Endless Summer

This should be interesting.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Newest posts start after this post.

You will be able to find results here:
2009 US PG Nats Inspo

Some other bloggers from the comp:

Tim O'Neil
Brett Hardin
Nicole's blog

Day 7. Task 7.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Wow, who can believe we had 7 days and 7 tasks. Unprecedented.

Today's task was short and sweet. 57 km run up and down the ridge. A TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) was put in place of the original task which would have us land at the base of Mt. Olympus.

I made a mistake late in the game by pushing out ahead and getting low before the last turnpoint. For a few kms, I was in the lead heading for the only place that had sun on it. I guess it worked better in the shade. I got stuck, my race over, it was all about getting in.

I came over the landing field with no extra space and saw the whites of the eyes of people in their houses above the field.

Not much video taken in the air the last few days due to the pace. Today was no exception. If you were on half bar, you were left behind. Ryan was 8th today and said he was pushing full bar on each transition! I believe him as the pace was fierce.

I want to thank Vincene at Muller Windsports for always supporting me. I want to thank Keith for lending me his glider. I would have been left behind without it. I want to thanks SuperFly for the support.

I have to send a shout out to the task committee and especially Bill Belcourt as he provided a task strategy talk everyday. What an awesome comp!

We have a long drive back tomorrow. I will update with more pictures and videos in the coming week.

Another great task

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:06:00 +0000

We went up north to the University again.

It was a fast task. I don't think I have ever been on the bar for so long during a task. The average rate on glide was at least half bar. The last 10 kms on final glide was full bar. hahaha, pretty scary actually. Due to the fear of "blowing up" I ended up a few minutes behind as any bit of turbulence caused me to let up on the bar while the other just held it steady.

Dunno if we will fly today. Wind forecast might not be good (although I can't find it anywhere).

Results here.

Overall scores aren't posted that include task 6 for some reason. The top 3 Americans are really close.

Josh up behind Lone Peak.

Day 5. Even longer!

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:23:00 +0000

Tired after a 5.5 hour flight.

Missed the last turnpoint (end of speed section) by 50 meters. The last turnpoint was launch and I blew it by pushing a little too much bar on the final glide. Frustrating.

The scenery was awesome and it was cool flying with my friends the whole way. More tomorrow. I am beat. Ugh. Such a rookie mistake.

Then again, not bad for the 7th flight of the year.

Results here.

Day 4 video

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:17:00 +0000

long and no music. haha, enjoy.

Day 4. Long ass task.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:30:00 +0000

Made goal today. About 8-10 in. Mads probably won the day.

More blogging in the morning.

Edit:

86 km task called yesterday. Basically south to a town called Levan. A couple of turn points were added in order to avoid the 1 nautical mile no fly zone from the fires the day before. This essentially pushed us out over the flats while making the crossing to Spanish fork.

Timed the start perfectly and exited the start cylinder seconds after 2:30 pm. After tagging the second turnpoint out in the flats, I watched Mads go straight back to the mountains. The rest of us continued across the flats for the more direct route. It should have worked. It didn't. We got stuck for a good 40 minutes next to the wind generators and watched Mads fly over our heads deep into the terrain.

Bill was saying the terrain works, it just looks intimidating. He took the flats route too. After scratching for a long time, we finally got some height to move on. After 2.5 hours, we had only completed 50% of the route. We were gliding at about 25-30 km/h with plenty of bar in to the wind. The last half of the course was much faster as it was getting close to the end of the day and things were getting more buoyant. Final glide was from 17km out at 12:1.

There was a fork in the flight. Brad, Eric, Bill, Andy, Brett and I were all together about 25 kms out. Eric and Brad got a piece of a thermal that the rest of us couldn't get. Bill peeled back toward the mountains while Brett and Andy followed Brad and Eric down the valley. I decided the safer, albeit slower route would be to go to the mountains with Bill. Bill had to go deep while I went half way before hitting a screamer that took me to 3600m. I headed to goal in hopes that the expected tail wind would push me in. It was a headwind all the way to goal! Lucky for me, there was a lot of lift all the way in.

