HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 33 March | April 2019 Forbes 2019: Keeping the dream alive... Hang gliding competitions in Australia have always had the reputation of the being more than Herculean, Forbes Flatlands 2019 held true to that reputation. by Vicki Cain T his year we were able to set six tasks from eight, one of which was stopped because of a storm on course. The five completed tasks totalled 853.4km, averaging over 170km per task! We had lots of pilots in goal most days. With super consistent flying, Jonny Durand took the competition win, his eighth Forbes Flatlands title. Attila Bertok came second with Olav Opsanger in third. Our Emma Martin Memorial award went to Yadi Wu from China. Yadi came to the Sport Class competition with only five hours airtime and no cross-country experience. On her first flight she managed 35km and on her second 61km! We had eight contestants in Sport Class this year, with two Indonesian pilots new to Forbes. Bin Duan from China took the win, with local pilot Alisdair Bramwell-Davis only two points behind in second place and Peter Garrone, another local pilot, in third. Huge congratulations to all the winners! Thank you to our major sponsors, Forbes Council, NSWHGPGA and Moyes Delta Gliders and of course Bill and Molly Moyes – Patrons of the Forbes Flatlands Competition. To all our crew, I can’t thank you enough. Everyone goes above and beyond, travelling from afar to come to Forbes and to get all the pilots in the air as quickly and as safely as possible and having as much fun as we can. The camaraderie is amazing! Thank you to all the pilots coming from all over the world and all over Australia. We hope you had the time of your lives! Forbes Crew: L-R – Jamie Shelden, Maddie Wright, Simon Keecely, John Blain (Blaino), Matt Olive, Steve McCarthy, Wesley Hill, Alan Bond, Kirsten Paton, Judi De Groot, Rob Van Der Klooster, Molly Moyes, Bill Moyes, Vicki Cain Sport Class podium: L-R– Peter Garrone, Bin Duan, Alisdair Bramwell-Davis All photos: Peak Pictures Top 10 Forbes 2019: L-R Back – Petr Benes, Rohan Taylor, Filippo Oppici, Steve Blenkinsop, Ollie Chitty, Guy Hubbard, Josh Woods; L-R Front – Attila Bertok, Jonny Durand, Olav Opsanger Molly and Bill Moyes Yadi Wu