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.
- More photos on the Gliding Federation of Australia’s Facebook page
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[UPDATED October 25]
Results after Day 10:
Standard
1. Greg Beecroft (WA) 8783
2. Matt Gage (Vic) 8028
3. Tim Wilson (Vic) 7791
15m
1. Matthew Scutter (SA) 8084
2. Mak Ichikawa (NSW) 7943
3. Peter Trotter (Qld) 7925
18m
1. Tom Claffey (NSW) 8563
2. John Buchanan (Qld) 8420
3. Arne Boye-Moller (Denmark) 8276
Open
1. Tom Claffey (NSW) 8566
2. John Buchanan (Qld) 8430
3. Arne Boye-Moller (Denmark) 8253