Results are here

Day 3. Task 3

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:03:00 +0000

Not much to say about today.

Wasn't willing to take a risk today that was required to make goal. Maybe I am getting old.

A quick video from today. Sorry for the lack of music. Some of the dialogue is funny anyway.

Updated video. iMovie uploaded a previous version. Might take sometime to process.

Gambled and lost.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:52:00 +0000

Haha, funny how it is always tougher for me to blog when I have had a not so good day. I guess I run out of energy.

I gambled and lost today. Took the short cut and got to the other side when things got soft. Just couldn't get out of the hole I was in. As Jeff O'Brien said on his blog, there is a lesson to be learned in all of this. I just fail to know what it is. Maybe it is to be more patient. I don't know.

Had an interesting take off today. I decided to take a wrap on the brakes and when I stabbed to slow the glider down, I ended up stalling the glider. haha, I was running full tilt at the time. Managed to get it going again about 3/4 of the way down. Moon got it all on video. I will try to post it.

It was a slow climb out today. The start gate was delayed 30 minutes but I believe it shouldn't have been. Goal was at the Nephi Airport. Word is that a lot of people made goal today. I wasn't one of them. Got really high before crossing the flats. Crossed with Andy and Ryan. Went for a long ass glide, but just couldn't get up on the other side.

Ryan as we left the mountains and started to cross.

Video will be up soon.

Day 1. Task 1.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Cool. I can still Paraglide. Or, maybe there was a lot of luck involved today. Probably a little bit of both.

Inspo is a pretty cool site. It is up on a bench that doesn't seem very high, but is quite high. There is a big mountain behind it that must have peaks in the 12-13,000 ft range. We never reached the peaks due to the inversion that was at 3,300 m or so.

Getting organized to go to the top.

When I first heard the that the task was 56 kms, I questioned why it was so short. Turned out that it was the perfect length as the wind started to pick up just as the first competitors reached goal.

The task was an out and back to Stoffers (or something), back to launch and then south to the PSKLZ turnpoint. I decided to not make the same mistake I made last year in Chelan and went early. Two reasons for that. 1. New site. 2. New glider.

Mads Syndergaard from Denmark (UP Rep) was the first competitor to launch. This was after watching some discouraging wind technicians sink out. I took off 5th or 6th with almost 1 hour and 10 minutes before the start gate was to open at 2:30 pm. After bouncing around for a while, Nate started to push back out toward the start to make it in time for the 3km exit start. We were just outside, hit the cylinder at a tangent and then hit a thermal right outside on our way to Stouffers. It was a 10 km run down there and was easy as we were all quite high. People kept pushing lower and lower and I followed as Bill Belcourt told me to stay with people today. Sure enough, we hit the turnpoint lower than I would have like and had to run back to the mountain.

Ryan with his rice paddy worker hat.

On the way back, I got stuck. It felt leeside no matter which side of the ridges you were on. Maybe I am a wuss, but it was a pretty rough day. Others in the landing field agreed. I pushed back toward launch (tp 2) and ended up all alone over launch with some free fliers. I though about heading toward goal, but decided to past launch (North and the wrong way) as I had a good climb there before the start gate. There was a nice thermal there that took me back to 3300 m. After which it was a nice long glide to the end of the ridge.

On the way to goal just after leaving launch again (tp2)

The course called for a risky decision to be made. You could follow the terrain, which was longer and also had the possibility of being pinned in the wind at the Spanish fork, or you could go out on the flats that typically don't work very well. I saw people headed the terrain way and some out of the flats. I opted for the flats as it was shorter.

