8th Sailplane Grand Prix World Final
MY CHILE ADVENTURE
BY MARK TINGEY
February 2018 TO GO OR NOT TO GO? – THAT WAS THE QUESTION In the build up to the World Champs in Benalla, I had taken three months off work and flown close to 150 hours. While competing in the Queensland State Champs, the Australian Nationals, the Australian GrandPrix and then the Worlds themselves I had driven more miles and seen more of the Australian back country than I cared to remember. The daily routine and flying in the Worlds was intense. After arriving home, I didn’t want to see my glider again for some time. I just needed a complete break.
I
had largely forgotten about the success I had had, coming second at the Australian Grand Prix in Horsham. But that had been the highlight of my gliding career so far. I was leading going into the last day only to be overtaken by Geoff Brown on a short fast task where the opportunities to catch up were limited. In any event, I was more than happy with second place, particularly against a quality field of local pilots including, a few of the Australian team who were there to practice for the Worlds. To be fair, I surprised most there, including myself. But I enjoyed
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February–April 2018
the Grand Prix format where you don’t need to be the best pilot around the race track. It was more about playing the man and just making sure you beat the guy next to you. I had done a fair bit of match racing in yachting and understood the concept of covering. By playing the gaggle game and not letting the ego get ahead of myself, I could see what was going on in front of me and then position myself to take advantage of what was the better air and the decisions of the pilots in front. The pilots who became isolated, got left behind by the gaggle. You didn’t need to come first, you just needed to accumulate points each day which all added up over the course of the competition. Like the traditional format, consistency still pays dividends. So, to walk away with second place and four podium day finishes, I was pretty pleased with my effort. But I had pretty much made my mind up that I couldn’t justify the time and cost of going to Chile for what amounts to eight days of flying against the world’s best, in some of the most dramatic mountains on the planet.
IT’S A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE… It wasn’t until about August, after several people had said to me – “Mate – you just need to go, it’s a once in a lifetime experience”, that I began to rethink things. But the round trip
