QLD PG Championships
2008
Round-1
So we begin the quest for the converted title of Queensland Champion of 2008.
The formation of a Low pressure system above us and the rain bought from the instability in the preceding days made forecasting and choosing the site for Round 1 a tricky task.
To allow people advance warning the site chosen to be least affected by the system was the Conondale Club.
Saturday was ruled out completely as all forecasts predicted a good day to shelter in the Lee of any large object, great looking sky with base around 2000m, just 20 knots too strong.
Sunday bought what we had all been hoping for, blue, sunny and warm.
Arriving in Kilcoy we were all glad to see familar faces after the slow winter months.
The day was showing signs of promise so we completed the registration & uploads before heading out to Mt Kilcoy and the ready and waiting Club Basher, upholding the tradition of Landcruiser Bashers.
It was the first visit for many to Prattens Launch as we soaked up the lovely vista of the valley spread out before us. A steep Launch with ample space to safely inflate and step off as you marvelled at the earth quickly disappearing beneath your feet.
After 2 trips up the hill with the basher and a few other adventurous 4 X 4 owners we were ready to start the day’s proceedings.
Lloyd, Carl & Graham as the locals with the finger on the pulse spent some time with myself on the Task. We all agreed given the wind direction and strength we had to make the over the back commitment. We were reluctant to commit to this unless we felt safe in the knowing of base being high enough to enable a safe crossing for all glider categories of the heavily forested plateau before the Conondale valley.
An inversion was giving us 2nd thoughts until we saw the tell signs of a lovely Cu right above.
Game on.
The task set was over to the Conondale valley and hopefully cruise along in the valley flow.
34.5km via Conondale, Kenilworth and then Goal half way between Kenilworth & Brooloo.
With the local knowledge and important site details well covered by Club SSO, Graham Sutherland and other valuable input from Carl & Lloyd we set about focussing on the Task at hand.
Sasha was back and it was great to see he hadn’t lost the passion to be first off the hill, even after his permanent holiday at cloudbase in Europe.
The Wedge Tail Eagles even came out to welcome him home, 3 no less and Sasha shared the first big climb of the day, 1500m and all is well, seemed like the Task was looking a possibility.
A steady stream of pilots took off to negotiate their way out into the valley and then the bowl to the right of Launch acting as the funnel & trigger for the cycles of the day.
A Gaggle of 4 pilots, Gavin, Lindsay, Sasha & Carl all committed and headed over the big transition to the Conondale valley. Not a blip all the way to the deck Lindsay said.. It gave them a chance to check the glides of 4 different makes of Serial gliders at least.
Many more pilots went for it, whilst others were perfectly happy to enjoy a wonderful Spring afternoon soaring the sun exposed ridge with abundant lift releasing from the valley below and steady dynamic ridge lift to play with if you got too low.
Lloyd was victorious making it furthest around the course, closely followed by Graham.
Not quite goal but a satisfying spring day out none the less.
Mark Kropp graciously manned launch making the day flow without a hitch.
Special Thanks goes to Tex for the driving the Basher for the day enabling everyone access to the mountain.
A big Thank You to Carl for helping pull it together at the last minute and of course All the Conondale members who put in a great welcoming effort to get the ball rolling for the QLD Champ of 2008.
Round-2
Round 2 was pencilled in to be back at Conondale.
The forecast was showing signs of being promising for Killarney, so with much deliberation it was decided to change the venue at the last minute to maximise our chances of getting in a good Task.
Gathering at Shirl & Sandy’s Café at 9:00am we were all keen to have a big day at Killarney.
The morning was inverted as we could all see from the drive up from the coast.
We were all quietly confident of the 2300m base or should I say, convective limit of the day, as it was Blue.
Having completed the Rego and breakfast necessities we headed up the hill to what was a very still morning clamped down by the Inversion.
The dynamic or prevailing wind was predicted to be SE and was showing very little flow on the hill.
It was going to be a wait till the Inversion popped.
Andrew was all for a straight line Task, taking into account the prevailing wind direction and going for a dash downwind.
It was agreed by the experienced Killarney regulars and a Task set to Allora with a distance of 40.9km.