After being 8 kms behind the leaders (on the way to tp2 I met them coming the other way at 4km), I managed to catch them out over the flats. Luck, not really skill. From there it was hard slogging toward goal with a quartering head wind. As we got lower, it go more buoyant. All day, All I saw was 4:1 and 2:1 glides every time I went on glide. We made it in from a 12:1 glide due to the buoyancy, even with the head wind.

Nate, Mads, Eric and me in the first group. Nick was in next. Two guys were high as I was leaving. Some guys were just short.

I took some video today, but it sucked... lol might post it later.

Results are up here.

Later

We have arrived.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:55:00 +0000

More details tomorrow. It was a long drive and the comp starts tomorrow. Time for sleep.

The North Side:

Up to minute info on the 2007 Worlds

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Go here:
Oz Report

Jamie Sheldon

Other Canadian blogs:
Scott Gravelle
Brett Hazlett
Canadian team

Scores:
Text
Track animations

For the track animations, pick the task you want to see. Check the pilots and then select animate.

Rain, Rain, go away

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 02:01:00 +0000

It is coming down like you wouldn't believe.

A task tomorrow is very very doubtful.

The last two days

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:37:00 +0000

To say that I am exhausted would be an understatement. A few years ago, I remember doing 9 tasks in a row at the Flytec Championships in Florida. Conditions at that time were better and the tasks were a little shorter. This is the World Championships. This is where we go long and the wankers don't make it.

It is a humbling experience. After doing well at the Flytec this spring, I hoped to do well here. What I failed to realize is that every country brings their best. Some of the best aren't even here. The caliber of pilot is amazing.

3 days ago, they called a rest day. This was in the rules. It was also put to a vote, but it was a set up. The task committee set a 285km task on the day the vote was to be held. With people knowing they would not get back home until after midnight, it was a sure thing that we would have a rest day.

2 days ago, a "non" paragliding task was called with two turnpoints and a last leg into the wind. No one made it. Some were very close. I was behind at the start do to some poor planning. I left the start 6 minutes late but figured I could catch the stragglers. I did and then some.

Getting downwind of the first turnpoint, I flew 7 kms straight upwind to tag it. It wasn't a big deal as there was a marked thermal downwind of the turnpoint on course line. At this point, I was slowing down. The climbs weren't a problem, it was some high cloud that was shading the ground and cooling things off.

The next thermal got me to well over 3000 m (11,000 ft) and I went on glide. There was a group climbing on the edge of the shade and I went straight for them. It was the lead gaggle. Attila, Gerolf, Michi, Brett. I actually arrived higher than the top of the stack. I did 3 circles and realized that there thermal was dead. Everybody moved on. The group split. The shade was running NW to SE (course line was NNE). Half of us went NW completely off course line, while the other half went into the shade.

The sun did not work, neither did the shade. The shade however got people to the turnpoint and past while the people who went to the sun either missed the turnpoint or just got it.

Yesterday....
What a major screw up. Somehow I ended being one of the last few people to launch. There is a rule that says you can line up on launch 15 minutes before it opens. I moved out into the line at 7 minutes before... not early enough. I was still on the ground 20 minutes before the first start opened.

I got a crappy little climb over the airport that got me to 1800m. From there, about 5 of us went on glide to toward the start circle. It was a long glide and we finally found a climb at 1050m, basically 1000 ft off the deck. The climb was slow, but got us back to 1900m. But at this point, we were 1.6kms outside the start.

So I left the thermal and headed back into the 20 km headwind. Got the start on time, but after turning around, I was down to 999m before finding a climb. That is 600ft.

From then on, I was alone and the going was slow. I was afraid the day was soft, so I took every climb I could get. Half way down the course, I realized that the day was actually strong and picked up the pace.

Did a 27km final glide and kept having to speed up as the numbers got better and better. I ended up being one of the last few guys in goal. 5 Canadians made it. One didn't make it due to logistical issues.

I think the comp is over. Here is what we woke up to:

And this is what it is doing right now:

Long day, flew like crap

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:49:00 +0000

So the longest task ever called in a comp.

