The 2019 NSW State Gliding Championships saw plenty of ups and downs during the week-long event, with final flights wrapping up the competition on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In Open Class, Don Woodward took third place for the day, behind David Pietsch and Terry Cubley, but his earlier dominance carried him through to become the new NSW Open and 18-metre class Champion on 48 points.
Second place with 37 points went to Temora's Scott Lennon, who flew consistently in a lower performance glider, while Terry Cubley from Victoria came third on 36 points.
Equal fourth place went to Geoff Brown, of Canberra, and Jacques Graells, of Lake Keepit club, both finishing with 31 points.
The Club Class saw four pilots each win a day, with Temora Gliding Club president Tim Causer taking the final race. Second overall on 23 points went to Allan Phelps, with third overall shared between Causer and Baer on 22.
Glider pilot Scott Lennon said he was pleased with his placing. Mr Lennon said everyone gave their best efforts in trying weather conditions. "The week was hurt a bit by the weather, some days it was too windy to fly and we had a bit of rain," he said.
Despite the poor weather, Mr Lennon said they flew four out of the seven days.
"We had enough days flying to be able to say it was a valid competition," he said.
Twenty-one pilots competed over the four days, and all flying was in an area up to 120km from Temora to the north-east, north-west and south-west.
Trophies were presented at a farewell function held at the Temora Bowling Club on Saturday evening, with the Grand Prix scoring and racing style making the overall results easy to score.
Competitors were enthusiastic about the handicapped Grand Prix format and it is likely to be used more widely in the future, according to Mr Lennon.
"All the pilots loved it, normally everyone complains about bad weather after a competition but this time they only had compliments for the Grand Prix format," he said.
Gliding at Temora continues over summer, with visitors from other clubs holding summer camps there from now until mid-January.