By : Terry Cubley

Excitement grows over the staging of the first world championships for the Club class. Destined to be a true test of the skills of a different group of pilots interspersed with a number of top performers from the more traditional world comps.

A practice championships, Barossaglide, was held at Gawler in January 2000 along with the Australian club class national championships. 19 international pilots from Germany, England, Japan, Denmark, Sweden, USA and Hungary together with 35 Australian competitors, meant a great competition with some very close scores.

Weather was less than cooperative but still pilots competed on 8 days and saw a reasonable slice of the task area. Many flew POST tasks for the first time and certainly showed talent in learning the intricacies in a very short time. The top ten pilots included 4 Europeans and 6 Australians.

Club Class Sports Class, Europe, USA, Australia? Club class has developed separately in Europe, USA and Australia. The USA and Australian competitions (called Sports Class) are reasonably similar due to the decision in Australia to send representatives to the USA Sports Class competition over a number of years.

Whereas the European club class has restricted entry with only standard class gliders up to the performance of the LS4 and DG300 permitted to compete, the USA and Australian national championships permit any glider to fly with its appropriate handicap. This meant at Barossaglide we had a variety of types from Ka6 through to Nimbus 3D. In the final results we see Libelle, LS8, LS4, Discus, LS1c, Pik20B in the top ten placings.

For the World championships the IGC has agreed to 15m and older Open class gliders (eg. Phoebus C, Open Cirrus) being eligible, provided that they fall within the approved handicap range for the competition. The Gawler championships can expect to see DG200, Pik20 and LS3 competing against the Phoebus C and Open Cirrus as well as the normal group of older standard class gliders from Libelle through to the LS4.

Tasking types

European Club class has used set speed tasks almost exclusively. In the USA and Australia the competition has developed with the use of Speed Only POST (now called PST by IGC). The main advantage of PST is that it requires all gliders to fly for the same period of the day.

Very important with a wide range of aircraft types. With a set task of say 250 km the Nimbus 3d only needs to fly for 2 hours and so flys in the best part of the day, whilst the Ka6 is coming home at the end of the day after a 4 hour flight.

IGC now requires at least two types of task to be flown in a world championships and in Australia the tasks will be a mixture of PST and Assigned Area Task. To reduce the fears of local knowledge having a major impact on the results with a PST, compulsory first turns and compulsory turn point sectors will be used. This ensures a more consistent traffic flow and ensures that all pilots will fly in a common direction until the weather conditions are analysed.

Gawler, the site and the weather As with any competition, the week before Barossaglide was fantastic weather. Every day, thermals were topping out over 10-13,000 feet.

Temperatures were consistently 38-42 degrees which made it uncomfortable for the crews but created some great flights for those lucky enough to be there. A few 750km flights were completed with turnpoints up north in the spectacular Flinders Ranges.

The weather during the competition was disappointing although tasks were flown on 8 contest days. A low pressure trough and cyclone on the NE part of the continent fed high cloud over the contest area and kept a series of small troughs passing through. We became stuck in cold SW-SE winds with low cloud bases of 3-5,000, occasionally blue to 6,000 feet. The wind speed was commonly 20-25 knots which created difficulties for the lower performance gliders such as the Ka6 and Bergfalkes. This weather pattern usually lasts for only 1or 2 days during a normal 6-10 day cycle. For Barossaglide, it lasted for the whole competition.

Of course, the cycle finally changed after the last contest day and Australia returned to its normal 6-10,000 feet cumulus days over the next 4-6 weeks.

The task area around Gawler has three distinct areas. From the NE to N, the ground is very flat and open. With the low heights being found during the contest, many pilots flew in this area due to the greater ground clearances. From the N to the NW the ground gradually rises some 1500 feet with a couple of low ridges running N-S. This area generally warms up quicker and produces greater heights and stronger thermals. The further North you travel the better the conditions become. From the NW to the W is a river flat which is usually quite soarable but often is a little trickier. Once across the river you are in the flat, sandy country south of Waikerie, quite strong conditions.

During the world comps, pilots will be sent into all three areas of the contest in order to check the pilots abilities in a range of weather and terrain conditions.

Gawler is less than 40km from the coast and so with a Northerly wind we can often get a sea breeze front from the SW. This cold maritime air cools the local area fairly quickly and can stop thermals in the local area.

As the task area is to the North and NE, the only encounter with the sea breeze is on final glide. Usually the sea breeze only travels 20km past Gawler but on occasions may move further inland. To ensure that there is no disadvantage for lower performance gliders we have established a remote finish some 20+ km from the airfield. With this location pilots are ensured an opportunity to get speed points for the day. With the aim being to get everyone home to Gawler on each day, a penalty is applied to pilots using the remote finish so that we encourage its use only if the sea breeze is a problem (for everyone). The penalty in 2001 will be 100 points.

At Barossaglide this year we had no problems with a sea breeze, the wind was already a strong wind from the sea and reasonably unstable although at a low height. People often refer to these southerlies as the sea breeze but this is not the case. It is still quite soarable in these conditions whilst the real sea breeze, which sets up against a prevailing Northerly wind, cuts off convection as it moves through.

The strong southerlies were a problem at Barossaglide mainly because of its strength. There were still thermals on the way home but pilots of lower performance gliders chose tactically to use the remote finish to avoid the long struggle against the wind.

Expectations are for only 1-2 days with sea breeze impacts during the world competition period.

Preparation for the worlds The rules have been set and are shown on the web page. Basically, the world comps rules will be used for the competition with only a small number of variations to suit the local conditions.

The handicap list has also been published and many pilots are already booking gliders from Australian clubs and individuals to use during the contest.

Sufficient gliders will be available for hire in Australia and the exchange rate will ensure that this is very affordable for visiting pilots. Of course, if you have a specific type that you wish to fly then an early deal will be recommended. The web page has details and you will be put in contact with owners in Australia to arrange the hire of the glider. Some owners and clubs are keen to provide crews and possibly cars to support international visitors.

The Adelaide Soaring Club members are working hard to ensure that the facilities are first class, the emphasis being on creating a friendly atmosphere where pilots and team members are able to achieve there best performances whilst enjoying developing relationships with similarly minded people from around the world.

Estimates are for 50-55 competitors in Club class with a maximum of three pilots per class from any one nation. So far, over 22 nations have indicated their intention to participate.

As South Australia is one of the most versatile tourist venues for international visitors, a lot of effort is being put into providing tourism information and opportunities, before, during and after the competition.

Support for teams There are two main avenues of support being made available for visiting teams. Through sponsorship of the event from Australian Major Events (a division of South Australian Tourism), each team will be given financial support for their attendance.

Each team will receive $2500 after their first launch of the competition. This can be used by the team in any way that they please and will certainly be a great help to many teams as attending a world championship is an expensive exercise.

There has also been a lot of interest shown by community groups in Australia to provide support to pilots. For example, the Russian community group is offering some support to pilots from Russia. We are able to put people in touch with these community groups if they so please.

www.worldclubclass.on.net