3 Canadians make it. One is not me. hahahaha.

I was on the ground 2 hours before most people. No thermal to be found. I had some bad luck and ended up being in some transition air. Basically, the air mass was drying out and the cu's stopped popping. The heat needed time to regenerate. I, unfortunately, was low to the ground when this occurred.

It is a funny thing to be angry that I only flew 210kms today. For a lot of people, that would be a personal best. I am sure that many people who made goal had a personal best today. I applaud them.

Here is another video I took today out on course line. Check out the clouds! This was just as I left cloud base moving on to the next thermal.

Everyone in goal!

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:27:00 +0000

Along with everyone else... haha

After missing goal for the first 3 days, it was finally nice to get there. I am still not happy as I was really slow. I got stuck in a blue hole for about 20 minutes. This was after having a bad start and working hard to catch the lead gaggle. Going low was faster for the first half of the course. The second half was better up high. But when you are already low, it is hard to get high with no lift.

About 50 kms from goal, I was worried about landing. I was down to 1000 ft over the ground and was desperate for lift. I went into patient mode and took any kind of lift that came my way. It was a long hard slog to get out of the hole I was in, but soon enough I was at cloud base and nearly on final.

One more 1000 ft climb and I had the numbers to make it in. I must say that Ross is flying really well. In Florida he was gaggle adverse, but seems to have settled in quite well here. At one point, I said to everyone on the team that the start gaggle looked like a swarm of wasps. It is funny that the staggered starts and starts circles are supposed to make things safer. When there are 50 guys in the same thermal, it feels a little freaky.

I took a lot of video today, but it was all crappy. So shaky. I will try again tomorrow and see if I can post something. Here is a picture of my focus mask that I got at WalMart for $5!

Worlds, task 2.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:25:00 +0000

Short again. What is frustrating is that people I was with, within 100ft made it in while I hit the deck.

63 kms short of goal. Landed in a cotton field:

The task that was called today was even longer than yesterday. 183km or 115 miles. Once I was out on course, the day seemed better than the previous day. I decided to take the first start as yesterday, I was late and ran out of time. I landed about 30 minutes earlier today. It was weird. At about 70 kms from goal, everything went soft. Instead of going into survival mode, I raced off to a gaggle climbing in the distance. I didn't realize that the ground we were over was 600 ft higher than we started so my margin was smaller than I had thought.

One low save at 100ft and then 10 minutes later I was eating dust in the cotton field.

Worlds, task 1.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:41:00 +0000

Ugh.
Great way to start a post eh?

Great day for a lot of people. Me, I was on the ground when the first start ticked over. I had to re-launch. It worked out somewhat in the end as I flew 122kms of the 143km task. A little short, but it could have been much worse as I could have landed just north of the airport.

Brett was in. Ross got in as well. Scott was 5km short. Both Mark and Jon landed near the start.

I am tired. Will blog more later.

And so it begins again

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:23:00 +0000

Another summer, another competition. This time, however, it is the pinnacle of our sport. The World Championships.

We are in Big Spring, Texas. It is basically in the middle of nowhere. 40 minutes East of Midland and 4 hours west of Dallas.

Last Friday, Brett came over to my place and we short packed our gliders.

Canadian team logo:

Packing the gliders:

Our rental car with the gliders loaded at the Dallas Airport:

So I went for a flight to day (practice day) to make sure that all my gear is sorted. Everything is fine. For the first time, I set up my gear to be able to take some in air photos. Unfortunately, the camera was on video mode. Here is a short little clip that show the airport that we take off at. It is only 6 seconds long:

138kms of racing.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:45:00 +0000

Finally, today we got the typical Florida racing conditions. Thermals at 300-600 fpm with some peaks at 700-800. Inter thermal speeds of 75-80 km/h was typical. I ended up missing 1 or two climbs and got slow.

