Bright Competition Report, 19 to
26 February 2005 Competition
Results Bright Competition Website
Six tasks in eight days doesn't sound too bad, but when four of them score less than 125 points for the winner it makes for a tight competition. The competition didn't look like it would be valid until the final task and the weather was just good enough. In fact the summer in this part of Australia had failed to start properly, with wind and storms that affected the competition build-up both in Bright and Manilla. 102 pilots were registered for the biggest Bright Open ever. Day 1: 8:30am Briefing, and 110 pilots listened to the introduction and local rules. Unfortunately the heavily clouded sky never cleared to reveal the blue above it. The day was cancelled at 14:00. The day did improve and a few folks braved the benign top to bottoms. Those who waited for conditions to improve drove down after the wind turned katabatic Tomorrow may be better and the weather promises to improve in a few days. Day 2: The forecast was proved wrong as thunder storms woke us at 5:00am. I'm glad I'm not camping. Despite a re-brief at 11:00, the day was cancelled. We endured a dvd fest, then discussed them at the free pizza night. There was a huge amount of drinking to the weather gods whilst the heavens opened. Day 3: Task 1: Although the rain had stopped by morning, the clouds hanging in the valley and the wave bars over the big mountains inspired nothing. The forecast was not too bad, and by 10:30 the whole shebang went up to Mystic launch. The clouds were heading North, not too far above launch (which faces North) with a very light breeze up the face. A 47km race to goal to the North West was set and pilots started to launch at 13:15, with a four slot ordered launch. The first pilots off went to the clouds at 1500m, whilst the later pilots struggled. It soon became apparent that the task would be head wind as the leaders slowly left. The thermals were weak, the clouds broken and did I mention the headwind? The best distance on the day was nearly 17km, with only a handful making it to the start gate 35km from goal. Best Brit was Steve Ham in ninth place overall. The top points were 70 and 33 for bomb out, though the launch order for the following day is very important. T1 scores.. Day 4: Task 2: Sunshine and blue skies and the promise of a stonking day. Hmm.  A
60.3 km race to goal was set around two turn points. Window open at
12:10 and race start at 14:00, 13km from launch. Many pilots launched
early and easily climbed to 300m above launch; there they stayed. More
launched, as the inversion got a little higher. A large number of the
field were off by 13:00, and were all just above launch. As people
drifted away it was soon to be clear that the headwind was lighter
than yesterday, but base would be elusive; no clouds and light thermals.
Clear spot, 3 km down the course line, was working quite well and the
field, in huge gaggles, were climbing to 1500m. After that it was decision
time. Most of the early pilots went to cross the valley perpendicular
to the course line, to use the ridges to the north; and most of these
pilots went down within 10km. Seeing the carnage, the later pilots
went straight down the course line, and also went down. Local pilot
Brian Webb waited patiently, then picked his way past turn point one
to win the day flying 31km. Rock Rhettman was second with 24km and
everyone else was at 10km or less. Best Brit
on the day in third place overall was Nicky Moss. T2 Scores..  Day 5: Task 3: Hot with blue skies and the mother of all inversions was predicted. A 46km elapsed time task was set; with window open at 13:10 and individual times starting when you left turn point 1. Turn points 2 (at 1000m) and 3 (at 600m) were on the Goldmine ridge and then race to goal at Harrietville. Some went off early and some late, hoping for improved conditions. The inversion at 1300m was omnipresent, but not impossible to pass. Climbs to 1600m above Clearspot (slightly off course but reliable) made the first waypoint easily obtainable and then the decision to go straight back to launch or via Clearspot again. Over the back of launch to the Goldmine ridge was a long glide with such low height but those that made it got steady climbs to 1700m and above. The up and down the ridge was fun, with people going in all directions at once. The glide into goal had a ridge in the way just to make people look up from their instruments. Those who flew later did have better conditions and made it faster, but departure and arrival points rewarded the early pilots.Enda Murphy won the day with a time of 80 minutes. 50 were in goal, most in under 2 hours. Top Brit was Steve Ham in the number 5 spot. T3 Scores..  Day 6: Task 4: The morning was filled with Grey sky and 45km winds locally at Mount Hotham. The day looked grim, but was improving so up we went. It took a while for the clouds to clear and the sun came out for a couple of hours. A 43km race around 6 turnpoints was set to open at 14:30 and start at 15:45 1km from turnpoint 2. Most of the field launched quickly into ratty thermals and up to 25km North winds. The clouds came back at around 16:00 and the locality started to rain paragliders. 50 didn't make it past the 5km minimum distance and the rest ended up round turnpoint 3. Enda Murphy won the day getting 4km from turnpoint 4 and Steve Ham came in second a couple of km behind him. The day scored 115 points for the winner and 45 for minimum distance. After 4 tasks, the positions are really based on the results of task 3 and the competition needs to have 1500 points to make it valid for world ranking points; approximately another 200. The forecast is not great for the next two days  either.
Gosh its exiting! T4 Scores.. Day 7: Task 5: Blue sky and lots of hope, until the forecast said westerly winds up high.. not good when they would mix down and fortify the valley winds and make the day horrid. So we ignored that and went up the hill anyway. A task was set and delayed just before it started due to strong conditions and a low inversion.. not good for 100 pilots playing dodgems! The task was shortened and set again, and delayed again. We waited whilst strong thermals crossed launch. The task was shortened again and set for 15:30 open with a 16:30 start: a 27km race around five turnpoints. Just before launch opened, a little cirrus came over quelling the thermals. The first few pilots launched and went up, so more followed but the conditions were weakening and the dodgems hair-raising. Launch was closed for a while to wait for the melee to clear, but those that were left were finding it hard to leave. Meanwhile those that got to the next ridge were ridge soaring at 1000m waiting for the start to open. When it did, it was really a race to the ground; some getting to turnpoint 3 and a handful landing just short of turnpoint 4. The day had 70 dnf and bomb-outs, scoring a magnificent 56 points for the joint winners Steve Ham and Craig Collings with 14.3km, and Nicky Moss was joint third. T5 scores..  Day 8: Task 6: Blue sky but a thin blanket of cirrus covered the sky. We needed 120 points to make the competition valid and the mood was non expectant. The call was to go up to Mystic at 11:30 and suck it and see. A 46km race to goal around four turnpoints was set to open at 13:15 and start at 14:30. The open launch queue filled quickly and for fifteen minutes people left and went up. Then the ordered launch started and pilots continued firing off the hill. Clearspot was bouyant thankfully, as 70 or so pilots waited for the start to open at around 1700m, it was beginning to look like the best day of the week. After the start the whole field left for turnpoint 2, straight over launch and to the ridge behind. The field spread fairly quickly, the racers stopping for nothing but good climbs. Along the Goldmine ridge we were wondering what was happening as thermals got to 2000m and you could finally see the backdrop of the Snowy mountains. Pyramid was turnpoint 3 then an into wind leg to Porepunka bridge. This proved too much for some as a lower gear was needed. Then a final glide to the landing field over fairly well known ridges. The day was won by James Lawson who'd been racing into the deck all week. Steve Ham came in fifth just losing his second place oveall. T6 scores.. report by Mark Graham |
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