanha, o que tornou o voo final angustiante se você estivesse na margem, já que o terreno se inclinava para cima. Tive que fazer uma curva após concluir a seção de velocidade para cruzar a linha da meta.

Não sou de reclamar sobre equipamentos, e, embora tenha ficado satisfeito com a tarefa, é evidente que o Boom 11, que é o mesmo modelo que usei em 2017, pode não estar à altura da tarefa, e meu arnês também é de geração anterior. Todos os outros estão usando equipamentos novos e isso fica evidente em termos de planeio e velocidade. Configurei meu sistema de velocidade para obter a máxima velocidade, e isso é apenas o suficiente para manter o ritmo nas transições, onde fica evidente que os outros têm velocidade de reserva, já que perco altitude relativa em cada planeio. O B11 ainda é competitivo na subida.

O novo Niviuk parece realmente bom, juntamente com o Enzo 3 de 2023. Os pilotos que voam com o arnês 'Submarine' juram que são melhores, apesar da aparência absurda e das partes moles quando desinflado.

Vou esperar pelo lançamento de algo novo e, em seguida, atualizarei o planador e o arnês.

A nova safra de pilotos de competição brasileiros é muito forte, pressionando forte na liderança.

World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task 4 (after 2 rest days) 67km

 This is my third visit to Andradas.  We were here in 2017 & 2019 and we flew almost every day.  We also flew Pocos de Caldas in 2010 (visible from launch), but that was in April and it rained pretty much every day.  The reason we come to Andradas, as previously explained, is due to the 'Olive Theory'.  

So, to have two consecutive non-flyable days in Andradas makes it feel as though the sky is falling.  Truth be told, we will fly again today in all probability making for another five days of flying which is amazing in terms of consistency for any competition site anywhere in the world.

As for the task yesterday, the conditions were far more moderate compared to previous tasks.  The base was 2,000m lower with mild thermic activity and light winds. The task committee reached a creative peak by setting a concentric circle entry-exit-entry task which made for some critical decision making for pilots as opposed to the normal procession that has come to characterise world cup competition.

You will see from the tracks in the image below that several routes were possible:

I am happy to report that I finally got my act together making good choices.  I used the minority choice route under a cloud street in the north/south axis to get into goal in reasonable time some 10 minutes behind the leader followed by Russell (+18min) and Khobi(+24min).  Jon got flushed at the start as the wind switched lower down.  Russell is still in the top thirty and Khobi has moved to third place in the ladies and has every reason the be optimistic about a podium finish.

The day was characterised by low saves as we were rescued by the birds on several occasions.  Goal was placed at the base of the mountain making for a nerve-wracking final glide if you were on the margin as the ground sloped upwards.  I had to turn in a bubble after making the end of speed section in order to cross the goal line.

I am not one to complain about equipment, and, though I was happy with the task, it is apparent that the Boom 11, which is the same model I used in 2017, may not be up to the task and my harness is old generation too.  Everyone else is on crisp new kit and it shows in glide and speed.  I rigged my speed system to extract maximum speed and that is only just enough to maintain pace in the transitions where it is apparent the others have speed in reserve as I lose relative altitude on every glide.  The B11 is still competitive in the climb.  

The new Niviuk seems really good along with the 2023 Enzo 3.  The pilots flying the 'Submarine' harness swear they are better despite the absurd appearance and floppy bits when deflated.

I will wait for the release of something new and then upgrade glider and harness.

World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task 3 (yet Another) 87km

 The wind was predicted north-westerly strengthening to 30km/h+ so we were sent off the north launch with a more sensible start after the protest about the start yesterday.  The potent conditions saw more airspace infringements on the day.  A new law of nature has emerged in Andradas where maximum heart rate is directly correlated to proximity of 3050m ASL.  I watched many pilots spiralling desperately after flying into huge patches of lift that hoisted them rapidly toward the hard ceiling.

I wish  I could share the task with you blow by blow, but my race was over ten minutes before the start where I went from perfectly positioned to holding a detached brake handle after a particularly nasty blow-out and aggressive shock re-inflation of my wing at close to 3000m ASL.  Can't catch a break it seems.  I managed to land safely after a long internal debate about the sensibility of trying to fly the task in strong conditions with one brake.

Jon had the perfect start reaching the first turnpoint ahead of the horde, only to discover, after a successful goal, that he was a few seconds early at the start.  Khobi also had a difficult time.  Only Russell managed to save some SA face by romping into goal in 20th position on the day for a 20th overall.  