Andrew made everyone feel comfortable and relaxed as he gave the Briefing and Safety issues relating to his very own backyard.
There seemed a slight reluctance for anyone to be rushing off the hill. Cycles were coming up the face with nice strength, just a little long between drinks.
Without any indicators no one was going to be the sacrificial Lamb to the slaughter.
Then our friends the Wedge Tails arrived on the scene showing there were climbs to 1500m, one on each thermal trigger each side of launch.
Andrew took it upon himself to lead the way and get the day rolling and slid off launch to the left trigger, alas it was not quite cooking enough for us big birds just yet.
Matts Eliasson with some serious Euro Comp success under his belt felt the time ripe and took off into a climb which he worked hard and doggedly followed low over the back.
This inspired some of the other contenders to join him on his way to base.
With 6 or so guns in the air they all started to help each other find the main converging thermal area and were soon up to 2000m.
Gavin took it upon himself to Lead Out and they were away on course for the day.
Being SE facing the launch would ultimately lose the Sun as the day progressed so the remaining pilots had little time to waste if they were to get away on this launch.
As the last cycles were coming through, takeoff was deserted, everyone had managed to get off the face.
Sonya & Carol were in fine form and enjoyed the buoyant cyclic air of the valley and ridge lift.
Sonya headed over the back and on course, getting her summer off to a great start.
Kat Kassel a new resident to our shores and Kirsty Withecombe both made it down the course line, showing that the ladies are holding up their end.
Out on course it was proving tricky as the going was slow and the lift requiring to be maximised.
The group gaggle tactic was paying off as there seemed to be small groups splitting up along the course line. Lloyd with his stick to the high ground approach was making the most of his route.
Ian McFarlane seemed to find the sweetest climb of the day and managed to top out at 2434m claiming the highest altitude of the day.
It was a test of skill and nerve with many low saves along the course line.
Hills that rarely worked were enjoyed by pilots who were game to dive in on those searching glides.
First to Goal was Lloyd, keeping up his form from Round 1 closely followed by Gavin with Ian and Jason also making Goal.
Happy faces and a few cold take aways saw us on our way back to Killarney to gather at the Killarney Pub for the downloads and moment of truth.
The scores were in and it was Lloyd victorious again, the new LeadOut point scoring system saw some interesting results with everyone getting to grips with the new look scoring.
Sunday alas was not to be a repeat performance of the great Spring conditions of Saturday. The forecasted 10 Knot Westerlies were howling from early morning with some dashing for home.
The rest of the optimists gathered at the Café for breakfast and to check the scores from Task-2.
Back on the Western launch we were mildly hopeful it may be OK from around 1:00pm as the sun came around to the Western face creating a blocking thermal effect.
Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and at 1:00pm we called the day off and made for home.
A Big Thank you to Andrew & Wendy for hosting the Round at such short notice and for accommodating everyone at their Great site & home.
Round-3
Toowoomba was our weekend penciled in for this Round.
I had been following the forecast with keen interest in the days leading up to the weekend. Initially it had looked very hopeful, however a upper level trough decided to form out west and pushed through to the coast creating the wind and upper level instabilty.
The best place to be was Toowoomba for the forecast, Inland and North, furthest from the approaching front.
The Saturday showed promise with the impending arrival and change of conditions.
Big Dad's Pies did a roaring trade while we gathered and did the Rego and waypoint Uploads.
Hardly a puff of air was moving on the drive from Brisbane.
There didn't seem to be any hurry to get going as it was still clamped down buy an inversion.
Off we went to Stringy Bark Creek
Wicked Wings newest site after much work in securing this great hill.
Very impressive, great face and huge Take Off area and great view down into the Lockyer Valley.
Alas, as we arrived the front started to hit. The sky had great development as the Cu's popped above our heads from the new and unstable airmass. Just starting to blow out , it was unlikely we would Fly today.
Fear not, Peter was quick to get the BBQ going and soon had us gathering under the the lone Tree having a snag and catching up with friends, enjoying the day out at least.
Sunday was going to be less spectacular but still worth the effort none the less.
