NORTH ISLAND REGIONALS 2012
NORTHERN REGIONAL GLIDING CHAMPS 2012 25 NOVEMBER – 1 DECEMBER 2012 By Steve Wallace
Sometimes the weather gods do smile on us gliding folk and this was certainly the case for those at Matamata this year towards the end of November. Following on from a successful week-long cross country course, with flying every day, the Northern Regional Gliding Champs got underway on Sunday 25th November. There were 17 gliders entered in two classes, nine in the Club Class and eight in the open Class. Seven out of seven scheduled fl ying days were flown, with every day being a 1,000 point day in both classes. It simply doesn’t get better than that, but of course it was not all plain sailing, or gliding as the case may be. DAY ONE Started out hopeful, with the forecast promising more than it delivered. A 300km task was initially set in such a way that those wanting to compete and chase Gold and Diamond distance/ goal badges could do both. Unfortunately, a thick layer of cloud did not burn off until late, so the task had to be scaled back and turned into a 2hr AAT, with a large circle around Tihoi, the southern turn point. Lower than hoped for cloud bases and some big blue holes made life tricky on the second and third legs, with four out of the eight Open and seven of the nine Club gliders landing out. Eventual winners for the day though were:
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Club Class – local legend Bob Gray from Piako, in his DG101, (235km at 73kph) Open – Steve Wallace from Aviation Sports, in the mighty Mosquito, (also 235km at 73kph).
DAY TWO A mostly ridge racing task, with off-ridge hard points to the north and south. 280km for the Club Class and 317km for the Open Class. The cloud base started off at 4,000ft but lowered to 3,000ft by mid-afternoon, as moisture was fed into the area by an approaching warm front. This led to considerable cloud development and very little sun on the ground, that made the off-ridge turn points a significant challenge, especially to the south, which claimed two land-out victims in the Club Class and five in the Open Class. Winners were: Club Class – ridge master John Bayliss from Auckland, in his infamous Discus B (117kph). Open – Steve, who needs water, Wallace (103kph).
DAY THREE Too much cloud yesterday but not enough today. The warm front went through overnight and, despite an overcast start to the day, by launch time, most of the cloud had burned off and apart from the odd wisp, the day went blue as predicted. 10 – 15 kts onto the ridge and lots of sunshine, meant thermal assisted ridgelift was available and blue thermals were to be had off the ridge. An AAT task was set, with the northern turn point as Maramarua, with a 20km circle and the southern, Tokoroa, with a 20km circle.
February 2013
11/02/13 9:18 PM