Russell, Khobi, and Jon all reported turbulent conditions and 30km/h headwinds on the into-wind leg.  Russell saw 90km/h ground speed and a final glide ratio of 20 into goal.  It took the goal bus three hours to crawl back to Andradas delivering Jon and Russell back to us exhausted, famished, and relieved.

It is debatable if Wednesday will be flyable given the strong wind forecast.  I need to check if my glider is damaged after yesterday's little incident given the ripping sounds I heard and the visible damage to some of the stitching on the risers.

World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task 2 (Another) 87km

What should have been a celebration of flying started with a similar forecast, but the wind was slightly more westerly starting a cascade of mistakes culminating in a war of words and threats of protest.

The organisers, task setters, and PWC staff are always faced with the significant challenge of getting pilots off launch safely while minimising the pressure at launch, reducing stress of the start, and making the task fair for all competitors.  Get one of these wrong and good intentions are not rewarded.

The trouble yesterday is that the collective intentions were good, but led to maximum stress at launch and the start with a significant proportion of the field feeling hard-done by.  The combination of a large start  cylinder with the first turnpoint placed on the far side of the start cylinder implied that to be competitive you had to fly almost twenty kilometers before the start window opened, on a day where conditions allowed a slow trickle of single launch opportunities.  In other words, not all pilots could launch on time to make it across to the start.

....And so the war of words began soon after the task was flown and the goal buses were on the way back to HQ.  To the credit of the goal setters (drawn from the experienced pool of top Brazilian comp pilots), Rafael Barros immediately apologised unreservedly for getting it wrong after the first complaint was posted on the whatsapp group.  

What was less impressive was the pace at which the virtual shouting degenerated into mud-slinging.  It was entirely regrettable to see Goran provoked into response after counter-response where threats were made.

The facts are that: despite setting the task to try and make it safe and telling pilots to launch as early as possible at the briefing, it was not possible to get everyone off quickly enough and many pilots were unhappy.  Insisting that 'I told you so' does not make for harmonious cooperation between competitors and organisers.  

Another disturbing turn was being told at the briefing that if pilots did not respect the rules of the air when joining a thermal with respect to turn direction, the turn direction would be dictated to us all day!  In twenty plus years of world cup, this is a first.  

I don't know if protests were lodged, but I think this will all blow over seeing as we get to fly close to 100km every day.  That's why we're here remember?  The best comment of all on the whatsapp group was some monkey satire about the lunch supplied at launch: "The bananas are too sweet".

As for team SA: Russell did us all proud screaming into goal a mere minute down with Jon and KJ late to the start and shutdown by shadow to narrowly miss goal.  Russell is looking good at 24th overall.

I managed to take a tumble down the west slope tying my glider into knots that took half an hour to sort out, so my day was done before I even managed to launch. I took a slow glide into town enjoying a solitary lunch in a quaint little restaurant where I was further challenged with my limited Portuguese, I thought I had ordered chicken and rice but received pork and salad.

I am thankful for the discard system as I have the opportunity to redeem myself in the days to come.

World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task 1 87km

 I woke to a favourable forecast after a death-like sleep of exhaustion. A four thousand meter cloud base is normally cause for celebration, but sadly the three thousand meter limit makes for stressful flying if you want to avoid being penalised.  Many pilots got it wrong and paid the price with point deductions on a sliding scale.  If you break the limit by a few meters it is not so bad, but break it by one hundred meters or more and you get zero.  There will be unhappy pilots for sure.

The task was set to the west initially followed by a dog-leg north with goal at an airstrip some sixty odd kilometers north west of launch making the optimised task length just short of ninety kilometers.  There were few opportunities for any creative flying, so the inevitable procession saw almost all competitors into goal with half the field into goal within 16 minutes of the winner.  The points were squashed up with the first 75 pilots getting 800 points or more. 

I was 16 minutes off the pace and 5 minutes behind Russel who finished in the top 30.  Jon was another few minutes behind and Khobi brought up the back of the field with a hard earned goal.

It seems not much has changed over the last four years in the world cup style of racing.  We may not have covered ourselves in glory today, but it was an adequate performance by team SA given the extreme low airtime and prolonged lack of comp exposure.  This bodes well for the rest of the comp as we have the opportunity to improve.   