Scott and Mark caught me at the first turn point and we flew to the second turn point together. Between the second and third, things got really soft so we slowed down. I think that is where we lost Mark. Scott and I continued on to the third turn point where we go a slow climb. As the conditions seemed to be shutting down, we slowed and took the climb a little higher than we normally would.

As we headed for goal, there was a gaggle that I thought was downwind of the course line. I figured that we would find lift upwind of them and I was right. Unfortunately, the climb wasn't as strong as the one they had and so we ended up coming in together. Scott waffled between following me on a more northerly line and going to the gaggle in the climb. That cost him some precious altitude and he landed about 20 kms short of goal. Total bummer.

I was 20th for the day. Racing does not seem to be my forte... or maybe there are more people who are better than me at racing than I am better at light conditions.

The RS4 is going incredibly well. The sink rate is awesome. For the first time, I have been able to keep up on climbs and even climb through people that normally climb through me. It also glides with the best of them. Fun Fun Fun.

Later.

today.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 02:09:00 +0000

Made goal again today. The forecast for lift was worse today than it was yesterday. Lots of high level cloud was coming in. I was pretty pessimistic on the day, but Kevin Carter towed up and said there was lift. So did the tug pilots.

The tow was one of the roughest tows I have had in Florida. The first one resulted in a broken weak link. I had enough time to drop my feet and flare. Broke right off the cart.

Second tow was so bumpy that I thought there was something wrong with my glider.

It was slow slogging again. Lift was a little more solid, but still weak. Before the turn point we got rained on and then simply got low. From the turn point to goal was basically downwind. We used it to our advantage. We drifted at 250m for 15 minutes, sometimes in 50 ft/min down. We were literally circling down slowly. The sun came out and things started to liven up, but then it went away. We climbed to 300 m and then we were back down to 250m. The sun came out again and it all turned on. The thermal turned into 2-3 m/s and we climbed to 1000m. During the 15 minutes of groveling, we drifted 10 kms closer to goal. At about 25kms out, I saw Mark was above me as we thermalled up together. As I topped out, we left on the final glide and hit some strong lift on the way in, ensuring that we would make goal.

Mark came in about 7 minutes after I did. Gerolf won the day. It was nice to have 2 Canadians in goal today. Terry arrived to pick us up just as we were finished packing up.

So far, the preliminary results have me 6th into goal today and 4th overall. Things will change tomorrow as the French have yet to pin in. I know Didier beat me in.

The rest of the Canadians were sprinkled just before the turnpoint about 30 kms out on the 70km task.

Scores are here:

http://flytec.com/Events/2007/Flytec_Championship/scores.htm

Later.

One of the few in goal.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:33:00 +0000

Well, it has been an interesting 2 days.

Lift has been non existant. Tasks have been hard. Normally, my impatience would get the best of me, but for some reason, I made it into goal two days in a row.

Yesterday, I was last into goal by 2-3 seconds. It was a fairly long slog. We were low all day and played between 500 and 800 m (1500 ft and 2800 ft). It was slow going and the key was to stay with the gaggle.

The task started with a huge death gaggle with about 50-60 people in it. People swarming everywhere, just trying to get an edge.

The task was a dogleg to the south, basically down wind on the second component. It was divided about half and half. The highest I got all day was near the start. About 1100m (3300 ft). After that, it was a real chore to get to 900m.

Short glides, long climbs, and at the same time punching upwind. We mostly had 1-2 m/s thermals so it was slow going. 3 m/s for half a turn was a treat.

I stuck with Mario Alonsi and another French dude. The gaggle thinned out with every passing mile. Until there was just 3 of us. We were about 20 kms out with a 17:1 glide. I knew I needed at least another 200ft to make it in. We stopped again at 10kms out and we got to within a 16:1 glide. I knew it would be tight, but I also knew that there wouldn't be much more lift.

