2006 RACE WILLI FINAL RESULTS HERE
The “Race Willi” PG Comp: Canadian “B” level Regional, FAI Cat II
(En Francais ici, merci a Serge Lamarche)
August 5-9 2006.
Summary: Pilots receive entry to one of the most fun XC meets (the Willi XC), and an FAI CAT II competition for less than a hundred bucks.
The Willi XC Challenge is famous for great conditions and long flights from Golden, BC along one of the most spectacular ranges in the world. Flights over 100K/60 miles are common, and XC meet head Randy Parkin keeps a laid-back but serious distance attitude going. The “Race Willi” will be run during the first five days of the Willi XC and with the same spirit but with tasks for those interested in racing. Tasks will be race to goal via waypoints.
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August 4th Update: The weather looks great!
Randy Parkin, Willi XC organizer and general guy in charge, sends the following. The short version is that breakfasts are organized every day, at least one free party, free beer at goal, the list goes on. Randy has done a fantastic job of putting the "friendly" on this year's meet, thanks! Here's Randy's update:
- There will be beer at the Muller party tomorrow (Friday Night, free food too!). I'm getting two pony kegsfrom Revelstoke. Enough registrations and we'll do it again on Sunday. (Why do I always start with the beer - hmmmmm?)
- Breakfast will run from 8 to 10 each morning. Racers may need to be up the hill and I want to get out of there at a reasonable time so we'll cut things off at 10 - get up or go hungry will be our motto. Breakfast Saturday is ham and eggs (runny for you of course Nicole).
- Pilot meeting each morning after breakfast at 10:00.This time would let breakfast end and give time for people to be on top by 11-11:30. I'd like to propose a simple agenda for these meetings to keep them brisk and informative, and to keep us focused given all that will be going on: 1) Review of Yesterday (good flights, incidents, launch issues, scoring problems, etc.); 2) Flying Tips Discussion (what worked, what didn't, a little Q&A - get the experienced pilots talking so the newbies can hear what they are thinking and doing); 3) Weather Review; 4) Task Briefing; 5) Ride Arrangements. Will and I can lead the meeting, but it would be great if you all can participate hard in the discussion piece.
- Sunday Dinner: (WG note--this is a Willi highight, great food prepared by a crew of volunteers!) I'm thinking the dinner on Sunday will be just $10. This should allow us to cover costs and minimize the expense to those who may feel a little nickled and dimed this week given the 3 meets. Colleen and her crew have been working on it very hard and dinner sounds great.
- Muller night (assuming Vincene is all right with it), dinner Sunday and breakfasts will all be done in the space between the house and the store at the LZ. Cathy-Anne assures me we'll have real power to run the griddle.
- Have encouraged Scott to consider abandoning his PG in favour of his BASE rig (at some altitude of course) sometime during the party on Fri. Anyone else with a talent for making people look up and go "holy shit" could be
encouraged to commit a similarly foolhardy act.
- The "Win My Money" challenge will be $200 for flying 200 km on a PG - be the first person to do it since Chris (Chris flew 240K straight distance!). Go straight or O&R if you want a real sporting challenge.
- There will be a new prize for Novices. Only one will get a trophy (same for other classes). Everyone else in that class will have a chance to win second by getting a ticket for every safe, witnessed landing they make at Nicholson. We'll draw from all the tickets to determine the winner - more tickets, more chances.
- Everyone who registers will get a logoed sports bottle assuming I can pick them up on time.
- As per previous years, I've got a trophy for "Meet Head's Pick" in both PG and HG. Would appreciate input from you all regarding who are worthy nominees. In the past it has gone to people who don't win the usual way but have accomplished a personal best, done a service to others in the meet or been an all-round good person - people who just damn well deserve to win something. Generally it's a pilot, but not necessarily.
- We will do the "Thanks for the Ride" thing again this year. If anyone is picked up by a member of the public, get their name and phone number to include on landing form and we'll draw for gift certificate at local
restaurant next weekend.