We had arranged to meet back at Stringy Bark and as I arrived there were many gliders dotted around the ridge. There was a great dynamic flow from the Easterly post frontal conditions.
The Base and cloud cover were always going to be the problem for Sunday, none the less we knew there would be some flying to be had.
Didn't look like that on the instructions...............
After an hour or so of nice soaring things started to look slightly promising as the odd bubble came through propelling the gaggles to 800m.
That was it, Task On, 2km minumum and Open Distance for anyone game to drible over the back.
Dribble they did...... Grant Middendorf was the first to venture over with the local Wedge Tails marking the bubbles or was that chasing him ?
There was the odd patch of sun hitting the ground to create the crucial temperature difference to giving us those little bublle thermals to float to the huge 900m base by 1:30pm.
Tim & Dave took advantage of this, with Dave revelling in the English like conditions.
Next was Gavin, in bubble cling mode and looking for any form of a lift line he could sniff out.
Many hours Airtime was had and the huge distance of 17.5km was milked out by Gavin Zahner to claim the day and claw a few points closer to the Top Dog of the moment, Lloyd.
The Wicked Wings Club is truly a great group of people all gathering to make this Sport of ours survive in these turbulent times. They never cease to amaze me with their great attitude and the now Famous BBQ on Launch !! There are not many people who go to such great lengths to accomodate and encourage visitors to their sites.
I have to say a Special thanks to Peter Schwenderling for coordinating the event and Richard, who was on
Bomb Out duties making sure everyone had the chance to have a fly.
Of course the rest of the club members were all crucial in making the Toowoomba weekends a very memorable occassion.
Round-5We arrived at the penultimate Round of the 2008 Championships with only a few points separating the leaders.The forecast again was showing the influence of a trough and changing air mass.It was going to very hit and miss.A few of us gathered at the Metz Cafe carrying the faith to the end.Fresh Westerlies saw us on Mount Tamborine launch watching the hanggliders struggling to find any cores to climb in.It was decided to declare Open distance maximising any chance for a flight and making the most of what anyone could find.By 12:00pm it looked as if the prevailing conditions would persist, we reluctantly withdrew to the comforts of Canungra to contemplate.Around 2:00pm we noticed the sky had slowed down and after a phone call or 2 we adjourned back to launch on Tamborine to witness Matts Eliasson giving his UP an airing whilst sniffing around for any bubbles. Alas there was very little sun on the ground to create ascending air.Dave & Gavin followed suit diving off towards Canungra trying to maximise their distance in the hope of finding something off the spur as they went on glide.Again....nothing to help us today.Sunday was forecast to be less promising with 30-40mm of rain overnight and cloudbase below launch, it was decided to call off the day.So ends the Quest for the Best in SEQLD.Lloyd Pennicuik put in such great performances in the only good Tasks of the Comp to carry him through to the End.Well done Lloyd.......You are the man !!Lets hope he carries his form through to theX-Alps 2009.
Results - 2007
TRACKLOGS Task-1 Google Earth File DOWNLOAD
TRACKLOGS Task-3 Google Earth File DOWNLOAD
Conondale Club
Day-1 01/09/2007 Task-1
We all gathered in eager aticipation at the Maleny Cheese Factory, thank you Marcus for allowing the use of this fine venue as a HQ. We all filled out the obligatory paperwork and had our waypoints uploaded before heading over the road to the PLAYGROUND, our launch for the 2 days. A fine job by the club in wisely choosing this site for the large gathering of pilots.
After much deliberation from the Task committe of Carl Forster, Matts Eliasson, Shane Hill, Lloyd Pennicuik and Gavin Zahner, a Task was called to Brooloo via Conondale at a distance of 43.8 km.
Geoff Sexton set the tone for the day launching early and climbing out over launch before setting off on Task with Gavin Zahner and Shane Hill.
Shane "PWC" Hill was in the mood for racing with his newly polished skills from Cornizollo in Italy.
The 3 pilots made good time on a westerly glide to the 1st Turnpoint followed keenly by another large gaggle.
From here the prevailing SE helped them along the course line on the way to GOAL at Brooloo.