At about 5 km out, we stopped in a zero and I started losing more than I was gaining (while drifting toward goal). I decided that it was make it or break it and left. The numbers got better as we got closer. The two French guys dove into goal over my head pimping me by a few seconds. Got to the goal field with only 150 ft. Enough to turn into the wind, do one S turn and go in on final. I was 8th out of 9 guys (last one in) as one guy took the first start gate.

The rest of the Canadians did fairly well, getting out on course and making some distance. I am not sure about all the details.

Terry from Toronto was visiting us from Naples, Florida. He drove up to see what the fuss was all about. He drove straight to goal to pick up any Canadians that made it. I am so grateful for the ride. Thanks Terry.

Later

Wind, wind and more wind.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:51:00 +0000

Last night was the coldest night I have ever experience in Florida. Some said it was colder than it had been all winter. It is actually colder here than it is at home... go figure.

The wind blew all night and shook my tent like crazy. It stopped sometime last night, but once the sun came out, so did the wind. The day was called off today after 2 60 minute extensions. We are here, after all, for a hang gliding competition.

So there is a new pink dragon fly. Here are some pictures of the touch up pain that someone so graciously provided to Bobby. Not sure what those things are hanging from the downtubes... *wink*

And the Lord said, let there be rain.

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:29:00 +0000

At last nights pilot's meeting, it was announced that there would be tornadoes, rain and wind.

This morning, it started with wind. Then thunder, lightning... Then torrential downpour. And just as hard as the rain started, it stopped. Like someone turned off a tap.

Here was the result:

This is how I tied my glider down to the steel cables in the field. haha, if the tornado wanted to take it, so be it... I wouldn't care as I would be running for my life anyway.

Looks like more wind for tomorrow. Tuesday is looking good.

Setup and Fly

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:24:00 +0000

So we opened my box and pulled the new glider out of the bag. It is something that I have never done before. I have been fortunate for the last few years to have Brett here to open it all up and setup it up.

After piecing it together, I noticed the sprogs were out of whack. The glider was not balanced at all. So I asked Jonny Durand to have a quick look at it and he agreed. Since all the French guys had right turns in their gliders, we also changed the right tip.

Went for a quick lunch and took it out for a test flight. It flew straight, but the pitch is pretty light. I will see how it goes for the first couple of days before I make any other changes.

Here are some pictures of the new glider (mostly for Brett's consumption... haha).

When I go to sell the glider, I can simply say that the only parts that are aluminum are the Keel and the downtubes! Carbon is so cool.

It is too windy to fly today. This was just demonstrated by Glen Volk as I sit here. His takeoff was nice and rough, but then again, I am sure he will go far today. Scott and I broke our gliders down as there is no point having them beaten up in the wind.

Later.

Plane ride

noreply@blogger.com (benyl) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 05:23:00 +0000

It is so nice not having to travel with a glider. Nothing to carry, just my harness and we are on our way.

Rob, Scott, Ross, AJ and Emma picked me up at around 9am this morning. The airport was pretty uneventful as it seems that the way has been paved for taking hang gliders on planes from Calgary. We met up with Mark in the terminal as he was connecting from Vancouver. Customs and security seemed to be a breeze and the gliders showed up on the tarmac unscathed.

At the check-in counter, we were asked where we wanted to sit. Together seemed fine, but I asked for a window. Once we got on the plane, we found out we were all in row 8. Scott in the aisle, Rob in the middle and me with the window.

Excuse me miss, I asked for a window!

It worked out quite well. There were a bunch of empty rows and so each of us moved and had a row to ourselves. I laid across 3 seats and had an nap for about 1.5 hours. It was nice.

I was planning on reading the articles for the paper, but sleep and TV were more important. Ah well, we will see tomorrow. Nothing like doing things at the last minute.

My glider is here which is a relief. Ran into Jonny and he said that all the French team gliders have a right turn. So either mine does too, or I might be the lucky one who got a straight one.

Well I think it is time for bed.

Later.