Classic Canungra 2008

The Canungra Classic 08

The Classic usually fills its 75 spots pretty fast and the competition often begins with a waiting list. Maybe the financial meltdown is to blame for this year’s low number of 55 competitors? Unfortunately the event was to finish with contention over the scoring system and the flying conditions weren’t epic like previous Classics. Day 1 saw the sea breeze come over the back earlier than expected preventing some pilots getting off the hill and day two was cancelled outright again due to an early sea breeze. Day 8 was cancelled due to poor flying conditions so all things considered you could be forgiven for thinking you didn’t miss out if you weren’t there. You’d be wrong, it was a top competition. Some of the best flying is the most challenging and this competition was proof of that.

Sometimes we were blessed with very good conditions and most days the flying varied significantly throughout the task. This variability suited intelligent flying and kept us on our toes. Day 1 started out like this and those who got off before the sea breeze arrived were greeted to surreal cloud formations over and near the take-off. As the NE hit we watched a second cloud base form below. We all needed cameras because the views were awe-inspiring! Unfortunately Les was unlucky to get stuck behind a few slow pokes and missed out beating the sea breeze. His new glider and harness and obvious eagerness would have to wait till day 3 before getting a real opportunity to cut loose.

The first task was a technical one: Mount Tamborine, 40km WSW to the township of Rathdowny, 17km west to Maroon, and then a final leg 25km Nth to Coulston. The sea breeze marched west extinguishing any heating and thermals in its wake. The smart ones picked this realizing the clock was ticking and went before the first start. Throughout the course the conditions changed from extremely buoyant sea breeze convergence to total shade between the turn points eventually to a flushing of all thermic activity as the maritime airmass moved inland. After a protracted save at near-canopy height early on I took things slowly and it was some time later that I was downwind of the last TP and finally at cloudbase. A glide from 7000’ and 26km out from goal went without hitting a single bump along the whole way and I would end up 3km short. Scott had charged in PWC style surfing the convergence and won the day with a total of only 4 in goal.

Day 2 was cancelled due to a sea breeze arriving around 11am.

Day 3 was difficult for some, very difficult for others, and apparently easy for the rest. We launched from the little used ‘Flying Fox’ launch, a NE site that is 600’ above the LZ in a narrow valley. It is ridge soarable and most got away and onto the 1st TP: Palen Creek.

The thermals were elusive and sheared, hard to hang onto and tight as. Local Knowledge or meticulous preparation would have paid off here since Palen Creek is a low spot in the general terrain and subsequent talk with locals revealed it to be a consistent ‘sink hole’. Never was the golden rule, be high at the turn point more sound advice. The worst position to be in was low at Palen Creek. I was unzipped 100m from the TP radius when I flew downwind to a rocky slope in a last ditch attempt to stay airborne. After the low save on day 1 I near beat it today and the effort paid off. I spent at least 20 minutes jostling with a handful of other desperates to salvage the flight in small bubbles that kept us alive until a real climb presented itself. 4 of us survived this one but we were unzipped for a long time and got blown downwind a ways before clawing back to altitude. Once up we separated, I had to detour alone back for the TP and then continued to trace the task slowly by myself. I was to find most of these guys landed out not long after we split up.

Scott was probably already in goal just behind Johnny Durand when I was negotiating a serious looking long glide over a definite ‘no landing’ area between the spectacular Mount Barney and Mount Maroon. Toes, teeth and anything else clenchable bared-down during the strong headwind and under intermittent cloud streets but eventually everything could relax after clearing this vast expanse of forest. Then almost straight away I hit a boomer at the beginning of the flats. I shook my head in relief when I settled into 600’/min only to look down and see someone still deep, lee side a 1000’ below and pushing headwind! Competitions bring out the best and the worst in us, but they are subjective terms.

Lake Moogera always seems to be the designated goal when it’s a headwind northerly and this makes for a tenuous final glide. The last ridge line prevents crossing the final 2km into goal if you are low but I have been here before and knew to get height. Camo and Les got in too not long after. In fact Les just cleared the final ridge and was unzipped in the headwind with only a few hundred metres to go, unsure if he would make it. Brian was stoked for a single retrieve stop at the goal paddock.

Day 4 continued the slow trend towards stabilizing flying conditions. The sky was bluer, the thermals even harder to latch onto and never seeming to connect in one column all the way to base. After a reasonable run from Tamborine and after negotiating a battery change for the GPS halfway to the TP the conditions got very fickle. 30 minutes later I found myself lining up a landing at the turn point: Lions Rd, about 30km short of goal. Soon after two guys in Stings landed next to me… LOL!

