HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 3 May | June 2018 E ach race challenged pilots to fly routes at altitudes of up to 3000m and racing speeds of 80km/h. Significantly, this was the first time in two decades that Australia hosted the first round of this highly anticipated event. “It was like having a field of all of our best pilots,” observed pilot Wally Arcidiacono, who made his world cup debut at the PWC. He reflected upon the, at times, testy weather conditions. “The first two days were very typical for Bright with good racing conditions, then the following two days were uncharacteristic for the region with 100% cloud cover and really scratchy conditions at times. So, it was a mixed bag weather wise.” Although somewhat critical of his overall performance, Wally sensibly looks upon his position within the grand scheme of things. “I came 28th overall. It wasn’t my best flying,” he considers. “The first couple of days were okay. I think I was really punished by little mistakes, which cost a lot of catch up. You can usually ease yourself back in the game with little mistakes, but when you’ve got a lot of good pilots around you, a little mistake can cost a lot.” PWC Aussie champ, Peter Slade, was equally honoured to be racing against some of the world’s best pilots. “The highlight for me was racing in one of my favourite Australian paragliding locations and against some of the world’s best, including Honorin Hamard and Jurij Vidic among others,” he says. “We had two fast racing days with 2300m base and up to 7m/s climbs, with tasks of around 85km. Then, unfortunately, the sky turned really overcast. However, thanks to good task setting we ended up having enjoyable racing tasks with around 55km flown in technical, slow and fast sections.” Despite becoming Aussie champion, Peter admits that sometimes his flight performance didn’t always go according to plan. “With the first task, I was unable to make the start gate near the start time,” he admits. “The focus after that was to qualify for the PWC Super Final. Going into the last task I was in 6th position but unfortunately I was unable to improve upon that by not connecting to anticipated climbs, close to goal.” Despite ultimately becoming the National champion, Peter likes to keep his feet firmly on the ground, well, metaphorically speaking anyway… “I don’t like to feel pride as an emotion, but achieving Australian champion has been something I’ve been working hard at for three years now,” he admits. “I’ve chosen the right glider/harness combination, was fortunate to get some great international comp experience, including competing for Australia, and have matured with my comp tactical decisionmaking skills which allowed me to win this year. “It was a tough competition for a lot of pilots, so I was happy to get what I did: a ticket to the Super Final and a great time!” Peter is now also optimistic about the future of major events like the PWC in this country. “For Bright to be showcased to the world as a great location for highly competitive cross- country racing is incredible,” he says. “The foresight and hard work of the organisers, will help pave the way for future PWCs to be held here and hopefully a PWC Super Final: the world’s most highly ranked and hotly contested cross- country race competition.” Bright Horizons for the Paragliding World Cup One of the most competitive and prestigious events of its kind, the 2018 Paragliding World Cup (that took place 17-24 February), saw 120 of the most accomplished paraglider pilots from across the globe compete amongst the archetypal high peaks and valleys of the Victorian Alpine region of Bright PWC wings above Mystic Photo: Jo Hjortshoj