There is something perverse about leaving a 5m/s thermal prematurely and just as it begins to accelerate, but I guess them is the rules, so we play along...

 

World Cup - Brazil 2023 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Airborne Again

Why Hello there!  It has been many moons since my last post.  In fact the last blogpost I made happens to be from the same flying site almost exactly four years ago.  Pico do Gaviao: the place where they grow both coffee and olives which appears to be the perfect recipe for a three thousand meter cloudbase and hundred kilometer triangles all day everyday.

So much has happened since 2019 and I don't even know if  'Blogging' is even a thing anymore, but it doesn't bother me: I am in flying heaven enjoying communion with my favorite crew of world-cup hardened companions (Russel, KJ, & Jon). We have been travelling together for more than a decade and it is gratifying to be with people who understand me, have my back no matter what, and accept me as I am.  I have missed these trips more than I thought I could.

Speaking of having unconditional support, one unlucky pilot was arrested at Sao Paolo for a bizarre misunderstanding on the flight over, and was detained over-night in the airport police cells until the world cup pilots could scrape $10,000 dollars together for bail.  I'm not sure what will happen to him after the comp, but he is free to fly for now.  What a nightmare!

Practice Day: Saturday 23 September 2023

You guessed it: potent thermals, high cloud-base, cloud streets, moderate wind.  We flew a quick 65km triangle of sorts which felt effortless in the buoyant conditions delivering 10km glides between climbs in the most relaxing flight I have had in years.  

The world cup has seen some structural changes with new people joining after Ruth and Ulrich retired recently.  Goran is still in charge looking lean and fit and has said they are trying to modernize the world cup.  The local organizer seems very professional as we have come to expect in Brazil.

A shout-out to Ruth and Ulrich is in order. They served the PWCA unfailingly for many years.  We are grateful for their service.

The launch site is probably the best I have ever enjoyed I raved about it in a 2017 post :

We are in Aguas da Prata to fly Pico do Gaviao which quite possibly has the most impressive launch setup of any site I have visited anywhere in the world.  There are launch areas for any wind direction with a coffee shop, cooled water fountain, serviced ablutions, ample shade, and souvenir shop with easy chairs and mobile phone charge lockers.  Auguas da Prata is located in the state of Sao Paulo some 200km+ north of Sao Paulo.  The population is around eight thousand which makes for a fairly quaint atmosphere when combined with Brazilian hospitality.

They have added wifi and hammocks to the perfect setup since that visit.

Three Way Streets

The mission was distance in the days of reliable recovery at my home site.  He or she who flew the furthest was monarch of the mountain and the competition was fierce!  As the peer group dwindled over the years, and the recovery options dried up I took to flying out and return routes and triangles mostly out of necessity.  In one memorable stretch, five of these flights were consecutive hundred kilometer FAI triangles performed on average to poor days in winter.  I had adopted the attitude that every day was a hundred kilometer day and I would go to the mountain without checking the weather beyond severe storm or wind warnings.  

At some point the valley appeared to simply surrender to my irrational determination. Her secrets were finally laid bare. It felt as though the conspiracy of the elements relinquished their hold on the hidden code that is embedded in the universal interplay of fire, earth, and air manifest in wind and cumulus.  There was no struggle.  No wrestling with the environment.  No second guessing nature.  No angst. No gnashing of teeth or clenching of fists nor cursing of gods.  I just felt a timeless state of flow that was somehow balanced despite the dynamic chaos of the inherent physical systems and their relentless entropic vectors.

I finally realised those patterns repeat with eerie consistency...  Never exactly the same, but predictably similar. There was no victory over, or conquering of the elements nor any grand claims or declarations of prowess.  It was as though, in the haze of first light, a glimpse of the underlying patterns in the localised system are seen, or perhaps felt, as remnants of a golden thread that is the path through an invisible maze.  I guess through more than twenty years of flying cross country I had experienced this regularly, but it finally emerged into my consciousness for some unknown reason as an epiphany of sorts.

A cynic might say this is true everywhere and there is no need to frame the fact in mystery or mystique.  It may very well be true everywhere and I have flown most of the 'fly-by-numbers' sites the world cup has to offer where local experts set a course in a prime flying area tailored to the conditions for the expert horde to fly together.  It is quite another matter to go solo in the flatlands and to remain airborne for the entire duration of thermal activity throughout a random day covering significant ground in the process.