Hang gliding competitions are very good for the ego. You can be a hero one day and cut-off at knees the next. When this happens the ego shrivels up and perspective improves. I was starting to realise how much I had forgotten after the long hiatus, more than I thought. I had an hour to contemplate such things before Brian arrived. We loaded-up and started to drive down the road when he looked at me and confirmed in so many words that I was indeed a dud. Brian is also good for the ego.

We were off to retrieve Les who was about 10km closer to goal and he was still grinning when we found him. He is flying very well and loves his new equipment. Then we drove towards goal to get Camo and Scott where 25 pilots had made it ‘in’ and the LZ is very exclusive indeed; a fairdinkum runway/tarmac next to a salubrious looking golf course with manicured surroundings. It must have been a nice sight to watch during final glide.

Day 5: Attila Bertok, reigning world Champion, loves big tasks and so far he has been quiet on this front but today he declares the task committee has problems with their manhood. He is a tall Hungarian who speaks like Arnold Schwarzenegger and no one challenges his insinuation. Soon the task committee take the hint and set a 114km task around Killarney to Maryville. This area is mountainous with tall ranges and large tracts of forest.

We are back to Flying Fox launch and ready to go before 11am. Scott lays the map out in front of us on the truck tailgate and we huddle around to listen. His finger slowly traces the course, skipping over all the areas he knows we are familiar with but then his hand stops just short of goal. He taps his finger on the spot a few times and points to a concentration of contour lines. He is counts the contour interval and crunches the numbers then speaks without emotion, “You need 2000’ minimum to clear the range. From there you will easily make it in but remember the headwind. If you get low there is a gap in the range, here”, he points to a small dip in the contours, “but it is off course so best to stay high and fly straight in”. 1hr later Scott and I climb out together in a good one straight after our ordered launch.

Now, armed with yesterday’s lessons and today’s information I am confident. I am decisive and plan ahead. I charge out. I exhaust each option as each one fails to pay off and land just 27km from launch. The error of my ways is evident. I am alone in the paddock but it would've been appropriate to have a couple of women standing nearby looking surreptitious while slowly flexing their little fingers. Too hard, too fast; lesson # 4897.

Out on course Les is in his stride and finally gets an opportunity to put his skills and new equipment through the paces. Camo meets him near mount Maroon and would later tell how Les is in fine form but from here they part ways. Camo takes a novel track away from task line and into a vast plume of smoke from a bushfire that has been ticking away for several days. He thinks he saw a thermal column within the large scale area of smoke so he dives into the abyss and endures a good dose of carbon monoxide to get his climb and take it all the way to base. Talk about suffering for your art.

Les and Cam continue on their way to goal while Scott on the other hand goes down not far from me. He is in the Koralbyn Valley, a place I have also visited prematurely in a previous Classic. Scott says he has had good flights through there before but I have also been warned off this area by the locals. Brian finds the both of us and drops us in at the nearest town before heading west to chase Cam and Les.

Scott and I are grounded and start the afternoon with a hairdresser; an English lass who is playing guitar when we walk into her salon. Scott instructs her to sell him a hair cut. She accepts the challenge and convinces him a ‘style cut’ is the ticket and she did a fine job too. For her efforts Scott also pays her a nice compliment with a rare good luck charm. He takes out a 4-leaf clover from his wallet and hands it to her. She is touched and I am impressed.

We are still waiting for Brian and kill time with a visit to the library. Scott reads techno magazines while I grab a pile of Bird Watchers Australia but I only look at the photos. Later we are sitting in the park and Scott gets a pizza for dinner but I balk at the fast food and opt for three magnums instead. Then a text from Brian, ‘Camo made it to goal. Les is just short’ but it sounds like Les’ where abouts are hard to locate. It could be a delayed retrieve and sure enough the night falls… Scott and I are still in the park, the day has been long and watching him spin around on the childrens carousel is bringing back year 12 physics; F=mwwr, v=wr... 'We need to get out of here.'

Another pilot arrives on foot after walking 12km out of the boondocks. Apparently his car/driver ditched him without notification before he even got picked up and he is well ticked-off. His face says it all but he tells us anyway. He gets a phone call and walks out of earshot for a few minutes. Scott thinks he is paranoid. I think he is just venting. ‘Get us out of here' I think to myself and almost on cue a ride pulls up 50 feet away. Raef sticks his head out of the window, "Hey boys, need a ride?" We make it back to the camping ground, HQ, and download our GPS’s. Brian and Les arrive not long after and Les is smiling. He flew over 100km today.