- Last year we used 146.460 as the meet freq and 146.490 for retrieves. I suggest we use the same, and ask everyone to fly on 146.460 for safety reasons (and minimize chatter). These numbers are on the landing forms so let me know quick if something else seems better.
- There will be a launch check-in each day, and we'll post a pilot list at the store for those who return physically, and provide a phone number to call for those caught out on the road (Kim, 403 678 5728). We really don't need a landing form, but we need to know you're OK. I've tried to do this myself in the past, but then I luck out and fly somewhere and am just as lost as everyone else.We need you to check-in after flying. We really don't need a landing form till you get back, but we need to know you're OK.
Any of the above can change, so pay attention. See all your smiling faces on Friday. Mine of course will be obscured by a beer.
July 20th and July 21st conditions reports: It's been FUN!
JULY 13TH UPDATE BELOW: It's all looking good! One of the best weeks of flying in Canada is coming together--fly XC with the Willi XC, Race with the Race Willi. Here are some new details:
Schedule: Mandatory pilots meeting 9:00 a.m. August 5th at meet HQ. GPS upload and registration available at meet HQ starting at 7:00 p.m. Friday night, please attend if you can to limit time GPS upload time and registration clusters Saturday morning. Muller Windsports will be hosting a free "Barbecue and Beers" party Friday night, thanks!
Rides to Launch and Retrieves: There's a shuttle service to launch for mountain bikers and pilots, they charge $10. There will also be many local pilots going to launch each day, it won't be a problem to get up to launch either with the shuttle service or with local pilots. We'll help pair pilots and drivers to get to launch, the usual rate is $10 or some kind of alcohol. Retrieves in Golden are very simple as we fly down one main valley with one road--it's basic. It's possible to land a K or two away from the main road, the normal protocol is just to walk out to the main road, it's never all that far away. There are lots of big fields all along the valley. Many of the local Hang Glider pilots will have their own drivers, and are used to picking up paraglider pilots--the going rate is $10 for a ride back to the main landing field at Golden. Most of the valley residents are also familiar with paragliders and will pick pilots with big bags up--keep the good will alive and at least offer $10 for gas. We'll also have at least two "official" vans driving the main road for retrieve (Thanks to Muller Wind Sports for donating "Big Red," the paraglider aircraft carrier...). So retrieve may be a bit of an adventure if you fly 100K past goal or something, but Canada is a fully first world country most of the time, cell phones work, the locals are friendly, and temperatures are warm but not insanely hot.
Kim Csizmazia will be our launch director, general safety contact and general Race Willi Boss. Caroline Lampron has also volunteered for the week to help out, thanks! We can use as many volunteers as we can get, please drop me an email ([email protected]) if you would like to help out.
Bill Hughes is doing our scoring, thanks! Bring beer with your GPS, like everybody working this meet Bill is volunteering his time and energy to score.
Events: Free breakfast every day (part of the Willi XC, oh yeah!) at the Golden Eco Adventure Ranch, a couple of free barbecue parties, etc. Be sure to stay the weekend for the 30th annual Lakeside Splash Down, a super fun fly-in in Invermere (about 100K down range from Golden and a likely goal). Prizes for spot landing, a savage party, acro games, it will be a great way to end the week.
Registered Pilots: We now have over 40 entered pilots! I'll put a list up when I have time. The good thing about this (beyond flying down the range with a big gaggle of pilots!) is that the Race Willi has a good chance of being worth full Canadian NTSS points due to Canadian and US pilots attending , and worth some decent US NTSS points also.
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General Info:
General Camping/Lodging Information HERE
The best place to fly into is the Calgary International Airport, less than 3 very scenic hours from Golden. Stop at Banff, Lake Louise, it's really a nice drive through some some of Canada's best natioanal parks--"normal" people come from all over the world to check out.
Camping: The Golden Eco Adventure Ranch is beside the Nicholson LZ at the base of Mt. 7, and will also be the meet HQ. There are lots of spaces, and the Golden Eco Adventure Ranch has a huge "group camping" field, so anyone who shows up there will have a place to camp for cheap. There's also WiFi in most of the campground.
