I published an article last September about the upcoming
Paragliding XC Open that is going on now in Manilla here:
http://ozreport.com/10.182#0. The Manilla XC Open is part of a series of
three (and in the future five) open distance competitions. See here:
http://www.xcopen.org/cms/.
The idea is to allow pilots to fly their own course (and perhaps thereby stay
away from cu-nimbs). The site states:

The best safe flying areas on our planet The most consistent
conditions to fly far and safe, not the time of the most radical thermals and
strongest winds


Open distance tasks or open distance via a turn point – you will get the maximum
out of your flying day – not the fastest pilots wins, but the one with the
longest distance


The idea of the XC Open competitions is to fly with friends, have fun, fly far
and beat your personal best distance in a safe XC area. In the Manilla XC Open
2005 65% of all competitors flew their personal best distance - even many of the
top pilots


Always keep in mind, that you fly at your own risk and are responsible for your
safety and your retrieve, just like if you would be XC-flying by yourself.


The competition area is very large and it may not be possible to have radio
contact with all pilots or to see what the weather is like in 100 km or more
distance, however some of the event officials will be flying which will reduce
this likelihood. There will be task stopping by radio and an official radio
frequency of the organisation. If you feel the conditions are not safe anymore
you should land regardless (you may not have heard the official call for example
!).

So in a competition that doesn't send pilots on a prescribed
course, pilots by themselves can get themselves in trouble without any help from
a task committee.