Day 6 and we arrive at Beechmont, the same launch used for the Australian record set last year. We notice more stability with high cirrus trespassing from the south. Once again timing will be everything; get up and go before the heating dies. Beechmont is a bit of a lottery and to make matters worse it has a 90 minute turn around. Unfortunately Les succumbs like many others but the rest of us are on our way while Brian gets Les back to launch for a re-fly. Along with Camo and Scott I make the last of the foothill ranges with good height but the next 30km over flat Beaudesert is now completely shaded by the cirrus. Some of the guns come back to the ridge after testing the waters. I think to myself ‘Drop gears, throw out the anchors and tip toe!’

We all creep out into the cool and dark looking flats. Any blip in the terrain is a draw card for potential release of any residual hot air that remains on the ground. We are all in the same boat and there are slow moving gliders searching in the area trying to home-in on any lift. Three eagles join me in mine and help to re-centre as neighbouring cores redirect the thermal and meander it skyward. The eagles soon leave on glide. Then Attila appears out of no where, he is lower and on a fast glide to what I don’t know because there is nothing ahead to show lift. Metres of VG line flail behind him and his wing looks flat as a pancake as he burns up precious altitude and disappears out on course.

Somehow most of us get across Beaudesert but with little height to spare. Then the sun light returns but for some it's too late and they go down, but some of us look like making it. After another low save the conditions improve and the turn point comes up fast. The confidence swells which is becoming a sign to be wary of and today is no different. This halfway point has sun all along the course line but the sky is blue. Sure enough the air mass is different and the climbs are sheared, tight and sparse. I find myself 15km short of the last TP and low but in something that varies between climb and sink to average about 20’/min. I stick with it. The first priority is to stay in the air, I am drifting towards the TP anyway and going up, albeit extremely slowly. Besides, there are no other options to explore from this height. Drew Cooper coined a popular saying, Love the lift you're in. I hang tight.

I'm in this dysfunctional climb for so long that I become totally tuned to its choppy edges and pulsating strength and after circling and circling I almost zone-out while milking what little it has to offer. I soon see the leaders several kilometres away making their way back from the TP into the headwind and towards goal. Some are low, on glide and in survival mode. They are struggling and I will soon learn that a few of them will not make it in. I put myself in their shoes and all of a sudden my elusive 20’ average feels like a good place to be. During the long drift I notice other gliders on the ground, to the left and right of course and off in the distance.

Eventually after this 20 minute lesson in patience my climb comes together. It clears the inversion layer just as I pass over the rim of an extinct volcano and in two turns it grows into a smooth 600’/min thermal. I get the TP and after one more good climb and a bit of strategic ridge soaring on the way-in 'goal' is in the bag.

Les’ bombout put him out of step with the wave of cirrus as it moved through but he made a valiant effort to get out to the Chicken Shed Ridge and beyond the foothills. Scott too missed out today but like a winner he takes it in his stride. No one failure will be allowed to negatively affect subsequent flights, he will analyse everything to learn from the flight irrespective of its level of success. He is a model of eventual victory.

Day 7 looks difficult. The stability is evident as we are a day and a half prefrontal. Blue with inversions and those squirrelly, tight and sheared climbs are odds-on. We will be launching from Tamborine to head down to that old chestnut; Palen Creek, then followed by a shortish headwind leg up a narrow valley to Rathdowny. Attila makes no reference about manhood and the comp committee. It’s a petite task but everyone knows the conditions will make it hard. Canungra is technically difficult and distance is secondary.

From Days 2 and 4 I know not to follow the Boarder Ranges and I also know to be high at Palen Creek. The headwind will be strong on the last leg so again, be high at Palen Creek. But all these considerations exclude launch. Mount Tamborine in a north wind is ordinary and getting away from here is made much harder by the stability and the drift. About 25% of the field will land in the bombout today.

It was a struggle to get high but now and then persevering with the broken and sheared climbs that pulse in strength would eventually see them consolidate into a coherent core. When they did you were stoked. Spending 4 times as long climbing in tight sheared-up thermals made the good ones feel like gems, and they were. The hardest part was early on but 15km before the TP a really good climb was finally found over a shallow valley. The sloping treed knoll with a road winding along the base fed a 300’/min climb that turned into a smooth 750 all the way to several thousand feet. Better thermals were now more frequent as the TP approached, due no doubt to the change in topography, from the flats to small hills and narrow ridgelines. I was the 9th and last one in goal. Scott came in 2nd and Camo was 4th.

Day 8 was cancelled due to the arrival of a front and bad weather.

Try to make it the Canungra Classic next year. This club puts on a competition you will not forget. They are a very pro active and supportive group of skilled pilots and organize everything for ease, entrainment and quality flying. The area is technical to fly and pushes your skills. Some of the best pilots in Australia come from this region. A few of the best pilots in the world come from here, a testament to the quality of flying and the groundswell of talent. The bottom line is ‘FUN’ and this they never fail to deliver on year after year.