7 Pilots GOALED with a good spread along the course line, making it a high scoring day.
A great day for EARLY spring considering the torrential rains from only a week previous.
Special note has to go to Mark Kropp who made GOAL on his first ever Task in a Comp on his DHV 1/2.
Day-2 2/09/2007
CANCELLED
The day dawned with a low base and humidity due to a weak upper level trough pushing through over night.
We quickly assembled on launch not wanting to miss the window of opportunity we anticipated. Rightly so, as there were already strong cycles coming up the face.
A quick Task was set very similar to Day-1 with GOAL at Imbil using Conondale as the Turnpoint again, distance of 47.7 km.
The cycles quickly became STRONG to the point of closing the window.
After discussion we opened the window to have Carl, Geoff, Ian and Ivan take off to test the day. It became evident almost immeadiately it was'nt a lot of fun to be in the air.
The day was cancelled with everyones safety in mind.
For those who hung around the day slowed down around 2:00pm. Most people were happy to make the most of the day free flying at other sites or enjoying the scenic location of Maleny on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Wicked Wings Club
Day-1 13/10/2007
No-Task
We all assembled at Mt Storey launch to find a well setup site complete with sausage sizzle and mobile coffe van, a welcome sight for those of us who'd been driving for a couple of hours.
Unfortunately the predicted easing of the W/SW was showing no signs of abating.
At Mid-Day it was showing signs of a gradual decline, however this only lasted for half an hour and the ferosity of the thermic activity whipped up an even greater barage for us windswept Parawaiters.
We all succummed to the obvious and decided to stick it out and wait for the late afternoon/dusk respite for a leisurely boat around to reward us for our patience.
Day-2 14/10/2007 Task-2
After some great hospitality from Matt Fox, we had a quick study of the weather stats to discover overnight the prevailing wing had gone from 20 knot S S/W to a gentle E'ly at Toowoomba.
Mt MaMa it was then.
We arrived to find Sasha, Matts and Carl already soaring the Easterly facing part of the ridge working with early thermals.
We all rushed up the hill eager to be ready for the cycles as they became strong enough to climb out.
A task was called on account of the predicted NE coming in later in the day.
The window was opened at 12:00pm, however the cycles seemed be becoming less and less.
Carl and Chris timed it well and steadily managed to climb out, much to the envy of us all on the ground. The thermals seemed to become more organised a few hundred metres above the hill, converging into a well organised 3m/s climb to around 1700m.
This seemed to be the order of the day, get off in a small thermal coming up the face, soar the sweet spot untill it became organised enough to get a few turns in, then push forward to the front edge of the lift and feel around for the better well organised core.
Unfortunately the Upper level winds were S S/W, which meant we were in effect in the lee and relying on lee-side puffs up the face to climb high enough to get into the main thermal drawing higher above the hill.
Scarey you might say. No, not really. The prevailing wind was very light and didn't present any risk of rotor.
The strong sun was enough to create resonable thermic energy, enabling Carl, Matts and Brandon to get away on course. Unfortunately the S-S/W upper level winds made the Table Top to Pittsworth leg an unrealistic possiblity.
Carl Forster hot from his commenable flying in the Canungra Cup, took the day making the 2nd Turnpoint.
A FANTASTIC job from the Wicked Wings Club made us all feel very proud and welcome we'd made the effort to come up to Toowoomba to broaden the circle of our flying community.
They are a small club, but certainly lead by example and have many great values we can all learn from.
Thank you for all the hard work, those of us that came certainly appreciated your efforts.
Fly Killarney
Day-1 03/10/2007
No-Task
The forecast for the day was slightly promising with the Pre-Frontal N-N/W possibly holding off enough to give us all a glimmer of hope.
An early start was in order to have a chance of beating the increased thermic activity mixing with the Pre-Frontal as it built strength.
There was a small gathering of us optimists at Shirl & Sandy's Cafe in Killarney.
A leisurely breakfast was had as we registered and had our GPS's zapped with the local waypoints.
Once we noticed the Cumulus looking a bit more tempting we decided to head to Hoffmans Launch , one of the highest Top to Bottom Launches in SE-QLD.
