I got up this morning for my usual run and did some quick and depressing calculations. As of this morning I’ve run more miles than I have flown since I got here, and I’ve drank more alcohol than I would in months. Never did I think a flying trip to OZ would involve so much rain, or involve checking into rehab when I get back. There is a team leader meeting happen at the moment and its pouring rain, another day down. Warning- this next section is about scoring and no sane person should attempt to read, understand it, or care even a little. Consider yourself warned. Ok here we go - The scoring games have begun with the first and only task, which GAP 2000 scored around 860. GAP 2000 is what was chosen as the official scoring software for the meet even though it was argued by many that 2002 was more logical and should be used. At the first task briefing it was announced that the departure and arrival points would be turned off for the task to make it a more fair elasped time race. After the task was scored using GAP 2000 with these parameters, the Brits filed a complaint to have the day rescored to 1000 points because it met all of the set validity requirements (GAP 2002 would have done this). The organizers have now rescored the day using code from GAP 2002 and added to GAP 2000 to make it score to 1000. I think this is BS regardless of whether it benefits us or not. Josh, Kari, myself and the Canadian team have filed a complaint about changing the scoring software after the fact. I’m sure it will go nowhere.

Bill

Rain Rain Rain…

Good Morning, the farmers are happy and the pilots are left wet. This is now the 5th day of the competition and as you know we’ve only flown 1 day so far. I still have high hopes for next week if all goes well.

The one day we flew Team USA did really good with Tom and Josh making goal respectively 9th and 13th place!!! Bill and I well…we…aaaa…dirted early!!! OUCH!!!

Our team leader Heather Mull has been doing a fantastic job trying to keep us all together team wise, spirits and logistics. It is a blessing to have her on our side working for us at the team leader meetings as there are many things that needed attention in the organization dept!!!

Last night we had yet another epic thunder and lightning show (3rd night in a row!) followed by a huge downpour. Conrad (our team assistant  ), Nicole and I went storm chasing …we wanted a front row seat to watch the storm, west of town. We left the party at the caravan park for all the birthday people and ventured out to get the elusive lightning shot….most people only came up with black photos….

I’ll attach a photo taken last year during a storm watching session out at Godfrey’s place….check out the strike on the ground!!!

Today has a wet look to it again….it could go either way so we have to play the game and act like we’re flying today even though it looks marginal.

The way I look at it is this…we get a few bad days in the beginning….then the weather turns epic again and we fly our booties off all the way till the end and we forget that we ever had any rain!! It’s a much better way then if it was turned around and we had great weather to start with and then it turns bad for the last 5 days. So this is mother nature teaching us all something I’m just not sure what yet….I’ll let you know when I figure it out!!!

Oh I got it…to always pack an umbrella when you go to a PG competition and be faster on the shutter button!!! 

Kari

The rain continues with another ripping storm hitting the campground last night and punishing all the poor bastards camping in tents as we laughed at their misfortune. Trailer parks are cruel places. It was raining harder than a cow pissing on a flat rock and the winds were scattering tents and tree branches everywhere. A leaky trailer is pretty luxurious in comparison with tent camping, if you can believe it. This morning, I went out for a 10k run and just beat the first thunderstorm back to the campground at 8:30am. Needless to say the day did not look good for flying. After a few meeting they canceled the day without making us go up the hill. Between the US and Canadian teams, the entire stock of Jonny Walker Red has been wiped out in Manila, and a car had to be sent to the next town for resupply. I hope new supplies hold till the end of the meet. My liver needs a rest day

Bill

Task one gave us tricky conditions but at least we got to fly. Since it was an individual time and not a race start, many pilots stayed behind at launch for far too long (nearly half the pack). The view of these pilots waiting for who knows what, was comical to say the least. In an uncommitted fashion resembling a swarm of bees, they stuck together until it was too late to fly the whole course. Some pilots left early and dirted out but those who left in a reasonable time made goal by staying alive in the light conditions. A rain storm is brewing now. I doubt we will fly today. More later. Tom.

