HGFA Skysailor Magazine

4 SKY SAILOR March | April 2018 T his year saw a gathering of pilots for a few pre-comp practice days as the forecast good weather put on a good show, notably Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Serebrennikova managed to set new Women’s declared and open distance triangle World records. Taking off from Forbes, she flew south-west to West Wyalong, then east to Grenfell, before pushing back north-west to Forbes to complete her task, landing around 7pm. Congratulations, Sasha! She commented, “…and to think this is only the practice task at Forbes!” Every year, the comp headquarter is located at the rugby club in the centre of town where all the pilots meet for a 10am task briefing. It’s likely to be in excess of 35ºC, so keeping pilots out of the sun is a priority! Here, the pilots are told the task course, start time and any other details they need for the day. It’s usually about two hours before the first launch window opens at 12:30, so it’s a relaxed start to the day since it only takes about 10 minutes to get to the take-off field, also known as the ‘Bill Moyes International Airfield’. Day 1: Canned Day 1 in any competition is always quite tense, the famous saying rings through everyone’s mind, “You can’t win a competition on the first day, but you sure can lose it!” The task set for day one was 155km to the SSE. It was very overcast with a strong breeze, some cumulus formed under the high cloud, with a band of rain to possibly push in from the west. After much discussion among the safety and task committees, the launch window was pushed back from 12:30 to 2:30pm to give the strong winds time to die down. As 2:30 arrived, nearly half the field were in the air and climbing well – maybe too well – when a large area of rain started to descend on the course line and the safety committee decide to cancel the day over safety concerns. The laminate gliders we fly in competitions don’t handle rainy conditions well, but everyone made it down safely back within the start cylinder. The Forbes Flatlands competition started on 29 December 2017 and went to 5 January 2018, making it the first big comp of the new year. Having hosted the World championships in 2013, Forbes has become known in the hang gliding scene for some of the best and most consistent flying conditions to be found and attracts pilots from all around the world. by Oliver Chitty 2018 Forbes Flatlands Photos: Ruta Pleike