The Details:
Entry Fee: $25 + the Willi XC Challenge Fee (about $60, mandatory). The Willi XC entry fee gives access to all Willi XC events (Parties and beverages, often breakfast), and allows pilots to compete in the Willi XC classes for prizes and cash.
All flights in the Race Willi will also count for the Willi XC. If the Race Willi goal is downrange pilots can continue downrange (or back to launch) for additional Willi XC points after reaching goal. Goals will be set with this in mind for those who want to fly big XC. There is no better place to fly 100K+ anywhere.
Meet HQ will be the store at the Golden Eco Adventure Ranch, Nicholson, BC (about ten minutes south of Golden, also the normal LZ).
contact [email protected] or call 403 678 5728 for more information.
Dates: August 5-9 2006, no rain days.
Mandatory pilots meeting 9:00 a.m. August 5th at meet HQ. GPS upload available at meet HQ starting at 7:00 p.m. Friday night, please attend if you can to limit time GPS upload time and registration clusters Saturday morning.
Maximum 75 pilots, register by sending an email to [email protected], registration will follow the HPAC/ACVL rule book.
Launch will be Mt. 7 lookout launch, with possible alternates if winds dictate.
Tasks will be race to goal via turnpoints. Possible out and return flights, triangles.
Meet-specific rules here, the HPAC/ACVL rulebook will be used as is normal.
Prizes will be awarded for the top 3 pilots in the following classes: Open, Serial (DHV 1/2 only), top three women.
The “Race Willi” will be an FAI CAT II comp, so it will be valid for US NTSS team points per the US system.
For Canadian NTSS points a pilot will be given whatever meet (Willi/Race Willi) score gives him or her the best points,. As outlined in the HPAC/ACVL rulebook “double dipping” points for both meets will not be given. The same is true for the OLC contest NTSS points.
Pilots are responsible for their own retrieves and rides up the hill (hey, it’s $25, grin).
Daily Schedule (subject to change):
9:00 a.m.: Pilot’s meeting at HQ. Weather etc.
11:00 Pilot’s meeting at launch.
12:00 launch.
Fly safe, protect yourself and look out for your friends.
The Race Will is a comp from Will Gadd, Randy Parkin, Keith MacCullough, Nicole McLearn and a bunch of friends and pilots for pilots.
HG Note: This is a paragliding competition, but we'll score any HG pilot who wants to enter and fly the tasks. Rob Clarkson suggested any HG pilots who are interested throw in an extra $10 for a "winner takes all" cash purse for the HGs, so we'll plan on that if there's enough interest. PG pilots welcome too.
Launch Notes: The launch will NOT be closed to general pilots during either the Willi or Race Willi. A launch line system may be used, but it will be fair to all pilots. There's enough room up there to lay out at least five or six gliders so even with 75 pilots it will work out for all.
Cloud Flying: The meet-spedific rules for the Willi will read: Staying out of clouds is a very basic paragliding skill. There is no reason to cloud fly in Golden, base is normally 10,000 feet above the valley floor. If you "accidentially" thermal into a cloud turn at least 90 degrees to the course line and fly at 90 degrees or more until you are clearly below cloud base (not just out of the cloud). Don't spiral or stall out of the cloud, this endangers other pilots--you're the idiot that flew into the cloud, so the danger is all yours. If you see a pilot white out in a cloud and are fairly close to that pilot note the glider type, put a Mark/Enter into your GPS and report it to the meet director. Any pilot who whites out and does not fly 90-180 to the course line until below cloud base will be zeroed for the day. If the situation is ambiguous the meet director will assign a penalty of between 5 and 100 percent of the pilot's daily score--the emphasis is on the pilot to clearly NOT be cloud flying. Reports must come from a pilot or pilots thermalling in the same area as the offending pilot, it's impossible to get a good view from far below or to the side of another pilot. Stay out of clouds, there are sometimes sail planes or other pilots in the clouds around Golden.
Sponsors:
Golden Eco Adventure Ranch, Nicholson, BC
Gin