The question of familiarity with flying sites and the generalisation of what represents that familiarity as exportable 'patterns' is demonstrated by the very best pilots who can 'flash' new sites in the language of rock climbers.  These pilots regularly arrive at an unseen site and dominate whether by standard routes or Beta-breaks.  How is this possible?  Why does it happen so often?  Most likely it is by intuition borne of experience and instinct honed from the emergent heuristics of trial and error.  The keenest intuition and sharpest instincts belong to the best...  and, as with any knife, the quality of the cutting edge depends on the source material, the manufacturing process, utility, and care of the knife.

World Cup - Brazil 2019 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task Four and Five - Mind your head!

There are few things more stressful than landing prematurely during a world cup task.  Normally being too high is only of concern in the context of clouds.  We are limited to 10,000ft (3048m) ASL here in Andradas which would mostly be alright because cloudbase is not often higher than that.  Unfortunately, we have had three days in a row where 10k was not enough and task five was diabolical.  Imagine screaming along under healthy looking clouds with a safe margin under the airspace and you hit a potent line of lift thinking you're ok.  You fly a little faster as you climb inexorably to the hard limit.  Eventually you hit full speed going up at five meters per second and you get that feeling you're about to hit your head in the door-way.  Some bumped their heads and were heavily penalised.  The first two guys to goal yesterday were affected along with half a dozen others on a day where our wings were severely clipped as we were denied the normal euphoric freedom of a rare four thousand meter day with wall to wall cumulus and cloud streets.

A third day of fast racing and potent thermals around a 100km kilometer course.  You can't ask for much more from a competition site and we have every expectation of another hundred kilometer task on day six.  When asked if we would fly a bigger task our task committee veteran, Pepe Malecki, quipped: "No, we only make a short task of one hundred kilometers today".

There has been much debate among competitors about the modern trend of heavily congested gaggles at world cup.  Proposals to change the scoring and introduce mechanisms to break up the gaggle are beginning to circulate.  The main concern for organisers and the PWCA management is that of safety.  Mid-air collisions and near misses are becoming common-place and it is only a matter of time before there is a serious and regrettable incident.  Joerg Erwald has a time-based scoring proposal, the Italians are apparently looking at inserting no-fly zones at crucial points along a course line, and there is the idea of speed runs with departure bonus points instead of lead-out points.  There is also the concentric circles task style which has been tried before but poses recovery challenges.  There are those who believe the gaggle has become the most efficient mode of racing and will remain dominant irrespective of task inventions to break it up.  There is also a majority of top pilots who excel at the gaggle style with little motivation to change.

At least yesterday was refreshing as the Mexican, Manuel Quintanilla, lead a tiny band of five into goal a full thirty minutes ahead of the rest in an impressive display of flair and valour.  He receives my newly minted Lion Heart of the day.  You roared like a Kalahari Lion Manual and we all heard you!

World Cup - Brazil 2019 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task Three - Catch up!

Most paragliding pilots dream of flying a one hundred kilometer FAI triangle at some point in their lives.  Not many get around to it.  Well folks, if you want a hundred triangle I suggest you come to Brazil because in Andradas you get to do it with almost a hundred pilots at a time.  It was an interesting day with convergence lines and fires en route.  The height restriction is proving to be pesky with several pilots being penalised for infringements.  

The normal mass gaggle dragged itself around the course at a fair pace before slowing after the last turn-point before rushing into goal with sixty completing the task within ten minutes of the leader.   

Gilmar Couto won the day and Yael was the first woman in goal.  The overall results are compressed to the point where predicting a probable winner would be purely speculative.  Consider the first fifty pilots are separated by less than one hundred points with four potential tasks to follow.  I still think Raffael Saladini is in with a shout but there are twenty or more who could do it based on the days to come.  

As for my own performance? I managed to get 10km behind early in the day after a terrible internal debate about whether or not to fly with the gaggle.  In the end I decided to fly with the gaggle, but it took 50km to make up the 10km deficit.  I caught them with 30km to go and then it was a cruise to goal for another solid score which has put me back in the game.  It's not that I don't like to fly with the gaggle.  I actually love it and the crowded thermals don't bother me.  I just prefer to go my own way as in the classic 1977 Fleetwood Mac hit "You can go your own way".  It just doesn't pay off so I'm gonna try a little harder now that I'm warmed up.

