Perfect Weather For Champions

20131024 Gliding Championships — Andrew Georgeson, from Kingaroy, was amongst the top pilots in the 18m class going into the second last day of competition

October 25, 2013

Kingaroy’s weather may not have been much good for farmers lately, but it’s been almost perfect for gliders and the top-class field of competitors that the 52nd Australian Multiclass Nationals gliding championships brought to town.

The national championships, which wind up today, has attracted 54 entrants, including five pilots who competed at the World Gliding championships at Uvalde, Texas, last year.

They’ve come from all over Australia – and New Zealand, Japan, Denmark and the Netherlands – to test their skills in four classes: Standard, 15m, 18m and Open.

The competition officially began on Tuesday, October 15, after a practice session the day before.

Since then they have been able to fly every day, except one when there was some slight rain hanging around in the morning. However, as they were due for a “rest” day anyway, no one seemed to mind.

The pilots have been assigned different tasks to complete on each day of the competition. The fastest each day over the course wins that leg of the competition, with points accumulating for the overall winner.

The overall Championship winners should be known this evening.