http://ozreport.com/10.238#1


Adam Parer
writes:

The Airborne Gulgong Classic runs through the last week of
November and this small NSW town becomes home to a field of hang glider pilots
hoping to sample its world class flying. Gulgong is out west, but it's not
strictly flatlands. It's less than 1000ft AMSL, there are small hills in most
directions with spectacular terrain to the southeast and seabreeze convergence
can also kick-in late in the day. The Gulgong sailplane operation boasts a long,
wide grass strip, big hangar space and all the amenities of a camping site, and
just for our benefit the club puts on a top feed every night. Anyone who was
here for the inaugural event in 2002 scored phenomenal flying with huge climbs,
long glides and 14,000' cloud bases and this year saw a return to those
incredible conditions. As usual the caliber of the competition was red-hot. Five
out of the world top ten, the European Champion, the Pre-world champion, German
team pilot Jorge Bajewski, US number seven, Chris Smith, past Oz National
champions and the bulk of the Oz top ten were all here.


Day one, 10am and the briefing started with Gerolf Heinrichs presenting a
compelling argument about FTV and it soon became clear he was preaching to the
converted. But when a vote was taken, it was decided that OzGAP 2005 would be
used instead. Then the task committee set a triangle of 110km. The four tugs
fired up and within an hour had the whole field airborne. The day started out
well with climbs averaging between 200-700ft/min getting us to altitudes of
8000ft but early into the first leg high cloud moved in from the south and
threatened to sour the day. Shadow overtook the pilots and the course line. The
thermals slowed down and extended glides ate into the altitude. Patient pilots
who dropped down a gear were rewarded when the cloud opened up, let some light
in and eventually half the field made it to goal. Timing was everything on the
last leg: some flew the last 28km straight directly to goal, while others found
it a huge area of sink and struggled to make it home. Gerolf made goal first but
Michael Freisenbichler won the day.


Day two saw the task committee set a cat's cradle covering over 161km with six
waypoints. The local pilots assured us it was a good day and they weren't wrong!
Cloudbase looked to be around 14,500' and we soon found standard climb rates of
1000ft/min with many pilots finding much stronger averages. During the race the
lead pack dropped some big names towards the end of the course. At 500' and 10Km
short of the last turnpoint Jon Durand drifted in zeros while Chris Smith and
Jorge circled above him in sink. As they met up with Jon they flew off in search
of something better but landed instead. Jon hung with the zeros, eventually
drifted leeside behind a small hill and was rewarded with an average of
1300ft/min. Jonny got 6th and Attila won the day.


Day three didn't look as good as day two so a 132km task was called with goal at
Glen Alice via Mudgee and Coolyal. But the locals assured us we were in for
another good day and once again they were right. Again the cloudbase looked
above the 14,000ft mark and climb rates averaged 900-1100ft/min. The last leg
provided an incredible vantage point to watch the bush fires raging in the
Bylong valley to the east. As a change approached from the south the last leg of
the course thickened-up with powerful looking cumuli that quickly developed into
a cloud street 20km long, pointing along the course line and into goal. ten made
the distance with Jorge Bajewski making it in at 6pm after ridge soaring, below
hill height, for ninety minutes. Michael Freisenbichler won another day.

 

On day four we woke to high winds and most pilots admitted they could do with
the rest so by day five they were ready for a cracker of a task: 211km with two
turn points. But when we got on course it was a surprise to struggle under a
solid inversion at 7000ft. After the previous two tasks 7000ft felt low, but the
guns pushed hard, with mixed results. Gerolf and Dave Seib bombed out as did
many other pilots who had a hard time with the elusive thermals, but those who
made the first turnpoint enjoyed better climbs and a higher ceiling for the rest
of the way. But the first leg was slow and time was now the problem. Johnny and
Attila managed to make goal and enjoyed final glides of better than 16:1 in the
buoyant evening air. Some pilots landed after 7pm. Jon won the day.


Task five was a short 81km with a turnpoint at the half way mark. The conditions
were inverted again but most pilots pushed hard and were rewarded with improving
conditions around the turnpoint with smoother climbs, nicer air and higher
altitudes. Gerolf took the turnpoint with the lead gaggle and pointed towards
goal with a required glide of 22:1, and made it! The others thought this a bit
aggressive and were at least 5 minutes slower after stopping for a top-up along
the way. Twenty four pilots made it to goal. Gerolf won the day with Chris Jones
in 2nd and Len Paton in 3rd. Overall Attila was ahead of Johnny by over 200
points but when someone suggested this lead was good enough Attila replied in
his strong Hungarian accent, "Jonny never gives up".


Task six was another 'spaghetti on the map page' affair: 119km with four
turnpoint's that intersected throughout the course. The conditions were great
and big climbs averaging 1000ft/min were common. The air was constantly changing
and depending at what time you flew the course determined whether you flew
directly to turnpoint or sank like a stone. Some big names went down including
Rohan Holtkamp, Joerg Bajewski and Cameron Tunbridge. Just as Attila predicted
Jonny didn't give up, on the contrary, he won the day with Gerolf in 2nd and
Michael Freisenbichler in 3rd. Overall Attila had just four points up his sleeve
to stay ahead and win overall.