World Cup - Brazil 2019 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas - Task 1 & 2 - I said Follow the damn gaggle!

And so it was that the Olive Prophecy came to pass with two days and two tasks.

Task one was won by Chigwon Won (try say that five times quickly).  Chigwon Won won one here two years ago too (I can do this all day).  The Korean charger is leading the comp after another great performance on day two.  

Both tasks featured romps into the flat lands due to moderate wind forecast.  The first task of seventy odd kilometers started to the south over the back before a westerly leg ending to the south.  Several pilots were penalised for breaking the 10,000ft hard ceiling.  'Others' were penalised for stubborn stupidity and general uselessness as I launched ten minutes before the start after messing around with my gear and then running around on launch as the wind changed.  In some bizarre turn of fortune I hooked into a pencil of a thermal that boosted me to the top right at the edge of the start cylinder with twenty seconds to go allowing an immaculate start while my fellow competitors, who had been mincing around majestically for close to an hour, wallowed below in my wonderous wake.  That was about all I can claim on the first day as I ignored the gaggle and defiantly flew the tiger-line cursing myself every time the vultures helped me dig my way out of the holes I had dug in the excruciating solo cross country that had me slow to goal close to the bottom.

Ghigwon took it from the Brazilian ace Rafael Saladini who won here in 2017.  Raffael put in a good performance at the world championships in Macedonia too and must surely be a favorite to win along with Chigwon.  

It was another characteristic mass ensemble to goal with three quarters of the field arriving at goal within minutes of one-another after two hours.

The second task started to the west before a southeast leg followed by a southerly finish for and eighty odd kilometer task in stronger wind.  The wind forecast saw the entire field fly a huge bow north of the course line to the west for fear of drifting to far downwind of the turn-point.  It was too much to bear!  Even after the punishment of the first day, I could not bring myself to deviate so dramatically off-course.  An observer would have heard some serious rhyming curse-verses as 'we' held an intense internal debate about doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.  Imagine Smeagol trying to decide if he should kill Frodo for the ring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLvIFRNbqOs  

In the end I told myself 'I refuse to fly like that!' and went off on another solo mission along the course line knowing full well that my wife and friends would be tearing their hair out in frustration.  You expect another sad tale of woe? You would be wrong: after dawdling along climbing in every little bit of lift and getting stuck for fifteen minutes, I still managed to get to goal within two minutes of the lead with 100% of the lead-out points.  I wish I could say this was skill on my part, but, acknowledging that one flight a statistic doth not make, I experience the rising suspicion that something's not quite right with the top level of competition in paragliding. The French have perfected the gaggle-control approach introduced by the Swiss many years ago and they are being emulated by just about everyone else.  The result is what appears to be a form of group-think led inadvertently by the best in the business.  I have the utmost respect for the talent at the top and I believe the quality of the average world-cup pilot is the highest it has ever been.  I also think a change is in order if we think the mass procession we witness daily is not really what XC racing is all about.   

Having said all that, it was another magnificent day of flying and there is enormous joy to be found on a final glide of almost thirty kilometers with ALL your flying friends travelling at close to one hundred kilometers per hour over the ground.  One hundred pilots separated by seven minutes after two hours!

Christian Deacu from Romania took it from the two Brazillian Rafaels and Jon Pio from SA with Emma Casanova leading the women into goal.

The bad news is that Goran, our charismatic world-cup president, crashed at launch breaking his leg in the sketchy launch conditions.  We wish him a speedy recovery.  

  

World Cup - Brazil 2019 - Pico do Gaviao, Andradas

Brazil has been one of my favourite world cup tour destinations over the years.  I had a look at my comp record on pwca.org and I was amazed to see that this is my eighth world cup event in Brazil since 2006 in Castelo where I started this blog.  We also had a world championship in Governador Valadares in 2005 which was won by Steve Cox and Louise Crandal in a ten task festival of flying that was recently repeated in Macedonia a month or so back.  This was new territory for me given that I was not at this years' world champs having represented SA for the first time in Portugal 2003.  I was not sure how I would feel about it, but other than the absolute frustration of trying to follow a two week comp during work hours with nothing but live-tracking, I was fine if not even relieved.  The longer comps are no longer desirable in the context of the priorities of family and work commitments.

I will now focus the occasional world-cup event in short form in places that grow olives.  This rule was formulated by Andrew Smith some years back.  It turns out that if the region of your selected competition grow olives, your chances of accumulating flying time is maximised.  

