SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 9 May | June 2020 Barraba and beyond for those who waited. Best distances were via turnpoints towards the SE in the Halls Creek area and then heading north and in some cases encountering a NW wind at the end of the day and flying back south for an hour or more. One pilot flew a 105km FAI triangle to land back at HQ for a well earned beer at the bar. 1. Merlin, Airie, Aus, Flow Spectra, Comp 117 2. Snowden, Dave, Aus, Flow Spectra, Comp 105 3. Müller, Jürgen, Ger, Skywalk Chili 4, Sport 93 Results Summary The flying conditions for this year’s XC Camp were hampered by rain the week prior and showers and storms earlier in the event week, making the XC distance tasks harder for the pilots attending. No records were broken but many dozens of pilots flew one or more personal bests. The conditions all week were relatively mild and no accidents were reported aside from the fatal one. Pilots flew on all eight days, but one day was not scored due to the higher chance of storms during the afternoon. Despite the damp ground, best distance for the week was 201km to the north, landing near Ashford on the Queensland border. Other flights were mainly towards Bingara and Warialda. A few ventured into the New England Tablelands to Armidale and Guyra. For the first time in the 25 years of international paragliding events at Mt Borah, a Sports Class inter- mediate rated pilot Jürgen Müller (from Germany) took out the overall event, beating the higher level XC Class and Competition Class pilots to first place. Second and third place overall were Comp Class pilots from Victoria, flying the Aussie flag on the podium. The best female was Manilla local Sports Class pilot Halina Kaufman who came in 10th overall and beat some hot competition from other pilots. The next Manilla XC Camp will be held 23 to 30 January 2021. Top 10 Overall 1. Müller, Jürgen, Ger, Skywalk Chili 4, Sport 696 2. Merlin, Airie, Aus, Flow Spectra, Comp 639 3. Snowden, Dave, Aus, Flow Spectra, Comp 597 4. Saville, Bob, Aus, Advance Xi, Sport 472 5. O’Donnell, Brandon, Aus, Sigma 10, Sport 467 6. Wenness, G., Aus, Adv. Omega X-Alps3, Comp 425 7. Gazo, Viliam, Aus, Ozone Alpina3, Sport 414 8. Nagashima, Shinichi, Jpn, BGD Magic, Sport 411 9. Guilbert, Stephan, Fra, Ozone Zeno, Comp 408 10. Kaufman, Halina, Aus, Advance Iota 2, Sport 395 Comp/CCC Class 1. (2) Merlin, Airie, Aus, Flow Spectra 2. (3) Snowden, Dave, Aus, Flow Spectra 3. (6) Wenness, G., Aus, Advance Omega X-Alps3 XC Class 1. (12) Malik, Magdy, Aus, Advance X-Alps2 2. (41) Belmonte, Julian, Aus, Ozone M6 3. (62) Pain, Nick, UK, Ozone M7, XC 97 Sports Class 1. (1) Müller, Jürgen, Ger, Skywalk Chili 4 2. (4) Saville, Bob, Aus, Advance Xi 3. (5) O’Donnell, Brandon, Aus, Advance, Sigma 10 Fun Class 1. (21) Waters, Neil, Aus, Nova Ion 5 2. (22) Yorgun, Soner, Tur, Flow Cosmos 3. (45) Sugo, Yoshihisa, Jpn, BGD BaseLite Women 1. (10) Kaufman, Halina, Aus, Advance Iota 2 2. (15) Miyate, Hiroko, Jpn, BGD Riot S 3. (44) MacDonald, Kyla, NZ, Nova Mentor 5 Dave Snowden concentrating on his launch The lucky bird