HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 21 July | August 2019 All winners went away with prizes provided by our sponsors: Cross Country Magazine, Skysight Weather Forecasting and Dave Gibbs, organiser of the Canungra PG Cup. Geoff Wong’s Airscore System and Highcloud Pilot Tracking register was used to great effect – our thanks to Geoff for making these tools available. A huge thanks to these supporters. Dave Gibbs competed in last year’s Wings out West and has been a strong supporter of the concept of an entry level PG competition. Our Fun Class winner, Owain Williams, received a tremendous surprise in winning an entry to the 2019 Canungra Cup. Well done to Dave for his generous prize. Of course, the event would not run so well without the help of many people. Thanks to our safety/task committee – Andy Mc Murray, Paul Skinner, Zane Priebbenow and Rohan Taylor – who did a tremendous job mentoring pilots on the ground and in the air. Our tow vehicle drivers – Stephen Noble, Andrew Polidano and Ian Dunn (and Phil Mansell) – managed over 200 tows over five days, ensuring all pilots had plenty of opportunity to get on the task course. Rob Couper did a fantastic job managing the scoring system without a glitch and also ensured all pilots were carrying Spot/ Garmin GPS tracking devices and were registered on the Highcloud Pilot tracking page. Our 22-seat retrieve bus, driven by local Neil and ably assisted by Thomas, didn’t leave anybody behind. One of the amazing things about Wings out West is the camaraderie amongst the competitors and how everyone chips in and helps. Of course our thanks go to the Trundle community for hosting us for our second year. The Trundle community bush dance was a big hit with WoW competitors once again and it was great to have the chance to connect with many local farmers. If you haven’t tried flying your paraglider in a competition, as an entry level GPS navigation competition, Wings out West 2020 is a great way to start. Go to [ www.wingsoutwest.org/] to get a sense of the assistance provided and keep an eye out for when WoW2020 entries open – it doesn’t take long to fill the available spots. Full results can be found at [http://xc.highcloud . net/comp_overall.html?comPk=265]. Left: In the retrieve bus after task Photo: Melanie Heather Bush dance whirlwind Photo: Melanie Heather Lucas Toledo Pastore – Overall Wow19 winner Photo: Erica Caro Women’s winner Susy Goldner Photo: Erica Caro Briefing on Day 4 Photo: Erica Caro Task briefing at WoW19 HQ Photo: Melanie Heather