A great place to be be with an expansive view of the western reaches of the Great Divide.
Unfortunately it was too West for Hoffmans and was never really an option given the strength and being too cross, there was a real threat of getting venturied up a dead-end valley with nothing but trees.
We adjurned to the Western Launch back at Andrew & Wendy's for a last ditch hope.
By now things were really mixing and we were blasted on the face of the old Western Launch which faced slightly more North given the Northerly component.
Resigned to the fact of no Task, we all ventured down to the new Western Launch where the final pallets of Turf were waiting to be laid. Not to loose the intiative everyone pitched in and completed the Turf laying much to the delight of Andrew & Wendy.
Our Hosts graciously offered a BBQ back at their wonderful retreat. We all relaxed on the large verandah basking in the superb views of the Condamine George, no flying but we were all smiles.
Day-2 04/10/2007
No-Task
The forecast was even grimmer for the Sunday and this was very apparent as the Front approached with gusts of up to around 35/40 Knots at Andrew & Wendy's from about 8:00am.
Those of us that were still in Killarney enjoyed a relaxed Sunday morning before heading home.
Thank you to Wendy & Andrew our fantastic hosts and great diplomats to our Sport.
Lets's hope you have a Superb Killarney Classic, you certainly deserve it.
Canungra Club
Day-1 24/11/2007
No-Task
The Final battle was about to commence.
Unfortunately the weather had other plans.
Saturday dawned with a bleak outlook at best. The NE-E direction and the apparent speed of the low base, let alone the showers or should I say downpours showed no signs of lifting.
Ever the optimistic people we are, a meeting for 11:00am was organised for coffees at the Metz Cafe in Canungra. Sorry about the late change in plan of time and location, especially Carl who was up at 5:00am to be at Beechmont for 8:00am, now that's dedication !
After an hour or 2 hanging at the Cafe, people slowly drifted off to make the most of their day and follow other pursuits. Everyone had made their own decisions and No Task was set.
Day-2 25/11/2007 Task-3
Looking at forecast there was a very good chance of a Task today.
Driving up to Beechmont at 8:30am I was passing through light showers.
I had faith in the forecast with steady E-S/E 10-15 knots for the day and a chance of develoment closing in the Sky. Without any Mid or High level cloud the strong Sun would be evaporating the moisture very quickly. An early, short Task was the safest bet to get in another valid scoring day.
A quick consultation with Gavin and Enda and we all agreed on an Elapsed Time run to Kooralbyn, almost due West of Beechmont, 35.4km. This would hopefully be achieveable with the varying NE-SE component to the wind.
It was working well from about 9:15am as Matt Senior had a play and started finding the first climbs after the showers from earlier.
The Task set and window open from 10:05am and they were climbing out straight away to base at around 1300m and rising.
Grant Middendorf, Matt Senior and Carl Forster were off and racing and on course by 10:40am.
The next gaggle was only 10 minutes behind with the rest of the field taking a more leisurely approach.
The phone rings, it's Ivan at home wandering if it's still OK to come up to Beechmont for the Task.
Hi mate, come for a fly it's elapsed time, takeoff when you want and fly to Kooralbyn.
I head off on my way to Kooralbyn, as I figure there's a good chance quite a few of these fine pilots will be making GOAL.
A quick trip to Goal and back to the Canungra Pub for the downloads.
It's close !!
Everyone ckecked in and Geoff and Brandon are tied, same Overall score, tension mounts, but where is Ivan.
Word has crackled down the bush telegraph he made Goal and is on his way back, this download will decide the Champ, but who !!
He arrives, Geoff and Brandon are pacing around not knowing what to do with themselves, Karen is delighted and laughing at them both as they simply can't bear to watch.
Ivan has scorched the day on his new Boomerang 5.
He averaged 42.3km/h and did the Task in 47 minutes.
RACE chuggs away and scores the Comp to find
"Geoff Sexton" QLD PG Champion 2007
Very close, next year Brandon, but look out Gavin is sitting on your shoulder.
A great day to end the Series.