The day didn’t look very promising as we drove up and waited on launch, with lots of clouds and shade and an inauspicious wind direction. An elapsed time task was called with and out to the East and then part way back with goal in Manilla. The conditions improved and then dried out and got worse. The day was hard on those who charged out front, like Bill and Kari, and the 50 or so pilots who waited until the start window closed, like most of the Swiss. Tom and I were lucky to be in the in-between time that worked alright and made goal in decent time. We are waiting for the actual results now…

Well, it finally began today with a low cloudbase, lots of shade, and weak lift. Day one of the Worlds, and it was on, so to speak anyway. The task call was a 46k individual start race because of the weak conditions. We all got into the air and to clouldbase and proceeded to churn around for an hour or so as no one really wanted to leave and get pimped off of by everyone else. I was chomping to get out of there and after a few guys left, Gadd and I teamed up and went for the first crossing. We knew this was not the best tactic but I just don’t have the patience to wait the other guys out, nor to I like this style of racing. I’m just going to go when I think I should go based on conditions and I felt we were late anyway as the day was getting more stabile. We had been watching the clould shadows leading toward the first turnpoint and they looked good. Unfortunately no one followed, and on our own with the weak lift we dirted after a few climbs. Not the best decision and not the best way to start the meet, but we went down like men so I’m good with it. Time to start drinking heavily.

Bill

G’day all

We have good news here in Manilla at the Paragliding Worlds…We are all still tied for First Place!!!

We had another wet day yesterday. I woke to a sky covered in clouds…something I haven’t seen yet since arriving Feb 3rd! Oh well…I’m just happy it was real obvious so there were no dramas when they canceled the day from HQ at noon.

Bill needed to check out his speed system so he wanted to go up the hill and fly. Tom figured he would join Bill. Josh was the clever one and stayed home. We drove out to “the mountain” with the wipers on  but that didn’t stop us. There were three of us in the car wanting to hike up the mountain so we didn’t care as long as we had a ride back down.

We got to the top to find the mountain socked in with clouds and the wind blowing pretty good. The boys were waiting and hoping for an opportunity to fly but soon gave up as it didn’t appear to be getting any better.
Oh well…they tried and we got in a nice hike!!!

The weather pattern is not looking ideal for the time being the trough sitting over us and feeding moisture in from the north. They are predicting a typhoon to the north in the next few days. I woke this morning around 5am to see stars…I got excited…at first light the sky showed its self once again full of clouds that have moved in at a fast rate. We’ll see what happens today…..

I’ll play the game until they tell me otherwise…

Kari

Another day of bad weather and this place has strangely transformed from Australia to Austria. The temps have drop, the winds are howling, and the campground we are staying at dramatically flooded last night in a torrential downpour. It seems the conditions that plagued us at the 1999 Worlds in Pinzgau, Austria have chased us to Manila like some sorta pirate’s curse. The silver umbrella I had brought for shade against the intense Australian sun has now been put to other unforeseen uses. I don’t know how much more the group can take before some sorta pagan sacrifice takes place to appease the weather gods. Pilots are a superstitious and dangerous bunch when provoked. Josh and I were the last one to arrive here and therefore the first ones to be held responsible for these strange events according the standard logic. We have managed to dodge the wrath of our fellow pilots thus far by blaming the French team. I hope the weather improves soon as tomorrow doesn’t look that good either.

Bill

Greetings from Manilla….

The drought is officially over after tonight!! It poured down rain this afternoon as the storm that canceled day 1 blew in.

We all played the game yesterday…Day 1 of the Worlds…team USA/Canada was up the hill early…we claimed our spot under a tent for shade which proved to be prime real estate as more and more pilots looked for relief from the brutal sun and heat. We were in good position and spirits….ready for the day…and then…..well…

The task was selected…pilots were ready to launch and the predicted overdevelopment was ready to launch as well. The clouds won the day…it became really obvious quickly that it was over which makes it nice for canceling the day. No one disagreed however there were plenty of hungry pilots wanting to race but even they packed up and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon happily all tied for first place still!!!

Team Canookistan (the canooks and yanks) gathered in the camp kitchen for a team meal prepared by Tom and Josh…yummy spicy curry pasta was the entrée following by the torrential rains…we all huddled underneath the roof and watched, listened and felt the intensity of the pouring rain while Bill and Josh reminisced about the World Championships in Austria and how it rained everyday for the whole comp!!! I think they said they only flew one day barely!!!

I seriously doubt we will have the same fate here in OZ. This place is magic even after we have a day or two of rain…no worries mate!!! We may not be racing as hard the while it dries out but lift will be plentiful!!!

Wish us luck for today….

Kari

We got a couple of practice flights in before today and the flying is pretty nice, some kinda cross between Texas and Chelan. Hot, yeah its hot, fucking hot, but there is plenty of beer to rehydrate while sweating in the aluminum RV trailers we are staying in. They call’em “caravans” here instead of trailers, but “Caravan Trash” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Last night the town threw a huge party and parade complete with an airshow where an F-15 showed up for the finish. Absolutely an unbelieveable amount of power in those jets making me question the point of paragliders at all. I shook off the thought and reconvinced myself that my glider was indeed fast…. It was a great welcome by this small town, I think everyone was in the streets for the parade.

