MULTI-CLASS NATIONALS
WINNING THE NATIONALS BY CAMPBELL MCIVOR
The Nationals got a bit of a shake up this year as the young Dynamic Duo of Campbell McIver (22), Auckland and Allie Thompson (15), Hawkes Bay Waipukurau, flying Auckland’s Duo Discus, took out the Racing Class. Campbell gives a brief report on their competition.
T
he 2018 Multi-Class Nationals have wrapped up and thanks to the efforts of many, I am pleased to say that it has been an enjoyable, successful competition. I am a relatively new glider pilot, starting in 2012 and have found the most enjoyment in competition flying. This is my 3rd NZ Multi-Class Nationals and I was very excited to return to compete and learn as much as I could. I was very keen to fly Auckland’s Duo Discus and so needed a teammate. My good friend Allie Thompson was showing great potential as a pilot and had shown herself ready for the challenging aspects that cross country and competition flying offer. With a lot of planning and discussion throughout 2017, we were very keen to give the Nationals a solid crack. Returning to a Nationals brought back the enjoyment that only a competition can offer. The wealth of knowledge is immense and luckily, so many competitors are willing to share that knowledge. We were very fortunate to have Matthew Scutter visiting us from Australia who gave a few outstanding presentations on techniques to improve our flying skills.
Our competition started well, with us fighting the sea-breeze to be the only Racing Class competitors to get around Day One’s task. After a few more day wins over the first week of the competition, we realised that we had a chance of winning the Racing Class. Our strategy became then to take less risks and focus on completing each day’s task. Week Two of the competition brought two ridge days, a wave day and a few more thermal days. While it had its challenging moments, it was exactly what we needed to get the job done and led us to finish the competition with over 1000 points lead.
Thanks very much to the Auckland Gliding Club for use of the Duo Discus. Also, a big thanks to Kirstin and Paul for keeping us going throughout the comp. Finally, thanks to all volunteers and pilots who made the 2018 New Zealand Multi-Class Nationals such a success. I’m looking forward to the next competition I fly, wherever it may be. February–April 2018
17