Wikipedia explains it :

Olives like hot weather and sunny positions without any shade, while temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F) may injure even a mature tree. They tolerate drought well, due to their sturdy and extensive root systems.

The Olive formula: lots of sun + not much rain + dry unstable air = high cloudbase + strong thermals + many hours of flying

 I am happy to declare that we will pass many acres of Olive groves on the way to the Pico do Gaviao launch every day!

I will try write every day.  

Baixu Guandu Super FInal- March 2019 - Day 7, Task 6 - 100km (because we can)

The mornings are mercifully cooler offering brief respite from the oppressive heat of the day.  A forecast of more wind had the task committee set a large start radius enticing some to fly great distances before the start in search of some advantage.  If that sounds absurd consider any advantage, no matter how small, is priceless among this field where every second and every meter counts.  It is also the reason why we continue to see blatant cloud flying almost every day.

Where exactly you took the start yesterday didn't really seem to matter because the cloud streets determined the route after the first turn-point.  If you missed the first couple of climbs after the start glide you were pretty much screwed because you don't catch up if you were late entering the race-track that marked the first 65km.

I was with tiny group who went left of the main group at the start.  We had to spiral down to get under the cloud blocking the course and then simply followed the clouds north of the line which put us in the lead for most of the race.  I was a tad disappointed in the lead group who decided to pimp the lead-out pilots for almost 100km.  I appreciate most of them are podium hopefuls, but it becomes a little tedious when we could have crushed the middle part of the course had they worked with us a bit more.  I guess I should learn to do that more, but I got my points in the end albeit a little later to goal.  The speed for the day was around 35km/h which is fairly quick for a hundred km task.

We have two days left and the stress is showing with many really good pilots slipping down the ranking.  I am trying desperately to keep my stuff together.

The French continue to dominate taking four of the top five positions along with the top female currently.

The general consensus so far about the UP-Guru and the Flow-Spectra is that they are good, but not better than the B11 and E3.  I cannot say what the Icepeak is like as I have not flown with them much.

I can say the Gin Genie Race 4 is a great harness.  I normally have various aches and pains after six tasks in any competition, but this time I feel fresh enough for another comp next week.

Baixu Guandu Super FInal- March 2019 - Week 1

It has been a long time since I posted something on this blog.  Many things have happened in the interim, but to cut a long story short I am inspired to write again given that we are back in BG for the Super FInal and it would be selfish not to share our experiences in this sultry wonderland.  Hot and humid the week started as temperatures were nudging close to forty degrees.

There is some or other complicated weather system that set up between opposing high and low pressure cells that have caused flooding or alternate heat waves depending on your location relative to these cells.  It took a few days for the temperatures to return to ranges that we recall during our last visit.

Phot: Felix Rodriguez Task 7 (yes that's me right in front of the camera)

The first two days of competition were diabolical with seemingly impossible conditions grounding almost all pilots save a few magicians who somehow tunneled their way through the gloom of 8/8 cloud-cover to goal.  Things started to improve on day three with subsequent tasks returning to normal close racing.

I managed to bomb out on the first three tasks which was humbling to the point of humiliation.  I was staring last place down a short barrel.  To add to the pressure, I was put on the Gin Team for the competition.  This may sound like fun, but consider with team-mates like Michael Siegel, Torsten Siegel, and Petra Slivova, scoring for the team is already a challenge.  Between them they have won world cup events, super finals, European championships, and World championships (not to mention numerous 'other' events and world records).

I am flying my large Boomerang 11 at 120kg re-trimmed by Adam van Renssen with a Gin Genie 4 harness on loan from the Brazilian Gin dealer Luciano Tcaenco.


I will write about all things paragliding for the remainder of the competition.  In particular people want to know about the new Flow and Guru gliders.... watch this space!


Photo: KJ Bowden

World Cup Brazil 2018- Baixo Guandu - Task 4

Today was a really really good day for racing paragliders.... sadly most of this happened without my help as I crashed and burned early at about 40km for another schizophrenic performance.  Luckily for our team Russel and Khobi brought it home giving us hope for the team podium and with Russel close to the top ten.  So there is everything to fly for tomorrow.

I don't know how the race went down, but it sounds like the 90km course was joyful with cloud streets and lively thermals improving throughout the day.

Michael Kuffer won again moving him into top slot in the overall ranking.