Today started a little slow with some high clouds slowing down the heating and the cumi development. The wind dummies were parked in the wind and weak lift. This changed quickly and the sky exploded while the task was set and the launch sequence it motion. The vertical development quickly reached the point of concern and they canned the task and canceled the day. No free flying, no waiting around, no nothin’. It was a perfect as far as I was concerned. I kept yelling at Josh that he was driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car on the trip back to town, he told me “no worries” but it still just ain’t right.

The weather looks similar for tomorrow but maybe we can squeeze in an early task.

Later,

Bill

Tom, Bill and I got a ride up with Heather and took a short flight back to the caravan park where we’re staying. The airspace near town was going to close at 3pm for an airshow and we had to be back to march in the opening parade, so we just got in the air and did a little climbing and gliding and I took a few photos:
http://www.pbase.com/josh_cohn/paragliding_world_championships_2007
Later we watched an f-16, a gyrocopter, a couple aerobatic planes and a formation single-engine team tearing up the skies over town and realized why the airspace had been closed.

Good Morning from OZ… ( this is posted on my karicastle.com (journal/blog) as well…see other postings there)

Another wonderful day here in Manilla…this place has been on like a freight train!! (In a good way!)

Everyday we’re gifted with clear skies in the morning then around 9am or so there are cu’s popping in the horizon. By 10am it’s launchable and the day begins.

I’ve been dreaming of a blown out or rain day so that I could take a rest day…but as long as there are clouds in the sky I cant seem to rest so up the hill I go each day!!!!

Luckily I’ve flown here heaps, I’m not in the comp, I feel dialed into my gear so I’m not anxious to go big this week like the pilots in the XC comp that ends today. I can only imagine these guys must be getting pretty tired by now!! The word has it there were flights over 200km again yesterday. Seems to be the norm around here. I DO LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Ever since hearing Ewa’s story my safety margin around clouds has increased…and I was a woos before!!! I can’t seem to shake the story out of my mind as I’m circling up under these clouds. I imagine what it would be like and it gives me the CREAPS!!!

Yesterday I worked all morning and got out to the hill late. I hiked up the mountain and then flew off. Alone in my thoughts and in the air I enjoyed a beautiful flight around the valley. I flew a nice little 55km triangle, it’s a classic flight that takes you on a tour around the valley…up to the north, across to split rock dam, south to Manilla then a straight shot back to Godfrey’s where my car was at. As I was flying to Manilla I saw yet another huge cell that was dumping near Lake Keepit..(good for the lake!)…I kept my eye on it for obvious reasons!!! I was ready to cut the corner at anytime if I needed to get back to goal safely. I made the triangle no worries. Landed at Godfrey’s and about 10 mins later some of the guys that were flying closer to the cell to the west reported everything going up and they were doing everything they could to get down. These were two very experienced comp/acro pilots. It was interesting to me how so many people have a good healthy scare going on, in regards to playing chicken with these cells!!!

Update on the US PG Team….Josh and Bill arrive in Tamworth tomorrow. Tom has been flying his bootie off trying to make up for missing the first three days being without his glider. Lets hope Josh and Bill have better luck. We’ve hired the best team leader as far as I’m concerned, Heather Mull who is an old Ozzie friend that I met back in 1988!!! She just finished running the Bright 123 PG comp last week…she knows her stuff. I’m really excited so see how she’ll work to pull the team together. We have an incredible strong team this year with huge potential….It will be FUN!!! The Canooks who we’re pooling resources with retrieve wise, are all here and practiced up. They’ve been flying hard this past week during the XC comp along with OUR Tom McCune!! It’s been fun being part of it.

I am here early to get ready for the worlds and the flying has been epic. My wing sat in San Fransisco a few extra days but I finally got it and then went out and flew 225km to wear myself out. That was Saturday. Sunday I was tired already but still flew over 164km by the time goal closed at 6:30 PM. Monday I am forced into a rest day. Only 4 days count for your overall score in this comp. If you are too tired, it makes sense to rest and then go big the next day. This is simply a warm-up for the big worlds so no reason to push too much. The kangaroos come out in the evening and are quite a site to see. I am looking for a bearded dragon so I can get good pictures of it and send to my son. He has one as a pet. She enjoys falling asleep on my chest each night. I think I’ve spoiled her too much. I’m taking in all I can as these trips always seem to end far too fast. The people in this small community are quite friendly and I feel at home here. More later. Tom.